Law & Order Special Victims Unit s19e03 Episode Script
Contrapasso
1 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.
[dramatic music.]
So I'm eight years old.
I go to the store with my mom.
Now, while she's paying, I end up boosting some, uh some Rolos.
When I was that age, I was all about Jujubes.
So what am I gonna do, right? We get outside, pull the Rolos out of my BVDs.
She busts me.
She makes me go back into the store.
I got to cop to everything.
I cried I cried like a little baby, and then I had to do it all over again on Sunday at confession, but bless her heart, she never did tell my old man.
My pops would've backhanded me if I did something stupid.
I stayed out of trouble mostly out of fear.
What we got? We caught a job off a 911 call.
People screaming in room 240.
When we got up here, nobody answered the door.
Security let us in.
We got a bloody steak knife in the sink here.
It is nasty, but why call SVU? Take a look in that ice bucket.
Aw! Come on.
If I'm not mistaken, that's a set of testicles.
- Aw, jeez.
- Confirmed.
You found these on ice? They were on the bed.
I put 'em in there.
Good thinking.
[flashlight clicks on.]
Hey, Carisi, check this out.
[suspenseful music.]
He's still alive.
[dramatic music.]
Jason Karr, the unfortunate recipient of an amateur gonadectomy.
Patrol said that they recovered the missing parts and brought them here? Once the spermatic cord is severed, the testicles are just medical waste.
Good news is he'll be okay with some plastic surgery, prosthetics, hormone replacement therapy.
Depends what you mean by okay.
- Yeah.
- Any defensive wounds? None, but his tox screen showed a high level of alprazolam, and his BAC was 0.
19.
Lucky for Mr.
Karr, he was thoroughly zonked when he gave up the family jewels.
And how soon can we talk to him? Once his anesthesia wears off, we'll move him to the ICU.
[phone buzzing.]
Okay.
- Thanks.
- Benson.
Oh, hi.
Thank you so very much.
That is that is great news.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you very much.
The DA cleared me.
They are closing the investigation of Noah's bruises.
[exhales deeply.]
Liv, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
[softly.]
Yeah, well happy ending at least.
[dramatic music.]
I called 911 a few minutes after I left the hotel.
Why were you there? I was visiting a friend who was staying there.
As I was going to the elevator, I heard people screaming at each other in room 240.
A man and a woman.
Did you hear what they were saying, Ms.
Galen? Nora.
Not really.
It was mostly profanity.
So why not knock on the door, see if anyone needed help? Well, it was none of my business, really.
But as soon as I left, I started to feel guilty I didn't do anything.
I hope everybody's okay.
Let's just say it's a good thing you called us.
[knocking on door.]
Julie Wade? That's right.
Detective Tutuola and Detective Carisi, from SVU in the city.
Oh, hi.
What's going on? We're investigating an incident that happened in Manhattan last night.
- Manhattan? - Yeah, you made a reservation at the Midtown Skyline Hotel.
Checked in around 6:30 in the evening? No, there must be some mistake.
I was here with my boyfriend.
Well, it was booked under your VISA card.
Hold on a second.
Julie! Where the hell are you? - Who are these mopes? - Police officers.
Something about one of my credit cards.
Well, get rid of 'em and make me something to eat.
- I'm gonna be late.
- Sure, babe.
Oh, my God! My card is gone.
Okay, well, when was the last time you saw it? I remember using it at Costco on Monday.
I must've left it there.
Know this guy? No.
Why? Did something happen to him? That's all we need.
Sorry about bothering you.
Guess I should cancel my card.
That seem sketch to you? People do lose their credit cards.
Especially after cutting some guy's testes off.
What, her? No, my money goes on Stanley Kowalski in there.
TARU will run the E-ZPasses.
I ducked into a hotel bar to kill some time, and there was an attractive woman at the bar, and I I start talking to her.
- And what was her name? - Angela.
Said she was in the city on business.
Okay, can you describe her? [sighs.]
Dark hair.
Uh, late 20s.
Maybe 5'6".
Is that is that Angela? Not even close.
So, Mr.
Karr, tell us exactly what happened.
[stammers.]
We had some cocktails, and and then she invited me up to her room, and she made me a drink from the minibar.
And we started getting friendly.
Like you do, you know? And that's that's the last thing I remember.
I just I came to on the bed, and and I was sitting in a [crying.]
In a bloody, sticky mess.
[breathing shakily.]
Jesus, I haven't even called my wife yet.
I mean, what am I gonna say? I can certainly call her for you and tell her that you're here, and that you were a victim of of an assault.
[exhales.]
Yeah.
I mean, and then what? We're going to find the person who did this to you.
You're gonna get through this, Mr.
Karr.
Jason Karr, age 46.
He works as a copy editor for a company that publishes trade magazines.
He's married, no kids.
Lives on Grand Street.
Fin, you get anything from the hotel bartender? Not much.
He remembers Karr with a woman during happy hour.
They paid cash.
And I get the whole seduction-robbery thing.
That's been going on for ages.
But why castrate the guy? Somebody with anger issues.
This kind of act is almost always motivated by revenge.
And there's a sexual component.
Yeah, but Karr says he doesn't know the perp.
Could be some psycho that hates men.
Or the cutter's taking care of somebody else's business.
Yeah, a jilted lover.
Pissed spouse.
Stanley Kowalski, huh? Wait, hang on a second.
I think I got something on the hotel security video.
This is two minutes before the 911 call.
Fin, you recognize anybody here? That's Julie Wade.
That's the woman with the stolen credit card.
That's right.
So much for being in Yonkers with her boyfriend that night.
Am I in some kind of trouble? Well, why don't you tell us about your VISA card again? I'm pretty sure I left it at Costco.
Well, that's an out-and-out lie, because you were at the Skyline Hotel on 10th Avenue that night.
That isn't me.
I mean, it looks like me.
But I was home.
Okay, well, we also have your E-ZPass going into the city at 5:07 p.
m.
So how do you know Jason Karr? - Who? - Come on.
Julie, you're just digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole right now.
I don't know him.
Then why was he in your hotel room? And why did he leave that room minus his balls? I'm sorry, what? He was castrated.
Wait, am I under arrest for this? Not yet.
Then I better get home.
Before your boyfriend misses his 4:00 feeding? He doesn't need to know about this, okay? Julie's not a good liar.
She's terrified.
So how do we connect her to Karr? Rollins and I showed Karr her DMV photo.
He says he doesn't know her.
I understand why she would lie, but why would he lie? Fin, did the lab get back to you about the name that was on the knife that we found at the hotel room? Cheyenne.
Cheyenne? Isn't that a steak house in Hell's Kitchen? It's three blocks from her hotel.
Maybe that's where their night started.
I'll check.
[dramatic music.]
[lounge music.]
