Law & Order Special Victims Unit s19e13 Episode Script

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.
In my younger and more vulnerable years, when I was knee-deep in my very first trial, opposing counsel unwittingly sabotaged his own case by including an inculpatory document in with his discovery request.
I didn't know what to do.
So I did what any young ADA did when he was utterly lost.
I went to Mr.
Stone's cubicle where he was writing a closing.
Ben listened patiently.
"I can either ignore," I said, "or" And he cut me off before I could finish the sentence.
"A man shouldn't do what he can," he said.
"He should do what he must, without regard for consequence "or repercussion.
That's what makes us moral," Ben added.
"And God help us if we lose that.
" So, like that, the world is a sadder place.
The noblest of hearts has cracked.
Goodbye, Ben Stone.
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
Thank you, District Attorney McCoy.
If anyone else wishes to speak Sandy? I can't wait to show you this dress I bought.
I'm scared it's a little bit much.
Sandy? Sandy! [knocking and whimpering.]
[sobbing.]
I live down the hall with my parents.
I babysit whenever Maggie needs me to.
I can't believe Aaron would do this.
Now, did did Aaron say anything to you? Just that he would kill me if I screamed.
He pointed a gun at me.
- I thought I was going to die.
- Okay.
You're gonna find Drew, right? We are gonna do the best we can, okay, honey? Typical Tuesday afternoon.
The mom goes out to get her nails done, shopping, whatnot, and the dad comes home early, and duct tapes the sitter, shuts her in a closet, and then runs off with ten-month-old, uh, baby Drew.
- Where's mom? - Uh, she's right here.
Margaret Householder.
- Her friends call her Maggie.
- Okay.
- What are you gonna do? - Ok okay, Mrs.
Householder, this is my boss, Lieutenant Benson.
Okay, how about how about we get you something to drink? If you're not too busy, I'd like you to find my son.
I assure you we will do everything we can to find your son.
We have been seeing a lot of of these sorts of cases.
Familial kidnappings.
But the good news is, Mrs.
Householder, that your husband will most likely not hurt your son.
All due respect, but you don't know a damn thing about my son.
It is only a matter of time before he cannot breathe without that thing.
We need to find him soon.
This is an emergency! He's going to die, Lieutenant.
[dramatic music.]
When he was two months old, Aaron noticed that he was struggling to breathe.
It's called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome.
It's a genetic thing.
It causes muscle weakness that rapidly progresses.
So soon Drew won't be able to breathe on his own.
I spend more time at Mercy Hospital than I do at home.
Uh Maggie, I just have to ask you, were, um Were you and Aaron having any problems? Not that I knew of.
Maggie, I know that this doesn't help, and I hate myself for even saying it, but, um Have a seat.
I have actually been through this.
My son was taken.
- And you got him back.
- I did.
Safe and sound.
[knock at door.]
The neighbor says he's sure he saw Mr.
Householder and the baby get into a blue Toyota around 12:30 yesterday.
We don't have a car.
I'll check the rental companies.
Okay.
- Aaron Householder.
- He had an infant with him? - Like a year old.
- Okay, well, thank you.
If anyone checks in fitting that description - 2535That's right, 212.
- Okay, any luck? All we know is he returned a rental car to Sheepshead Bay.
Okay, so work backwards, looking for any calls he made to Sheepshead Bay.
Already done.
Nothing in the past month.
And he didn't check into any hotels or motels within a ten mile radius.
At least not using his own name.
Nothing in his office suggests that he wasn't coming back.
Oh, here's something.
Two weeks ago, he charged about six grand to a medical supply store.
- When did he rent the car? - Two days ago.
Okay, well, you can't just carry a ventilator onto a subway.
And the store doesn't open till 10:00 a.
m.
Okay, so track down the manager.
Believe me, it's not a problem.
This business, I get calls all hours.
If there's anything wrong with the ventilator No, it's nothing like that.
That's a relief.
What was that name again? - Aaron Householder.
- That's right.
All right, here we go.
He bought the Kerry 2100.
Top of the line.
- Did you deliver that? - We did.
201 East Sixth Street, Sheepshead Bay.
You've been a big help, Mr.
Cooke.
[sirens wailing.]
- I'm Lieutenant Benson.
- Okay, Lieutenant.
Ah, yeah, he's in there.
