Law & Order Special Victims Unit s15e10 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.
I fell back asleep, hoping to recapture the dream, but it was gone.
But the dreams you do remember, you're keeping a journal? Yes, especially the one recurring dream - Okay.
- I I think that's a-a good place to stop.
Oh, already? Our sessions seem to go so fast now.
Time is speeding up, Olivia, unless We slow it down.
Hey.
What are you two doing? Welcome home, detective Benson.
Olivia.
Olivia, are you with me? Yeah.
Sorry.
Okay.
You were telling the jury what happened when you came home that night.
Sorry, I, um I stepped into my kitchen.
I sensed a presence.
I went to reach for my gun, but I froze.
Leave that detail out.
Don't imply anything was your fault.
Right.
Sorry.
Before I could reach for my weapon, the defendant, William Lewis, put a gun to my head.
- You need a break? - How close is the trial? Lewis has one last pre-trial motion.
What is there left to argue about? Jurisdiction.
His attorney wants three separate trials.
One for your kidnapping, one for Mrs.
Mayer's rape and the murder of her husband, and one for the murder of the Suffolk county police officer.
Mrs.
Mayer is still willing to testify? Mm-hmm.
She's tough.
She wants him to die in prison.
You should know I am going for attempted murder and attempted rape.
He didn't rape me.
I understand that that's important to you, but he's gonna claim those four days were consensual.
The torture that he put you through.
The degradation.
The jury needs to hear all of it.
Liv.
It's me.
Let me have that.
I'm sorry, Brian.
It's okay.
Hey.
It's okay.
- Yeah.
- Come here, come here.
- I'm sorry.
- It's okay, come here.
It's all right.
It's okay.
Law & Order: SVU This next few weeks Are going to be stressful for Olivia and for us.
Lewis has some stones, putting her through this.
He can't really think he's gonna get away with it again.
He's five for five.
That breeds hubris.
We should have shot him when we got there.
Hey, we were all thinking it.
Not on the stand.
I'll be calling each of you.
And part of his defense is gonna be to say the NYPD has a vendetta against him, so tamp down your emotions.
Don't talk to the press.
Don't take the bait.
Got it, counselor.
And, uh, speaking of taking the bait, I know we're all on edge, but whatever is going on in this squad room has gotta stop.
Amaro, Rollins, I'm talking to you.
- Copy that, captain.
- Yeah, whatever you say.
I mean, 'cause, Nick, I know we went at it.
I probably said some things you misinterpreted.
Oh, I misinterpreted? She's saying she's sorry.
Right, Amanda? I'm sorry.
- Nick? - Yeah, we're good.
Suffolk county is 50 Miles outside this district attorney's purview.
Those charges should be tried separately.
The murders and rape are part of William Lewis's course of conduct in a four-day torture-kidnap rampage that began in detective Benson's New York apartment.
The D.
A.
Thinks by piling on charges, he can overwhelm a jury.
This is beyond prejudicial, your honor.
I've read your arguments and I agree, combining these cases could pose an unfair burden on the defendant.
- Your honor - And, since the burden is something that could come up on appeal, I am ruling in favor of the defense's motion to separate out these charges.
Thank you, your honor.
But I will allow the jury to hear evidence pertaining to what the detective herself witnessed or experienced.
Excuse me? Your honor? Mr.
Lewis? I apologize.
Could you speak up? Due to the beating I received, I no longer have hearing in my left ear.
Will this be an issue at trial? The prison hospital will be issuing a hearing assist device, your honor.
The Suffolk county charges will be separated out.
We will proceed to trial.
You are remanded until then.
Did you hear that, Mr.
Lewis? Yes.
Thank you, your honor.
You okay? Mr.
Barba, there is something I would like to discuss with you.
I don't think there's anything you could possibly say that would interest me.
Oh, this will.
What? He wants to plead to rape? Multiple counts of rape in the first.
Multiple counts of sodomy.
And he wants to plead guilty with an allocation of each specific.
He wants to stand up in open court and give graphic details of what he did not do to me? He will get 25 years to life.
He will die in prison, Olivia.
You will avoid a trial and having to testify No, no.
No, he does not get to do that to me.
He did not rape me.
He did not sodomize me.
You look at that rape kit.
After four days, he did not have the balls to rape me.