I'm not really good with faces.
I'm more of a word person.
Here's a word.
Focus.
What my partner means to say is that maybe you're just underestimating yourself.
I don't think so.
Okay, Lyla, you on Instagram? - Yeah.
- What about Tinder? Wouldn't you like to know.
I'll take that as a yes.
What about Facebook? - Duh.
- See? Photos.
Selfies.
Faces, Lyla.
You're a pro, and you didn't even know it.
So do me a favor.
Take a look at these photos one more time.
Please.
[sighs.]
This guy I've never seen before.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure she was here that night.
She had dinner with one of our bar regulars, a girl named Evelyn.
Last name? Let me check the tab.
Evelyn Bundy.
She had a rez for a party of three.
A Nora Galen picked up the tab on her AmEx.
I don't really understand why you want to talk to me again.
We'll explain everything to you when we sit down.
[indistinct conversation.]
We appreciate you calling 911, Nora, but now we want to know what you were doing at the hotel that night.
Sit down.
I told you, I was visiting a friend.
We'll need that friend's name and room number.
Just to verify.
- I can't really give you that.
- Why not? Because I'm just not comfortable giving out that information.
Mm.
Okay, let's try this.
Who were you with before you went to the hotel? - I was by myself.
- Nope.
You were having dinner at the Cheyenne Steakhouse with a woman named Julie Wade.
Oh, okay.
Yes, Julie.
Now I remember.
- Ah.
- And Evelyn Bundy? Evelyn? I don't know who that is.
Nora, you're killing me here.
Oh, you mean Eve.
Sorry, I just met her that night, - and Julie introduced us.
- Mm.
But you just pretended not to know her when you walked past her in our squad room.
That was her? I didn't recognize her.
Okay, after dinner, did you go back to Julie's room? Or did you meet Jason Karr at the hotel bar? I just went to visit my friend.
Which one? Julie or Jason? Okay, it was Julie.
I just didn't want to get her involved.
Involved in what? [scoffs.]
You know what? It's time to cut the crap, Nora.
I think I've said everything I want to say about this.
I go to that bar a lot.
Half-price drinks at happy hour.
I met those ladies there.
They were nice enough to buy me dinner.
And you had never met the other two women? - Julie? Nora? - Nope.
All right, and what about a man named Jason Karr? Look, I meet a lot of men all the time.
I really don't keep track of all of them.
Maybe this will jog your memory.
No.
- What are you doing? - I have meds.
What kind of meds? Anxiety.
Look, I have a prescription, okay? So pills, booze.
What's going on in your life right now, Evelyn? Nothing you need to know about.
- Okay, are we about done here? - Not really, no.
Okay, well, maybe you can tell me what's going on? That's fair.
This guy, he was castrated a couple hours after you and the ladies were enjoying a medium-rare ribeye.
Yeah, okay.
So if you're gonna keep me here, I am gonna need my meds, and I'm gonna need a lawyer.
Nora works real estate in Hastings.
Julie keeps house for some bro in Yonkers.
And Evelyn tends bar here in the city.
Hold on.
But her driver's license address is in Katonah, which means that all three of them have ties to Westchester County.
Born in 1979, '78.
What high school did they go to? Nora Galen's Linkedln page says that she went to Packard Prep in Rye Brook.
Okay, is there a yearbook online? Maybe 1995? Got it.
Julie was a junior, and Nora and Evelyn were sophomores.
They all name-check something called the Updike Club in their bios.
Okay, is there a photo of that club? The Updike Literary Club.
Look who their faculty advisor was.
Jason Karr.
It's been nearly 20 years since I taught at Packard.
I mean, some of these faces are familiar, but Okay, well, you know what? Here's an update.
This is Julie Wade.
This is Nora Galen.
This is Evelyn Bundy.
You think one of these women mutilated my husband? Why don't you tell us, Mr.
Karr? They had nothing to do with it.
Why would you think it's one of Jason's former students? We're just ruling out some possibilities.
Julie Wade here, she's the one that booked the hotel room where you were assaulted.
And Nora made the 911 call from the hotel.
And saved your life.
I don't know what to tell you.
So that's all you have to say? Look, uh, it was hard enough telling my wife that I went up to a hotel room with another woman.
And given what's happened, she's forgiven me.
- Haven't you, honey? - Totally.
But we'd we'd like to focus on my recovery and put this whole debacle behind us, so it's it's probably best if you guys leave, but thank you.
One thing we did learn, his child bride knows he's hiding something.
Yeah.
The three women got together 20 years after high school, and within a few hours, one of their teachers was found castrated in a hotel room.
What's the presumed motive? It wasn't for giving 'em all Cs.
Given the nature of the injury, there's a sexual motivation behind it.
Explains why Karr won't talk.
Yeah, I can't prosecute the assault unless the victim makes an ID.
Okay, well, how about we charge the three women with obstruction? For asserting their Fifth Amendment rights? After they lied to us and obfuscated our investigation.
Obfuscate.
Yummy.
Hold on, Rafa.
An obstruction charge would certainly leverage some cooperation.
If you can't prove the crime, prove the cover-up.
You'd have reasonable cause for an arrest, but my advice is, get Jason Karr on board, or this train is going nowhere.
Which we know is not gonna happen.
Okay, so we are going to follow Carisi's suggestion.
Arrest them for obstruction, and put them all in the same holding cell.
You don't return my calls.
Hi.
I am so sorry.
It has been crazy around here, but I did want to tell you that both the DA's office and ACS have closed their case files.
Not about that.
Back when I filed your application for custody, I was under the impression that both of Ellie Porter's parents were dead.
Yeah.
That's what she told me.
Ellie lied to you, Olivia.
Her mother is alive.
Sheila Porter.
She hired a PI to track down her daughter.
They they somehow found out about Noah, and she has now filed a petition to vacate Noah's adoption.
Wow.
Why didn't you corroborate what Ellie told me about her parents? - You're blaming me? - Yeah, I'm blaming you.
You didn't do your homework.
Do you know how many Porters there are in New York State? - This woman is in New York? - New Hampshire.
This is unbelievable.
The one thing that you had to get right.
You said she had no relatives.
I am not a lawyer.
- You have a database.
- For police business! All right, I'm not gonna stand here and defend myself.
You better defend yourself.
We'll fight this, Liv.
If I lose Noah after everything that I've been through That is not going to happen.
Liv, there is no legal basis to vacate this adoption.
We both know that Judge Linden fast-tracked this adoption for me.
I know.
Even so, there is Please leave.
Please leave.
[dramatic music.]
[door closes.]
[indistinct conversation.]
All right, who's doing the paperwork on the obstruction collars? Well, your idea, so I guess that would be you.
They know we're lying, Evelyn.
- You clocking this? - Of course they do! You have to tell them what happened.