He's on the first floor.
- And he's not coming out.
- And what about the baby? - He says he's okay.
- At least he's talking.
It was hard to get him to even turn his cell on.
- The back door's bolted.
- Get him on the phone.
- Yeah.
- Hello? Yeah, Aaron, it's me, it's Amanda.
There's so many of them.
- I know, I know.
- Tell them to back off.
But, Aaron, you know I can't do that.
But my my boss Lieutenant Benson is here.
- She wants to talk with you.
- Okay.
- Hey, Aaron.
- Detective Benson.
You know, why don't you call me Olivia? Uh, Olivia.
I spoke with with Maggie.
- How is she? - Well I gotta be honest with you, Aaron, she's not doing great.
I didn't wanna hurt her.
Aaron, you took her baby.
I just wanna be alone with my son.
Yeah, well, you know, some days that's all I wanna do too, but unfortunately the world just It just doesn't work like that.
- I got a shot.
- Okay, no, guns down.
That's an order.
Aaron? Aaron, listen to me.
How about you let me come in there, right? And you and I I know that we can figure this out.
Face to face, okay? The dude's got a gun.
Aaron.
I [breathing heavily.]
Okay, Aaron, what do you say? Okay, okay.
You can come in, just you.
And no weapons.
Not a problem.
- Slowly.
- Slowly.
Yes, okay.
Okay, guys.
No, What do you think you're doing, Liv? No, Liv, do not go in there.
Liv! Okay.
[whispering.]
I'm gonna take off my gloves.
Okay? [breathing heavily.]
Aaron, I'm coming in.
You don't look like a cop.
Okay, well, I'll take that as a compliment.
Can I see Drew? He's sleeping.
I just wanna check and see if he's okay.
All right, nice and easy? Okay? Nice and easy.
Aww.
He's beautiful.
Can we sit down? Okay.
[breathing heavily.]
You wanna sit as well? You're the one with the gun.
Much better, right? Just Just two adults talking.
What's his name, your son? Noah.
He's five.
I bet he I bet he loves baseball.
I bet he and his dad go to the park and play catch.
See? Drew is going to love baseball.
And we're we're gonna go to Yankee Stadium.
And why us? It's a one in 10 million chance.
What did we do wrong? You don't think that I'm a good father.
I don't I don't know you.
The only thing that I have to go on is that you ran off with Drew.
It's not against the law.
It is if you kept him from his mother.
She doesn't want him.
I talked to Maggie, Aaron.
And she she wants him very much.
You know, I think that we should go now.
[stammers.]
What do you Stay where you are.
I said I said stop! Oh, well, what are you gonna do? I'll shoot.
I'm a cop, Aaron.
I know you're not a killer.
And I know a paintball gun when I see it.
[sobbing.]
You don't know what you're doing.
She wants to kill Drew.
[sobbing.]
Come on.
It's not like I was going to hold a pillow over his mouth.
The doctors have humane ways.
We were waiting for a court order.
To kill your son.
To end his suffering.
And you didn't think to tell us about any of this? I wanted you to find him.
I feel like I'm chasing my tail.
Mrs.
Householder, try to see this from our point of view.
You think I'm a terrible person.
I don't know you well enough to judge.
What kind of a mother wants her son to die? Tell me.
Every day that he lives, his pain gets worse.
And what do the doctors say? That there's nothing they could do.
That we can only watch him suffer until It is killing us, Mr.
Barba.
You're a lawyer.
I thought that the law was supposed to protect us.
It's also supposed to protect Drew.
But it's hurting him.
Day after day.
The law wants Drew dead.
Nobody wants Drew dead.
Maggie does.
The doctors do.
Just wait.
You'll see.
Judge Wallace P.
Rosen.
He's gonna order us To pull the plug.
[sniffles.]
Tell me, Lieutenant.
Is there a a law out there that that entitles Drew to live? It would be so easy if we [slams table.]
I filed a motion in court to let me.
Aaron opposed it, but he agreed to do whatever the judge said.
Appears that Aaron has changed his mind.
What if They discover something? I mean, it could happen.
I am not a horrible person, Mr.
Barba.
If it wasn't the only thing to do His doctors say that he has no brain activity.
He is a lump of flesh.
My beautiful lump of flesh, he should get the peace that we all deserve.
He can't see.