And now he wants to stand up in open court? Now? No.
No! I have to tell you, given the extent of his injuries, they will go after you for excessive force.
He may claim that he was handcuffed when you crushed his skull.
You testified to a police investigator and a grand jury that Lewis lunged at you, that you used the bar to defend yourself until he was no longer a danger to you.
That is what I said.
Your grand jury testimony from last may.
You study those transcripts.
If you deviate from your statement in any way, it will create reasonable doubt about all of your testimony.
He will use it as a wedge.
He could walk again, Liv.
The people are satisfied with the empaneled jury, your honor.
All right.
Well, we've completed jury selection and, having exhausted all attempts at a plea, trial is scheduled.
Opening arguments begin tomorrow.
Your honor, if I may.
I offered a plea that would have guaranteed a lengthy prison term and spared the victim the pain of a trial.
My so-called attorney has failed to get the D.
A.
'S office to agree to accept my capitulation.
I have serious reservations about her competence.
I would like to request a change of attorney.
Counselor? I'm just hearing this now, your honor.
Are you? This is an oft-used delaying tactic of Mr.
Lewis' in several trials.
I'm not requesting any additional time.
Realistically, it would take months for a new attorney to get up to speed.
I don't believe it would, your honor, if that attorney was myself.
Your honor, Mr.
Lewis is simply trying to use this trial to publically humiliate and retraumatize detective Benson.
Objection, I was the one who offered to spare her this burden entirely.
But this is not up for debate.
This is my constitutional right, is it not? It is.
However, I will insist that you keep your current attorney with you to advise, and if any of Mr.
Barba's fears prove prescient, I will strike you with contempt.
Is that understood? Perfectly.
*** Gettin' through One hour at a time.
Looking strong, Olivia.
You all came? We got your back.
Liv.
What are you people doing here? You know you can't watch the trial.
You're all witnesses.
We're here for moral support.
Counselor, don't mess this one up.
I was gonna tell you the same thing.
Remember why we're here.
At that point, my partner and I broke into detective Benson's apartment.
It was destroyed.
Glass everywhere, furniture was turned over, bloody duct tape.
We found coat hangers and keys on the stove.
Cigarette butts.
I'll never forget the smell of burnt flesh.
Thank you, detective.
My apologies, ladies and gentlemen.
I'm moving slowly these days due to the brutal beating I received from detective Benson.
- Your honor? - Move it along, Mr.
Lewis.
That was quite a vivid description you gave, detective Tutuola.
One might even think you had staged the scene yourself.
The scenario that you described, this occurred two days after a case against me had been declared a mistrial due to NYPD lab corruption I mean, sorry, contamination.
Did detective Benson tell you that she was upset about that mistrial? We were all upset.
And yet it took you two days to go check her apartment after she didn't show up for work? Actually, captain Cragen told her to take some time off.
Possibly because she was, uh, extremely upset? Even obsessed? Objection.
Speculation.
Sustained.
My bad.
All right, after you and your partner broke in, how long were you alone in detective Benson's apartment before CSU showed up? Is that enough time to plant evidence? - Your honor.
- Objection sustained.
Jury will disregard.
I'll allow you some latitude because you're representing yourself, Mr.
Lewis, but watch it.
I understand, your honor.
Just one more question.
The lab that processed this crime scene, was that the same lab that contaminated the DNA in my prior case? Yes, and we told CSU and the lab techs that, this time, there can be no mistakes.
Did you? In other words, you made sure the lab knew that an NYPD detective had been assaulted and I was your only suspect? I followed standard NYPD protocol.
Oh, I agree.
Thank you, detective.
We ran upstairs to the Mayers' bedroom.
It had been destroyed.
There was a blood trail leading to the closet.
What did you find in the closet? Mrs.
Mayer hanging.
Bloodied, burned.
In the ambulance, she told me that she was raped by William Lewis.
Objection, your honor.
Hearsay? We will be calling Mrs.
Mayer.
Defense will have the opportunity to cross.
Then let her tell the jury what she said.
Until then, jurors will disregard.
How are you today, Amanda? I'm sorry, detective.
We do have history though, don't we? You sicced your dog on me last may when I was jogging in the park.
When you were running away after an elderly woman caught you exposing yourself to two female tourists.