I can't.
Because I'm not going to jail [indistinct conversation.]
If you tell them the truth, they'll go easier on you.
We want to talk to you.
- We'll call your lawyers.
- We don't want lawyers.
We want to tell you the truth.
I was a sophomore at Packard.
I'd just transferred from public school, and I didn't have any friends there.
The best part of my week was Mr.
Karr's poetry class.
Every time I volunteered, he complimented me.
He gave me confidence, like a good teacher is supposed to.
He wrote notes on my paper about how smart I was, or he'd make a joke about something somebody said in class.
One day, he asked me to stay after class.
He made me a mixtape.
He knew I was really into grunge.
I was constantly wearing the same Nirvana T-shirt.
[scoffs.]
All that extra attention, it made me feel special.
So when all the rest of the kids had left, he pulls this big seashell out of his bag.
A conch shell that he'd found at the beach.
He said it was a metaphor for me.
A treasure washed up by the waves.
It looked plain on the outside, but inside, it was shiny and smooth, with pink and orange swirls.
So yeah, I was 16.
And he took my breath away.
And the first time we had sex, he invited me to his apartment near school to watch a film.
He asked me if I wanted to smoke some weed, listen to some music, so we went out to his car.
We got high.
And I knew what we were doing wasn't cool, but it was too late.
I'd already accepted all of his attention.
Then one day I went to the coffee place, like we'd arranged, and he never showed up.
I felt worthless.
That's when I started cutting myself.
So at our 20th reunion, I'm at the bar with a couple of girls I know from the Updike Club, Julie and Nora, and Mr.
Karr's name comes up.
And we kind of look at each other.
Julie was the first one to admit it.
So we told each other our stories, and we realized how Mr.
Karr had screwed us all up.
How Julie took her shame out on her own body, how Nora's always alone because she can't trust anybody, and me, well So Nora Googled him.
And we saw that he has a job in the city now.
We had this idea that if we could confront him about what he did, then maybe we could get some closure.
So Julie reached out to him, and he agreed to meet her at the hotel bar.
Nora and I were waiting in the room when Julie brought him upstairs.
And then what happened? Then You don't understand.
You're a man.
Listen to me, Evelyn.
That man is a predator, and he should be in prison.
Yeah, what do you know about it? You're right.
I don't know.
But I do have a niece.
If I found out one of her teachers was doing that to her, cop or no cop, I would beat the living crap out of him.
At first at first we just asked him if he remembered what he did to us.
You could tell he never even gave it a second thought.
He said he was a great teacher.
He encouraged our love of the arts, and and anyways, we had a lot of experience with boys and we seduced him.
Okay, that's when I lost it.
That's when I knew I needed to damage him the same way he damaged me.
What did you do? I spiked his drink with my pills.
And when he passed out, I got the knife that I stole from the restaurant and I told Julie and Nora to leave, and I Do you know what contrapasso means? No.
It's from Dante's "Inferno.
" A punishment a sinner gets in hell is the opposite of his sin.
So thank you, Mr.
Karr.
You always did encourage me to read the classics.
[exhales slowly.]
Hey, Lieutenant.
Evelyn says the other women had no idea it was coming.
They did not participate.
They tried to cover it up.
But they came clean, so the obstruction charge is moot.
Okay, so charge Evelyn with Assault One.
Call Barba, and get her downtown to arraignment.
You know what, though? With what he did to these women in high school, if the statute of limitations hadn't already expired, we'd be charging Jason Karr too right now.
You're right.
Get Evelyn back here tomorrow with her lawyer.
Maybe we can get a quick plea deal and put this whole thing to bed.
My client's interested in pleading guilty to the assault, but first we'd like to give you a little more context if you agree not to use it in court.
Okay, I'll have to run any disposition by the DA's office.
Let's get started.
Look, I know I did a terrible thing.
I I was so freaked out to see him again, and and I had way too much to drink, and then I just snapped.
You know, when he said that it was our fault, that we were responsible And I wish we could arrest him for what he did 20 years ago, but the prosecutions for the statutory rapes that he committed at Packard are now barred by the statute of limitations.
Right, but you're still gonna charge me.
You didn't punch him in the face and break his nose, Evelyn.
You disfigured him.
You took a knife.
Yeah, I took a knife for protection.
- Protection from what? - From Karr.
- He can get violent.
- Violent how? It was the last time I went to his apartment.
I went over there to tell him that it was over, because I'd heard he was seeing some other girl.
A senior in his advisory.
And he got angry.
And he told me that he wasn't ready to say good-bye yet.
And then he He took a corkscrew, and he held it to my face.
And he told me not to scream, and then he held me down and forced me to have sex with him, so [knocks on glass.]
You on this? - Force.
Rape One.
- No statute of limitations.
Now hold on.
Did she just come up with that because Vincent told her that we can't prosecute Karr? That's not what I saw.
For Evelyn to do what she did to him, I believe every word of it.
[suspenseful music.]
I told you, I have nothing more to say about this.
Mr.
Karr, please step outside and turn around.
What are you what? Why are you arresting me? You're charged with rape in the first degree on the complaint of Evelyn Bundy.
Are you serious? After what she did to him? - Ma'am.
Ma'am! - This is outrageous! Stop.
- I'm Lieutenant Benson - How can you do this to my husband? I can't imagine having to Do you even understand what that bitch did to him? Of course I do.
And it is awful.
But he's the one being prosecuted for something 20 years ago that probably never happened.
With all due respect, you weren't there, were you? [scoffs.]
I understand why you would want to support your husband.
Jason is not a rapist! You know, I'm curious.
How did you two meet? So you think because he's older than me, that he has, what? Some kind of fetish? I didn't say that.
We met four years ago.
I had a summer internship at the publisher he was working for.
So you were in college.
We fell in love.
We wanted to have a family.
So much for that.
You know, I have a son.
And I adopted him, and he he is what makes everything worth it.
After what my husband has been through, it would just be a reminder of the night he stopped being a man.
You're really going to try to put him in jail after that? I'm sorry for what happened to you.
I really am.
But that's not up to me.
[melancholy music.]
It was the spring of my sophomore year.
There was a rumor going around that Mr.
Karr was hooking up with a girl in the senior class, so I went to tell him that I wouldn't be coming over to his apartment anymore.
And he lost it.
He told me that I couldn't break up with him.
Only he could break up with me.
Then he grabbed me, threw me down on the floor, pulled my pants off.
I tried to tell him to stop, but he got on top of me.
I tried to get away from him, but he grabbed a corkscrew off the coffee table and held it to my face.
He told me if I screamed, he would cut me with it.
What did he do then? Then he put his penis in my vagina, and he raped me.
Thank you, Evelyn.
No further questions.
But you didn't tell anyone at the time that this had happened? Not a parent, a friend, a guidance counselor? I didn't think anyone would believe me.
Because for six months you'd been having consensual sex? No, I wasn't old enough to consent.
I acquiesced.
That's a fancy word that means you liked it? - Objection.
- Overruled.
I'll allow it.
At the time, I was young and confused.
Were you young and confused when you stole a steak knife and castrated him? No.
No, yes, I was.
I was confused.
Maybe you're confused right now about what he did to you in high school.
No, I'm not confused about that.
Maybe this story of forcible rape has come 20 years after the fact because that's the only way my client can be prosecuted now.
He should be prosecuted for all of it.
I was 16 years old, and a teacher that I looked up to, that I trusted, took advantage of me.
Do you remember this, Mr.
Karr? Jason? I saved it as a reminder of what happened between us.
Move to strike.
This is not responsive.
[shell shatters.]
[breathing shakily.]
[dramatic music.]
We're in recess.
Let's get her some medical attention, please.
Mrs.
Karr.
There's something you should see.
Jason kept a box of papers from his teaching days in the basement.
After I saw Evelyn in court, I went downstairs to see what was in there.
"Packard Literary Journal," from '95.
Look at page 15.
It's a poem.
Why are you showing this to us? You know this could hurt your husband's case.
[scoffs.]
I was three years out of college when Evelyn was in my poetry class.
You've heard her testimony.
Did you do the things she claims you did? I need to explain this.
I I was young and immature, and Evelyn [sighs.]
I had real feelings for her.
I know that sounds creepy now, but I was just 24 years old, and I developed a crush on her.
And when I look back on it now, I know that there's no excuse for for my behavior, whatever my feelings were.
I took advantage of my position of power, and that was wrong.
And for that, I am truly, truly sorry.
But I never used physical force to get Evelyn to have sex with me.
Never.
Did you explain this to her when she confronted you in that hotel room? I tried to.
That's why I agreed to go see Julie that night, to say that I was sorry.
Can you describe for us how that encounter impacted your life? Well, after I was maimed, I had plastic surgery to reconstruct my scrotum.
I have prosthetic testicles.
I'll be on hormone replacement for the rest of my life.
I have nightmares.
And every time I look down there, I, uh I'm reminded all over again that I'm never gonna have children.
[crying.]
I'm never gonna be able to raise a family.
Do you need a moment, Jason? That someone could do this to another human being I know that I behaved badly when I was at Packard, and I will regret that for the rest of my life.
But haven't I suffered enough? When you when you taught at Packard, there was a student literary journal.
Is that correct? Yes.
And so the students would would submit their writing for inclusion in the magazine? That's correct.
Okay.
I'd like to have that marked as People's Seven for identification.
Could you read the poem on page 15 to the jury, please? Move to strike.
Where is this going? It'll become readily apparent in short order, Your Honor.
I'll give you some latitude, Mr.
Barba, but get to it.
Thank you.
Please read the poem aloud, Mr.
Karr.
Start with the title.
"Corkscrew.
" "Friday afternoons will never be the same, "no golden sunlight streaming "or songbirds serenading in the trees.
"Just the rank taste of cheap wine "and the brown stain on the ceiling "as numb and naive I lie, "pinned to your filthy floor "and you, corkscrew in your sweaty fist, crush my soul.
" As a former teacher of literature, could you conclude that the author of this poem had personally endured an act of sexual violence? Everybody knows that poems are feats of imagination.
Projections, or metaphors.
Right.
Who wrote that poem, sir? [tense music.]
Evelyn Bundy.
When? April, '95.
Nothing further.
You mind? Am I that predictable? You are but this is a tough case.
Listen, I'm considering offering a deal.
Karr does the same four years Evelyn Bundy agreed to.
You proved forcible rape.
If she cut off his finger, if she poked him in the eye It shouldn't make a difference.
We don't live in a vacuum.
I can assure you, the seven guys on that jury, they feel Karr's pain.
And if Karr wasn't castrated, if he had cancer - It's not the same thing.
- It should be.
Why do we do this, Raphael? Because the next girl who gets raped needs to know that that person is us.
No matter what.
[dramatic music.]
The question then becomes, what is justice? Or more precisely, exactly how much retribution does a criminal owe? How much vengeance does a victim deserve? Sure, we can pore over volumes and volumes of legal doctrine, but when push comes to shove, the answer is way more visceral than it is scholarly.
It's human nature.
It's hard-wired into us, like eating and sleeping.
You're wronged.
You need to wrong someone back.
To be sure, Evelyn Bundy already took Jason Karr's metaphorical eye.
Now what Mr.
Barba wants is for you to throw in an ear as well.
But is that just? Our innate sense of fair play tells us that to cause Jason to suffer any more than he already has would be tantamount to giving Evelyn more justice than she actually deserves.
My friends, please.
That simply wouldn't be fair.
Thank you.
[crumpling paper.]
Hasn't he suffered enough? My vote is yes, he has.
I mean, Jason assaulted Evelyn.
Evelyn assaulted him back.
That sounds fair to me.
Sounds like justice at work.
To be just, it has to be fair.
I mean, that's what Ms.
Rivers asserts.
You know, I can't really disagree with that.
In purely pound of flesh terms, Mr.
Karr certainly gave up a hell of a lot more than he got.
Fair? Not a chance.
To be totally fair, you should give Jason one of Evelyn's breasts.
An arm, maybe.
That's only fair.
And as we have now decided, that means it's just.
Jason Karr forcibly raped Evelyn Bundy when she was little more than a child.
But to tack a prison sentence on Mr.
Karr's already gargantuan suffering would tip the balance of justice in Ms.
Bundy's favor, and hey, there's no way that's fair, so there's no way that's just.
A man whose store burns down rushes out, buys some gasoline, a book of matches, and sets the house of the arsonist on fire.
Hey! It's fair, so that means it's just! A man whose children have been murdered buys a gun and splatters the brains of the killer's children all over their bedroom walls.
It's fair.
It's just.
Why bother with cops or courts? If it's fair, it has to be just! Let the blood flow in the streets, I say! Oh, wait, you don't like it? I say get a bigger pair of boots.
[dramatic music.]
Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
How do you find? We find the defendant, Jason Karr, guilty of rape in the first degree.
"So Peter Rabbit was so tired that he flopped down "on the nice, soft sand "on the floor of the rabbit hole, "and he shut his eyes.
His mother was busy cooking.
" What was she cooking? Probably sushi.
[laughs.]
Rabbits don't eat sushi.
"She wondered what he had done with his clothes.
"It was the second little jacket and shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight" [knocking on door.]
Did you invite somebody over? No, you did.
No, I didn't.
Let me check who it is, sweetie.
[knocking continues.]
Olivia Benson? Yes.
I'm Sheila Porter.
Noah's grandmother.