I arrested you on the spot.
Could you tell the jury what happened to those charges? They were dismissed by the judge.
But you still think I was guilty, don't you? I know you were.
Then you must have been angry, detective Rollins, when my last trial ended in a mistrial and I walked away? Yes, actually, I was.
Angry enough that you could have concocted a plot, along with your fellow detectives, to frame me for detective Benson's kidnapping? Fake the crime scenes? - Lie on the stand? - That's ridiculous.
Your honor, this whole line of questioning is objectionable.
I'm entitled to my cross-examination.
He's right, Mr.
Barba.
Answer the question, detective Rollins.
What question? Did I concoct a plot to frame you? No, I did not.
Um, my question was could you have? When we came to that scene, the Suffolk county patrol officer was D.
O.
A.
Thank you, detective.
D.
O.
A.
Sorry.
Dead on arrival.
Of course.
Do you think that I killed that officer, detective amaro? - Yes, I do.
- Why? Because your partner told you so? Did she also tell you that it was her gun? No, we knew that from ballistics.
And when you found the gun at the beach house, whose fingerprints were on it? Yours.
And hers.
It was her gun, it would make sense her prints were on it.
Right, but with both sets of prints, it's impossible to know conclusive who actually shot that officer, isn't it? Oh, there's no way she did it.
She was duct taped, lying on the car floor.
Again, that's what she told you? Yes.
Do you remember the first time that you and detective Benson interrogated me? How would you characterize her demeanor? Just trying to get to the truth.
Let me ask again, was she physically close? Flirtatious? Did she seem aroused when I spoke to her? She may have acted provocatively, but that was for your benefit.
During an interrogation, you role-play.
Is rape considered a sexual act amongst SVU detectives? No, it's not about sex.
It's about power, control, humiliation So why, in your opinion, when your partner was questioning me about rape, did she sexualize the interrogation? It's a technique to find a way to connect to the suspect.
Well, I would say it worked.
Withdrawn.
So Mrs.
Mayer isn't gonna testify? Not if Lewis is interrogating.
I can't blame her.
My skin was crawling.
It's okay, he can play all the games he wants.
The jury's not gonna fall for it.
Eating together across from the courthouse when he's accusing you of conspiring against him? We're just having dinner, counselor.
Get it to go.
Liv.
Viva and Luisa Nunez.
Who are they? Lewis added them to his witness list.
Claims that they were in the beach house.
That can't be right.
It is.
Um, it's, uh a maid and her And her young daughter.
Okay, that would have been helpful to know.
Why didn't you tell me? - I must have blanked on it.
- Please don't lie to me.
Did they see or hear anything? I don't know.
I heard Lewis coaxing them into the house.
I got worried for the little girl and That's when I broke free.
Then why weren't they in the house when the police showed up? Are you legal? If the police find out that you are here, they will take away your daughter.
Because I thought it was unsafe for them to be in the house while Lewis was still there.
That's your story? You're gonna bring it up? I have to, before Lewis does.
He's young.
If you say a word, he dies.
Evening, officer.
Is there a problem? Have you been drinking? The officer asked a few questions.
What have you got back there? He became suspicious.
It was horrible.
Tell the jury what happened next.
Lewis drove us to a vacant beach house, handcuffed me to a iron-framed bedpost, and shoved my gun into my mouth and repeatedly threatened to rape and kill me.
But he didn't shoot? No, he said that he wanted to take his time with me.
Then there was a knock at the door and I heard him talking to Viva and Luisa Nunez, a housekeeper and her little girl.
And then he made them come inside.
So you could hear him talking to them? Yes, and I was terrified for them, so I used every bit of strength that I had left and wrenched the metal bar from the bed frame and when Lewis walked back into the room, I struck him with it.
I then freed myself of the handcuffs and restrained him.
That's when you asked the housekeeper and her daughter to leave? Yes.
I feared for their safety.
And then? And then I was calling for help and Lewis got free and lunged at me And I hit him with that rod until he was subdued.
Thank you, detective Benson.
Mr.
Lewis, your witness.
Nothing now Your honor, but I reserve the right to question this witness at a later time.
That is your right.
Mr.
Barba? The people rest.
Detective Benson, you may step down.
Thank you for coming, Mrs.
Nunez.
Just a few questions.