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.
[dramatic music.]
So I'm eight years old.
I go to the store with my mom.
Now, while she's paying, I end up boosting some, uh some Rolos.
When I was that age, I was all about Jujubes.
So what am I gonna do, right? We get outside, pull the Rolos out of my BVDs.
She busts me.
She makes me go back into the store.
I got to cop to everything.
I cried I cried like a little baby, and then I had to do it all over again on Sunday at confession, but bless her heart, she never did tell my old man.
My pops would've backhanded me if I did something stupid.
I stayed out of trouble mostly out of fear.
What we got? We caught a job off a 911 call.
People screaming in room 240.
When we got up here, nobody answered the door.
Security let us in.
We got a bloody steak knife in the sink here.
It is nasty, but why call SVU? Take a look in that ice bucket.
Aw! Come on.
If I'm not mistaken, that's a set of testicles.
- Aw, jeez.
- Confirmed.
You found these on ice? They were on the bed.
I put 'em in there.
Good thinking.
[flashlight clicks on.]
Hey, Carisi, check this out.
[suspenseful music.]
He's still alive.
[dramatic music.]
Jason Karr, the unfortunate recipient of an amateur gonadectomy.
Patrol said that they recovered the missing parts and brought them here? Once the spermatic cord is severed, the testicles are just medical waste.
Good news is he'll be okay with some plastic surgery, prosthetics, hormone replacement therapy.
Depends what you mean by okay.
- Yeah.
- Any defensive wounds? None, but his tox screen showed a high level of alprazolam, and his BAC was 0.
19.
Lucky for Mr.
Karr, he was thoroughly zonked when he gave up the family jewels.
And how soon can we talk to him? Once his anesthesia wears off, we'll move him to the ICU.
[phone buzzing.]
Okay.
- Thanks.
- Benson.
Oh, hi.
Thank you so very much.
That is that is great news.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you very much.
The DA cleared me.
They are closing the investigation of Noah's bruises.
[exhales deeply.]
Liv, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.
[softly.]
Yeah, well happy ending at least.
[dramatic music.]
I called 911 a few minutes after I left the hotel.
Why were you there? I was visiting a friend who was staying there.
As I was going to the elevator, I heard people screaming at each other in room 240.
A man and a woman.
Did you hear what they were saying, Ms.
Galen? Nora.
Not really.
It was mostly profanity.
So why not knock on the door, see if anyone needed help? Well, it was none of my business, really.
But as soon as I left, I started to feel guilty I didn't do anything.
I hope everybody's okay.
Let's just say it's a good thing you called us.
[knocking on door.]
Julie Wade? That's right.
Detective Tutuola and Detective Carisi, from SVU in the city.
Oh, hi.
What's going on? We're investigating an incident that happened in Manhattan last night.
- Manhattan? - Yeah, you made a reservation at the Midtown Skyline Hotel.
Checked in around 6:30 in the evening? No, there must be some mistake.
I was here with my boyfriend.
Well, it was booked under your VISA card.
Hold on a second.
Julie! Where the hell are you? - Who are these mopes? - Police officers.
Something about one of my credit cards.
Well, get rid of 'em and make me something to eat.
- I'm gonna be late.
- Sure, babe.
Oh, my God! My card is gone.
Okay, well, when was the last time you saw it? I remember using it at Costco on Monday.
I must've left it there.
Know this guy? No.
Why? Did something happen to him? That's all we need.
Sorry about bothering you.
Guess I should cancel my card.
That seem sketch to you? People do lose their credit cards.
Especially after cutting some guy's testes off.
What, her? No, my money goes on Stanley Kowalski in there.
TARU will run the E-ZPasses.
I ducked into a hotel bar to kill some time, and there was an attractive woman at the bar, and I I start talking to her.
- And what was her name? - Angela.
Said she was in the city on business.
Okay, can you describe her? [sighs.]
Dark hair.
Uh, late 20s.
Maybe 5'6".
Is that is that Angela? Not even close.
So, Mr.
Karr, tell us exactly what happened.
[stammers.]
We had some cocktails, and and then she invited me up to her room, and she made me a drink from the minibar.
And we started getting friendly.
Like you do, you know? And that's that's the last thing I remember.
I just I came to on the bed, and and I was sitting in a [crying.]
In a bloody, sticky mess.
[breathing shakily.]
Jesus, I haven't even called my wife yet.
I mean, what am I gonna say? I can certainly call her for you and tell her that you're here, and that you were a victim of of an assault.
[exhales.]
Yeah.
I mean, and then what? We're going to find the person who did this to you.
You're gonna get through this, Mr.
Karr.
Jason Karr, age 46.
He works as a copy editor for a company that publishes trade magazines.
He's married, no kids.
Lives on Grand Street.
Fin, you get anything from the hotel bartender? Not much.
He remembers Karr with a woman during happy hour.
They paid cash.
And I get the whole seduction-robbery thing.
That's been going on for ages.
But why castrate the guy? Somebody with anger issues.
This kind of act is almost always motivated by revenge.
And there's a sexual component.
Yeah, but Karr says he doesn't know the perp.
Could be some psycho that hates men.
Or the cutter's taking care of somebody else's business.
Yeah, a jilted lover.
Pissed spouse.
Stanley Kowalski, huh? Wait, hang on a second.
I think I got something on the hotel security video.
This is two minutes before the 911 call.
Fin, you recognize anybody here? That's Julie Wade.
That's the woman with the stolen credit card.
That's right.
So much for being in Yonkers with her boyfriend that night.
Am I in some kind of trouble? Well, why don't you tell us about your VISA card again? I'm pretty sure I left it at Costco.
Well, that's an out-and-out lie, because you were at the Skyline Hotel on 10th Avenue that night.
That isn't me.
I mean, it looks like me.
But I was home.
Okay, well, we also have your E-ZPass going into the city at 5:07 p.
m.
So how do you know Jason Karr? - Who? - Come on.
Julie, you're just digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole right now.
I don't know him.
Then why was he in your hotel room? And why did he leave that room minus his balls? I'm sorry, what? He was castrated.
Wait, am I under arrest for this? Not yet.
Then I better get home.
Before your boyfriend misses his 4:00 feeding? He doesn't need to know about this, okay? Julie's not a good liar.
She's terrified.
So how do we connect her to Karr? Rollins and I showed Karr her DMV photo.
He says he doesn't know her.
I understand why she would lie, but why would he lie? Fin, did the lab get back to you about the name that was on the knife that we found at the hotel room? Cheyenne.
Cheyenne? Isn't that a steak house in Hell's Kitchen? It's three blocks from her hotel.
Maybe that's where their night started.
I'll check.
[dramatic music.]
[lounge music.]
I'm not really good with faces.
I'm more of a word person.
Here's a word.
Focus.