You understand? Si? Yes.
The morning that you came to clean, I invited you and your daughter Luisa in? Yes.
And did I hurt you or her? No.
- You put us in a bedroom.
- Okay.
And could you hear anything? Both you and detective Benson were yelling, then I heard someone getting beaten, - and you screamed - As if in pain? And then I was quiet? Yes.
No sound.
And that's when detective Benson came out and and she ordered you to leave? She said she was police, that you were a bad man and she will take care of it.
Did she tell you that immigration would take Luisa away from you if you didn't do what she said? You don't have to worry, miss Nunez.
Detective Benson is not in the court today.
You can tell the jury the truth.
Yes.
Yes, she did.
Gracias, miss Nunez.
The extent of your injuries that day, you had a pneumothorax A collapsed lung.
Two broken ribs, shattered knee cap, fractured skull, and a broken orbital socket.
You left out my ruptured spleen.
And the auditory nerve damage.
No worries.
So many of them, it's hard to remember them all.
The jury heard detective Benson testify that she beat me until I was subdued.
In your medical opinion, would any of these injuries, singularly, be enough to subdue me? I'm not sure how to answer that.
Okay, for instance, could I run with a shattered knee? - No.
- With a fractured skull? Broken orbital socket? Was my vision compromised? - Yes.
- And my collapsed lung? Could I fight back in that condition? In my opinion, no.
So, doctor, the first of these blows, whichever one it was, incapacitated me.
And all the rest of them wereExcessive? - Objection.
- Sustained.
Nothing further.
No questions.
You may step down, doctor.
Next witness, Mr.
Lewis.
Could I approach, your honor? I'd like to request a recess.
I'm still easily fatigued due to my collapsed lung.
This is just another delaying tactic.
No, it's not.
I have a note from my prison doctor, Janice Cole, detailing my medical issues.
In order to adequately defend myself, I need to take breaks.
It's your call, of course, your honor, but forcing me to proceed against a D.
O.
C.
Doctor's orders might be grounds for appeal.
All right.
Mr.
Lewis, get a good night's rest.
I'll grant you a recess till 9:00 A.
M.
tomorrow morning.
You survived the assault, you can survive his interrogation.
I've said those exact same words a hundred times to survivors.
Then they must be good advice.
You know what else I said? Never lie about anything, 'cause it always blows up.
And now it's gonna blow up in open court.
It may not, Olivia.
Try not to catastrophize.
Lewis knew that I had it in me.
He could smell it.
He taunted me until I beat him and you know what? Once I started, I couldn't stop.
He got me to become exactly what he is.
No, you give him too much credit, and you give yourself too little.
He kept you drugged, drunk, no food, no water, no sleep.
So when I beat a handcuffed man Nearly to death, I was just projecting my anger? And that makes it okay to lie about it? Under oath? I hear you, Olivia.
Here's a question for you.
Could you live with yourself knowing that you helped Lewis to go free? Good morning, detective Benson.
This trial must be Trying for you.
How you holding up? Proceed, Mr.
Lewis.
No time for pleasantries.
Okay.
We've heard a lot of testimony in this case.
But only two people know what happened over those four days.
I know exactly what happened, and that's what I told the jury.
I can see how that's the story you'd want the jury to believe.
The truth is embarrassing.
That you, an experienced but lonely SVU detective, consumed by her work, became sexually obsessed with a man you believed to be a rapist.
- That's a lie.
- Is it? Can you tell me, are you married? Do you have children? Objection.
Relevance? It speaks to her issues with intimacy and sexuality, your honor.
Tread carefully, Mr.
Lewis.
May I remind you, she's your witness.
You may answer that question.
I'm not married.
- I do not have children.
- What about a family? When we spent time together, you said you didn't wanna talk about your father.
- Why was that? - Objection 'Cause he's none of your business.
Your honor, if we want to understand miss Benson's four-day binge, I think we need to understand what drove her to it.
What psychological demon she's been fighting her entire life.
Your honor.
I'll ask you to confine your questioning to her professional experience in the four days at issue.
Well, I was just getting to that.
Also, your honor, due to this witness's increasing aggression, I would like to ask the court for permission to treat her as hostile.
- Objection.
- What? Again? Confine your questions to the witness, Mr.
Lewis.
I apologize, your honor.
I'm still learning.
I didn't go to Harvard, like Mr.
Barba.
Come on.
Jury will disregard that last remark.
And, yes, I will allow you to treat her as a hostile witness.
Proceed, Mr.
Lewis.
Miss Benson, you've been an SVU detective for what, 15 years? Yes.
And in that time, you've spoken to hundreds of rape victims, interviewed hundreds of rapists? - Yes.
- Do you work long hours? Take your work home with you? It's part of the job.
Do you have a lot of accrued vacation hours? I guess.
Yes.
So your life is your work, isn't it? Over time, your world view has narrowed to victims and rapists.
- I wouldn't say that.
- No? Well, the jury has heard your captain testify that he was worried about you after your second case against me was dropped.
Isn't that right? My whole squad was upset.
Yeah, but you were the only one who he ordered to go home, take some time off, weren't you? I'm sorry, I can't hear you.
Can can you speak up? Yes, I was! Thank you.
So, social isolation, long-term immersion in sexual assaults, and a recent public loss of face.
All of that preceded our four days together.
Is that right? You broke into my apartment, tied me up, and held a gun to my head.
We know that's your story, but none of your fellow detectives could find or even fake any signs of forced entry, could they? - Objection.
- What are you I'll allow it.
Witness will answer.
I don't know how you got in But you did.
I teleported myself, maybe.
Or maybe you invited me in.
You were the last person that I wanted to see that night.
That night, when I "broke in," were you armed when you came home? Yes.
So why didn't you just pull your gun on me? I froze.
An experienced detective didn't hear me come in, didn't see any signs of forced entry.
She just froze.
So you're telling me that you didn't invite me in, but clearly, you react differently to me than you do to hundreds of other men that you've - No, no, I don't.
- No? What about your partner? Your partner testified the first time that you interrogated me, you were flirting with me.
You were trying to arouse me.
- I was playing a role.
- Were you? The first night we spent together, you said that I tied you up, that I was forcing alcohol down your throat and you didn't resist? Was that part of your role-playing? You had a gun on me.
Whose gun? First yours.
And then mine.
So we drank together, we took drugs together, we played with each other sexually, - you gave me your gun - You took my gun Your forced me to tie you up, but we never had sex together, - did we? - No, we did not have sex.
So this was more of a flirtation.
- More of a courtship? - Objection, your honor.
I know you're giving this man latitude, but he has crossed over.
He is using this trial to humiliate and retraumatize detective Benson.
Sustained.
Proceed, Mr.
Lewis.
Okay.
Let's just skip forward to our last day together at the beach house.
Even though you said that I spent four days holding you hostage, forcing you to drink alcohol, forcing you to take drugs, holding you against your will, we still hadn't had sex at this point? Rape isn't sex.
Can we agree that there was no sexual penetration in all this time? I know this is embarrassing for you.
But didn't you attempt to seduce me by trying to excite me with sexual stories from past cases? It was a tactic to stay alive.
Was it also a tactic when you told me I was the best you've ever seen? That you knew how to get me off? Yes.
I said all those things.
I was trying to buy time.
And when I refused to participate in your twisted rape fantasy, did you start to get angry? Did you start to goad me on? I wonder if if you're not man enough to get it up for a real woman.
But I still resisted your advances, didn't I? I think we both remember what happened next.
You became violent.
I was trying to stay alive.
We both know that's not what happened! Wasn't I handcuffed? Didn't you beat me? Didn't you send the housekeeper and her daughter home? Tell them not to call the police? I was trying to save their lives.
You were trying to be alone with me! You came into the bedroom, started talking to me about your romantic fantasies about your ex-partner.
How he would have known what to do with me.
He would have.
We shared so many intimate secrets that day, didn't we? I told you about my father.
I asked you about yours.
I told you that I didn't wanna hear it.
When I asked you about yours, you got really upset, didn't you? That's when you lost it and you started attacking me.
You beat me with that metal bar.
I was only trying to keep you subdued.
I'm sorry, wh I was already subdued.
Wasn't I handcuffed? As an NYPD officer, you would have handcuffed me before you left the room to go talk to the maid and her daughter, right? Yes, and I did handcuff you.
But when I went to talk to the maid, you had somehow managed to free yourself of your restraints.