What my partner means to say is that maybe you're just underestimating yourself.
I don't think so.
Okay, Lyla, you on Instagram? - Yeah.
- What about Tinder? Wouldn't you like to know.
I'll take that as a yes.
What about Facebook? - Duh.
- See? Photos.
Selfies.
Faces, Lyla.
You're a pro, and you didn't even know it.
So do me a favor.
Take a look at these photos one more time.
Please.
[sighs.]
This guy I've never seen before.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure she was here that night.
She had dinner with one of our bar regulars, a girl named Evelyn.
Last name? Let me check the tab.
Evelyn Bundy.
She had a rez for a party of three.
A Nora Galen picked up the tab on her AmEx.
I don't really understand why you want to talk to me again.
We'll explain everything to you when we sit down.
[indistinct conversation.]
We appreciate you calling 911, Nora, but now we want to know what you were doing at the hotel that night.
Sit down.
I told you, I was visiting a friend.
We'll need that friend's name and room number.
Just to verify.
- I can't really give you that.
- Why not? Because I'm just not comfortable giving out that information.
Mm.
Okay, let's try this.
Who were you with before you went to the hotel? - I was by myself.
- Nope.
You were having dinner at the Cheyenne Steakhouse with a woman named Julie Wade.
Oh, okay.
Yes, Julie.
Now I remember.
- Ah.
- And Evelyn Bundy? Evelyn? I don't know who that is.
Nora, you're killing me here.
Oh, you mean Eve.
Sorry, I just met her that night, - and Julie introduced us.
- Mm.
But you just pretended not to know her when you walked past her in our squad room.
That was her? I didn't recognize her.
Okay, after dinner, did you go back to Julie's room? Or did you meet Jason Karr at the hotel bar? I just went to visit my friend.
Which one? Julie or Jason? Okay, it was Julie.
I just didn't want to get her involved.
Involved in what? [scoffs.]
You know what? It's time to cut the crap, Nora.
I think I've said everything I want to say about this.
I go to that bar a lot.
Half-price drinks at happy hour.
I met those ladies there.
They were nice enough to buy me dinner.
And you had never met the other two women? - Julie? Nora? - Nope.
All right, and what about a man named Jason Karr? Look, I meet a lot of men all the time.
I really don't keep track of all of them.
Maybe this will jog your memory.
No.
- What are you doing? - I have meds.
What kind of meds? Anxiety.
Look, I have a prescription, okay? So pills, booze.
What's going on in your life right now, Evelyn? Nothing you need to know about.
- Okay, are we about done here? - Not really, no.
Okay, well, maybe you can tell me what's going on? That's fair.
This guy, he was castrated a couple hours after you and the ladies were enjoying a medium-rare ribeye.
Yeah, okay.
So if you're gonna keep me here, I am gonna need my meds, and I'm gonna need a lawyer.
Nora works real estate in Hastings.
Julie keeps house for some bro in Yonkers.
And Evelyn tends bar here in the city.
Hold on.
But her driver's license address is in Katonah, which means that all three of them have ties to Westchester County.
Born in 1979, '78.
What high school did they go to? Nora Galen's Linkedln page says that she went to Packard Prep in Rye Brook.
Okay, is there a yearbook online? Maybe 1995? Got it.
Julie was a junior, and Nora and Evelyn were sophomores.
They all name-check something called the Updike Club in their bios.
Okay, is there a photo of that club? The Updike Literary Club.
Look who their faculty advisor was.
Jason Karr.
It's been nearly 20 years since I taught at Packard.
I mean, some of these faces are familiar, but Okay, well, you know what? Here's an update.
This is Julie Wade.
This is Nora Galen.
This is Evelyn Bundy.
You think one of these women mutilated my husband? Why don't you tell us, Mr.
Karr? They had nothing to do with it.
Why would you think it's one of Jason's former students? We're just ruling out some possibilities.
Julie Wade here, she's the one that booked the hotel room where you were assaulted.
And Nora made the 911 call from the hotel.
And saved your life.
I don't know what to tell you.
So that's all you have to say? Look, uh, it was hard enough telling my wife that I went up to a hotel room with another woman.
And given what's happened, she's forgiven me.
- Haven't you, honey? - Totally.
But we'd we'd like to focus on my recovery and put this whole debacle behind us, so it's it's probably best if you guys leave, but thank you.
One thing we did learn, his child bride knows he's hiding something.
Yeah.
The three women got together 20 years after high school, and within a few hours, one of their teachers was found castrated in a hotel room.
What's the presumed motive? It wasn't for giving 'em all Cs.
Given the nature of the injury, there's a sexual motivation behind it.
Explains why Karr won't talk.
Yeah, I can't prosecute the assault unless the victim makes an ID.
Okay, well, how about we charge the three women with obstruction? For asserting their Fifth Amendment rights? After they lied to us and obfuscated our investigation.
Obfuscate.
Yummy.
Hold on, Rafa.
An obstruction charge would certainly leverage some cooperation.
If you can't prove the crime, prove the cover-up.
You'd have reasonable cause for an arrest, but my advice is, get Jason Karr on board, or this train is going nowhere.
Which we know is not gonna happen.
Okay, so we are going to follow Carisi's suggestion.
Arrest them for obstruction, and put them all in the same holding cell.
You don't return my calls.
Hi.
I am so sorry.
It has been crazy around here, but I did want to tell you that both the DA's office and ACS have closed their case files.
Not about that.
Back when I filed your application for custody, I was under the impression that both of Ellie Porter's parents were dead.
Yeah.
That's what she told me.
Ellie lied to you, Olivia.
Her mother is alive.
Sheila Porter.
She hired a PI to track down her daughter.
They they somehow found out about Noah, and she has now filed a petition to vacate Noah's adoption.
Wow.
Why didn't you corroborate what Ellie told me about her parents? - You're blaming me? - Yeah, I'm blaming you.
You didn't do your homework.
Do you know how many Porters there are in New York State? - This woman is in New York? - New Hampshire.
This is unbelievable.
The one thing that you had to get right.
You said she had no relatives.
I am not a lawyer.
- You have a database.
- For police business! All right, I'm not gonna stand here and defend myself.
You better defend yourself.
We'll fight this, Liv.
If I lose Noah after everything that I've been through That is not going to happen.
Liv, there is no legal basis to vacate this adoption.
We both know that Judge Linden fast-tracked this adoption for me.
I know.
Even so, there is Please leave.
Please leave.
[dramatic music.]
[door closes.]
[indistinct conversation.]
All right, who's doing the paperwork on the obstruction collars? Well, your idea, so I guess that would be you.
They know we're lying, Evelyn.
- You clocking this? - Of course they do! You have to tell them what happened.
I can't.
Because I'm not going to jail [indistinct conversation.]