I broke free of my restraints.
I broke free from being handcuffed to an iron bed - I did it.
- You did it? Am I Houdini? Wasn't I already incapacitated from you pistol whipping me in the skull? I did what I had to do to subdue you.
Broken ribs, ruptured spleen, crushed my kneecap.
I did what I had to do to subdue you.
I died in that ambulance four times.
Did you know that? You had a gun.
Why didn't you just shoot me? I think it's because you wanted me to suffer.
You wanted me to writhe in pain on the floor.
- You wanted to hear me scream - I did what I had to do - And scream for my life.
- To subdue you.
I have a limp now.
I've lost my hearing.
I am partially blind.
Did you or did you not brutally beat me within an inch of my life while I was lying helpless, handcuffed to the bed? You had broken free Of your restraints And I did what I had to do To subdue you.
You and I both know that's a lie.
Objection.
We know so much about each other, don't we? Mr.
Lewis? We shared a bond those four days, - didn't we? - No.
A bond that nobody else can understand, but I understand what you're going through.
I know.
If you admit that you're lying about beating me, the floodgates just open up, don't they? And then everything that you have said could be a lie.
- Your honor, objection.
- Sustained.
- Mr.
Lewis.
- Withdrawn, your honor.
Nothing further.
He's gonna walk.
The jury knows that I lied.
The jury saw him attack you.
They didn't like it.
We repaired a lot of the damage.
That forewoman, - he's playing her.
- So what? Barba's gonna tear him apart.
Don't chance it.
Take the deal.
He wants to allocute about raping me? He's already humiliated me, what's a few more hours? Liv, I have a bulletproof answer tree.
No matter which way he answers on the stand tomorrow, he'll end up in jail for the rest of his natural life.
Court will come to order please, ladies and gentlemen.
Mr.
Lewis, are you ready to take the stand? I was, your honor But since the prosecution has failed to make its case, I'm ready for closing arguments.
At this point, the defense rests.
The prosecution has told you that I'm a bad man.
A criminal.
The truth is, I do have a temper.
I haven't always behaved like an upright citizen.
I drink too much, act out.
I'm human.
But there's another, more shocking truth.
Despite all of her denials, those very qualities are what attracted detective Benson to me in the first place.
You've heard from her partner, from her squadmates, from herself she was a woman obsessed with me.
A woman who wanted to experience the thrill of being sexually involved with the kind of man she's been chasing her entire career.
A dangerous man.
She wanted all of it.
She gave me her gun.
She willingly drank alcohol, took drugs.
She was in a hyper-aroused frenzy, demanding that I tie her down and sexually humiliate others in front of her for her enjoyment, demanding I have sex with her.
When I failed to satisfy her increasingly perverted, desperate demands, she became violent Angry.
I was handcuffed to that bed frame.
She could have called for backup.
She could have walked away.
Instead She decided to beat me with a metal bar till I was almost dead.
Look at her.
Look at me.
I ask you, who's the victim here? How's Olivia doing? She's a wreck.
Cassidy's with her.
Well, I don't blame her.
All this time, still no decision.
What's the jury thinking? We're gonna find out soon.
They've reached a verdict.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in the case of the people versus William Lewis, have you reached a verdict? We have, your honor.
But before we read it, many of us have serious reservations about the conduct of detective Benson that we're not sure how to address.
That's not in your purview.
Still, we want that on the record.
Proceed.
On the charge of attempted murder, we find the defendant, William Lewis, not guilty.
On the charge of attempted rape, we find the defendant not guilty.
I gotta go.
On the charge of assault on a police officer, we find the defendant guilty.
On the charge of kidnapping, we find the defendant guilty.
Members of the jury, the state of New York thanks you for your service.
You are dismissed.
William Lewis, you are remanded to Rikers where you will await sentencing.
You did it, counselor.
- Liv did it.
- Congratulations.
- I can't believe it's over.
- It's over.
I'm gonna request the maximum.
Let's get you home.
Liv, you coming? Yes.
Could you just give me a minute? Okay.
William, can you hear me? It's doctor Cole.
It's Janice.
I think I think I think I had a seizure.
My heart is racing.
You're gonna make it.
We're gonna get you out of here.
Just hold on.
Okay.
Stay with me.
It's gonna be okay.