If you tell them the truth, they'll go easier on you.
We want to talk to you.
- We'll call your lawyers.
- We don't want lawyers.
We want to tell you the truth.
I was a sophomore at Packard.
I'd just transferred from public school, and I didn't have any friends there.
The best part of my week was Mr.
Karr's poetry class.
Every time I volunteered, he complimented me.
He gave me confidence, like a good teacher is supposed to.
He wrote notes on my paper about how smart I was, or he'd make a joke about something somebody said in class.
One day, he asked me to stay after class.
He made me a mixtape.
He knew I was really into grunge.
I was constantly wearing the same Nirvana T-shirt.
[scoffs.]
All that extra attention, it made me feel special.
So when all the rest of the kids had left, he pulls this big seashell out of his bag.
A conch shell that he'd found at the beach.
He said it was a metaphor for me.
A treasure washed up by the waves.
It looked plain on the outside, but inside, it was shiny and smooth, with pink and orange swirls.
So yeah, I was 16.
And he took my breath away.
And the first time we had sex, he invited me to his apartment near school to watch a film.
He asked me if I wanted to smoke some weed, listen to some music, so we went out to his car.
We got high.
And I knew what we were doing wasn't cool, but it was too late.
I'd already accepted all of his attention.
Then one day I went to the coffee place, like we'd arranged, and he never showed up.
I felt worthless.
That's when I started cutting myself.
So at our 20th reunion, I'm at the bar with a couple of girls I know from the Updike Club, Julie and Nora, and Mr.
Karr's name comes up.
And we kind of look at each other.
Julie was the first one to admit it.
So we told each other our stories, and we realized how Mr.
Karr had screwed us all up.
How Julie took her shame out on her own body, how Nora's always alone because she can't trust anybody, and me, well So Nora Googled him.
And we saw that he has a job in the city now.
We had this idea that if we could confront him about what he did, then maybe we could get some closure.
So Julie reached out to him, and he agreed to meet her at the hotel bar.
Nora and I were waiting in the room when Julie brought him upstairs.
And then what happened? Then You don't understand.
You're a man.
Listen to me, Evelyn.
That man is a predator, and he should be in prison.
Yeah, what do you know about it? You're right.
I don't know.
But I do have a niece.
If I found out one of her teachers was doing that to her, cop or no cop, I would beat the living crap out of him.
At first at first we just asked him if he remembered what he did to us.
You could tell he never even gave it a second thought.
He said he was a great teacher.
He encouraged our love of the arts, and and anyways, we had a lot of experience with boys and we seduced him.
Okay, that's when I lost it.
That's when I knew I needed to damage him the same way he damaged me.
What did you do? I spiked his drink with my pills.
And when he passed out, I got the knife that I stole from the restaurant and I told Julie and Nora to leave, and I Do you know what contrapasso means? No.
It's from Dante's "Inferno.
" A punishment a sinner gets in hell is the opposite of his sin.
So thank you, Mr.
Karr.
You always did encourage me to read the classics.
[exhales slowly.]
Hey, Lieutenant.
Evelyn says the other women had no idea it was coming.
They did not participate.
They tried to cover it up.
But they came clean, so the obstruction charge is moot.
Okay, so charge Evelyn with Assault One.
Call Barba, and get her downtown to arraignment.
You know what, though? With what he did to these women in high school, if the statute of limitations hadn't already expired, we'd be charging Jason Karr too right now.
You're right.
Get Evelyn back here tomorrow with her lawyer.
Maybe we can get a quick plea deal and put this whole thing to bed.
My client's interested in pleading guilty to the assault, but first we'd like to give you a little more context if you agree not to use it in court.
Okay, I'll have to run any disposition by the DA's office.
Let's get started.
Look, I know I did a terrible thing.
I I was so freaked out to see him again, and and I had way too much to drink, and then I just snapped.
You know, when he said that it was our fault, that we were responsible And I wish we could arrest him for what he did 20 years ago, but the prosecutions for the statutory rapes that he committed at Packard are now barred by the statute of limitations.
Right, but you're still gonna charge me.
You didn't punch him in the face and break his nose, Evelyn.
You disfigured him.
You took a knife.
Yeah, I took a knife for protection.
- Protection from what? - From Karr.
- He can get violent.
- Violent how? It was the last time I went to his apartment.
I went over there to tell him that it was over, because I'd heard he was seeing some other girl.
A senior in his advisory.
And he got angry.
And he told me that he wasn't ready to say good-bye yet.
And then he He took a corkscrew, and he held it to my face.
And he told me not to scream, and then he held me down and forced me to have sex with him, so [knocks on glass.]
You on this? - Force.
Rape One.
- No statute of limitations.
Now hold on.
Did she just come up with that because Vincent told her that we can't prosecute Karr? That's not what I saw.
For Evelyn to do what she did to him, I believe every word of it.
[suspenseful music.]
I told you, I have nothing more to say about this.
Mr.
Karr, please step outside and turn around.
What are you what? Why are you arresting me? You're charged with rape in the first degree on the complaint of Evelyn Bundy.
Are you serious? After what she did to him? - Ma'am.
Ma'am! - This is outrageous! Stop.
- I'm Lieutenant Benson - How can you do this to my husband? I can't imagine having to Do you even understand what that bitch did to him? Of course I do.
And it is awful.
But he's the one being prosecuted for something 20 years ago that probably never happened.
With all due respect, you weren't there, were you? [scoffs.]
I understand why you would want to support your husband.
Jason is not a rapist! You know, I'm curious.
How did you two meet? So you think because he's older than me, that he has, what? Some kind of fetish? I didn't say that.
We met four years ago.
I had a summer internship at the publisher he was working for.
So you were in college.
We fell in love.
We wanted to have a family.
So much for that.
You know, I have a son.
And I adopted him, and he he is what makes everything worth it.
After what my husband has been through, it would just be a reminder of the night he stopped being a man.
You're really going to try to put him in jail after that? I'm sorry for what happened to you.
I really am.
But that's not up to me.
[melancholy music.]
It was the spring of my sophomore year.
There was a rumor going around that Mr.
Karr was hooking up with a girl in the senior class, so I went to tell him that I wouldn't be coming over to his apartment anymore.
And he lost it.
He told me that I couldn't break up with him.
Only he could break up with me.
Then he grabbed me, threw me down on the floor, pulled my pants off.
I tried to tell him to stop, but he got on top of me.
I tried to get away from him, but he grabbed a corkscrew off the coffee table and held it to my face.
He told me if I screamed, he would cut me with it.
What did he do then? Then he put his penis in my vagina, and he raped me.
Thank you, Evelyn.
No further questions.
But you didn't tell anyone at the time that this had happened? Not a parent, a friend, a guidance counselor? I didn't think anyone would believe me.
Because for six months you'd been having consensual sex? No, I wasn't old enough to consent.
I acquiesced.
That's a fancy word that means you liked it? - Objection.
- Overruled.
I'll allow it.
At the time, I was young and confused.
Were you young and confused when you stole a steak knife and castrated him? No.
No, yes, I was.
I was confused.
Maybe you're confused right now about what he did to you in high school.
No, I'm not confused about that.
Maybe this story of forcible rape has come 20 years after the fact because that's the only way my client can be prosecuted now.
He should be prosecuted for all of it.
I was 16 years old, and a teacher that I looked up to, that I trusted, took advantage of me.
Do you remember this, Mr.
Karr? Jason? I saved it as a reminder of what happened between us.
Move to strike.
This is not responsive.
[shell shatters.]
[breathing shakily.]
[dramatic music.]
We're in recess.
Let's get her some medical attention, please.
Mrs.
Karr.
There's something you should see.
Jason kept a box of papers from his teaching days in the basement.
After I saw Evelyn in court, I went downstairs to see what was in there.
"Packard Literary Journal," from '95.
Look at page 15.
It's a poem.
Why are you showing this to us? You know this could hurt your husband's case.
[scoffs.]
I was three years out of college when Evelyn was in my poetry class.
You've heard her testimony.
Did you do the things she claims you did? I need to explain this.
I I was young and immature, and Evelyn [sighs.]
I had real feelings for her.
I know that sounds creepy now, but I was just 24 years old, and I developed a crush on her.
And when I look back on it now, I know that there's no excuse for for my behavior, whatever my feelings were.
I took advantage of my position of power, and that was wrong.
And for that, I am truly, truly sorry.
But I never used physical force to get Evelyn to have sex with me.
Never.
Did you explain this to her when she confronted you in that hotel room? I tried to.
That's why I agreed to go see Julie that night, to say that I was sorry.
Can you describe for us how that encounter impacted your life? Well, after I was maimed, I had plastic surgery to reconstruct my scrotum.
I have prosthetic testicles.
I'll be on hormone replacement for the rest of my life.
I have nightmares.
And every time I look down there, I, uh I'm reminded all over again that I'm never gonna have children.
[crying.]
I'm never gonna be able to raise a family.
Do you need a moment, Jason? That someone could do this to another human being I know that I behaved badly when I was at Packard, and I will regret that for the rest of my life.
But haven't I suffered enough? When you when you taught at Packard, there was a student literary journal.
Is that correct? Yes.
And so the students would would submit their writing for inclusion in the magazine? That's correct.
Okay.
I'd like to have that marked as People's Seven for identification.
Could you read the poem on page 15 to the jury, please? Move to strike.
Where is this going? It'll become readily apparent in short order, Your Honor.
I'll give you some latitude, Mr.
Barba, but get to it.
Thank you.
Please read the poem aloud, Mr.
Karr.
Start with the title.
"Corkscrew.
" "Friday afternoons will never be the same, "no golden sunlight streaming "or songbirds serenading in the trees.
"Just the rank taste of cheap wine "and the brown stain on the ceiling "as numb and naive I lie, "pinned to your filthy floor "and you, corkscrew in your sweaty fist, crush my soul.
" As a former teacher of literature, could you conclude that the author of this poem had personally endured an act of sexual violence? Everybody knows that poems are feats of imagination.
Projections, or metaphors.
Right.
Who wrote that poem, sir? [tense music.]
Evelyn Bundy.
When? April, '95.
Nothing further.
You mind? Am I that predictable? You are but this is a tough case.
Listen, I'm considering offering a deal.
Karr does the same four years Evelyn Bundy agreed to.
You proved forcible rape.
If she cut off his finger, if she poked him in the eye It shouldn't make a difference.
We don't live in a vacuum.
I can assure you, the seven guys on that jury, they feel Karr's pain.
And if Karr wasn't castrated, if he had cancer - It's not the same thing.
- It should be.
Why do we do this, Raphael? Because the next girl who gets raped needs to know that that person is us.
No matter what.
[dramatic music.]
The question then becomes, what is justice? Or more precisely, exactly how much retribution does a criminal owe? How much vengeance does a victim deserve? Sure, we can pore over volumes and volumes of legal doctrine, but when push comes to shove, the answer is way more visceral than it is scholarly.
It's human nature.
It's hard-wired into us, like eating and sleeping.
You're wronged.
You need to wrong someone back.
To be sure, Evelyn Bundy already took Jason Karr's metaphorical eye.
Now what Mr.
Barba wants is for you to throw in an ear as well.
But is that just? Our innate sense of fair play tells us that to cause Jason to suffer any more than he already has would be tantamount to giving Evelyn more justice than she actually deserves.
My friends, please.
That simply wouldn't be fair.
Thank you.
[crumpling paper.]
Hasn't he suffered enough? My vote is yes, he has.
I mean, Jason assaulted Evelyn.
Evelyn assaulted him back.
That sounds fair to me.
Sounds like justice at work.
To be just, it has to be fair.
I mean, that's what Ms.
Rivers asserts.
You know, I can't really disagree with that.
In purely pound of flesh terms, Mr.
Karr certainly gave up a hell of a lot more than he got.
Fair? Not a chance.
To be totally fair, you should give Jason one of Evelyn's breasts.
An arm, maybe.
That's only fair.
And as we have now decided, that means it's just.
Jason Karr forcibly raped Evelyn Bundy when she was little more than a child.
But to tack a prison sentence on Mr.
Karr's already gargantuan suffering would tip the balance of justice in Ms.
Bundy's favor, and hey, there's no way that's fair, so there's no way that's just.
A man whose store burns down rushes out, buys some gasoline, a book of matches, and sets the house of the arsonist on fire.
Hey! It's fair, so that means it's just! A man whose children have been murdered buys a gun and splatters the brains of the killer's children all over their bedroom walls.
It's fair.
It's just.
Why bother with cops or courts? If it's fair, it has to be just! Let the blood flow in the streets, I say! Oh, wait, you don't like it? I say get a bigger pair of boots.
[dramatic music.]
Has the jury reached a verdict? We have, Your Honor.
How do you find? We find the defendant, Jason Karr, guilty of rape in the first degree.
"So Peter Rabbit was so tired that he flopped down "on the nice, soft sand "on the floor of the rabbit hole, "and he shut his eyes.
His mother was busy cooking.
" What was she cooking? Probably sushi.
[laughs.]
Rabbits don't eat sushi.
"She wondered what he had done with his clothes.
"It was the second little jacket and shoes that Peter had lost in a fortnight" [knocking on door.]
Did you invite somebody over? No, you did.
No, I didn't.
Let me check who it is, sweetie.
[knocking continues.]
Olivia Benson? Yes.
I'm Sheila Porter.
Noah's grandmother.