He can't hear.
I mean, go.
Go look at him.
He is all but dead already.
You saw him.
You can't tell me That he's nothing.
[sobbing.]
Glad I'm not the judge.
Maybe I'll stay a cop.
It's not right that a guy like that goes to prison.
Well, the law says it is.
Sometimes the law sucks.
I concur.
You think we should lock him up? [sighs.]
My dad always said he wasn't scared of being dead, he was scared of dying.
That kid is dying every day.
He's taking his folks with him.
She wants to talk to him.
- [sighs.]
- Come on.
[gasps.]
I just I couldn't.
I know.
Aaron.
[sobbing.]
Christ.
Nobody's forcing you to prosecute.
If I don't, I'm telling the world that baby Drew has no rights.
What about his right to die? Unfortunately, that's not in the Constitution.
Okay, uh, let's find out if daddy's little excursion yesterday caused the baby any harm.
So you can let Aaron go with a clear conscience.
So I can prosecute, and maybe get some sleep in the next decade or so.
Oh, I was just coming to say hi.
My first wife made me promise to never eat at my desk.
I thought it was good advice.
Sit.
I just wanted to thank you for your kind words yesterday.
All of them true.
All of them heartfelt.
[pats seat.]
Sit.
- Eat.
- I'm good.
This is still my jurisdiction and people do what I say or they pay the price.
It was a wonderful service.
Although I did think it was odd that none of your dad's family members spoke.
I'm the only family member left.
Res ipsa loquitur.
We didn't speak that much when he was alive, so I figured, what good will it do now? It must've been tough growing up with Saint Ben.
A great man is not necessarily a good one.
Did you know that he had everybody over to his place the first time you pitched? I thought his heart stopped when that bastard ruined your no-hitter.
I think he secretly became a Cubs fan.
[chuckles.]
- That's treason.
- That's what I told him.
He had the Chicago Law Journal delivered to his desk every day.
He scoured it looking for your name.
I wish he would've said something.
There's always a spot here for you, Peter.
I appreciate that, but I'm only staying long enough to settle my dad's affairs.
You give Mark Jefferies my best, and tell him we still have better hot dogs.
[somber music.]
Huh.
We don't pay you to think, we pay you to work.
Sure, I'll have one.
You know, I always wish the law was more like chemistry.
You heat up water to 212 degrees, and the son of a bitch boils.
Sans bias, sans judgment.
Sans conscience.
So what's so interesting out that window? My father Almost seven years ago, Dad went into a diabetic coma, and he was on life support for six weeks.
- Ah, I'm sorry.
- No, don't be.
He was not well-liked.
By anyone.
Especially me.
Still, I was at the hospital every morning before work, and every night, until the nurses threw me out.
The doctors said that there was nothing they could do for him.
There was no brain activity.
They highly recommended that we end it.
And I said, "No.
" Where there's life, there's hope.
" I could've eased his suffering, but I didn't.
And I told myself that it's because Father Mike wouldn't approve.
- I'm sure he wouldn't.
- I was selfish.
I hated the man.
But still, I didn't want the burden of being the reason that he took his last breath.
I was selfish.
I let him suffer.
Prosecute Aaron Householder.
For doing the same thing that I did to my dad? The law is what the statute says it is.
It's a shame.
No matter how hard we try, we can't legislate morality.
We're not in the compassion business, Rafael.
Sure.
Why not? Cut a deal.
Offer him probation.
Go to church.
Say three Hail Marys.
Then come back here and finish off that bottle.
[choral music.]
I thought Aaron would be here.
Uh, he just went out for coffee.
[sniffles.]
I love to just look at him.
He's beautiful.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
He is.
We heard from the judge today.
He's withholding his decision until a guardian ad litem can be appointed to represent Drew's interests.
That can happen quickly.
It won't.
Nobody wants to make a decision.
They all just pass the buck.
Doctors ask us, we ask the judge, the judge waits for the guardian, and then Aaron will object, and we'll just keep on waiting.
Meanwhile Drew lies here with a machine keeping him alive.
Did I tell you he needs the ventilator to breathe now? For the rest of his life.
I'm sorry.
God, if I could just [sniffles.]
know what was going on in there.
Sometimes, when I can't sleep, I I try to imagine not thinking.
God.
All he knows is pain.
So wrong, Mr.
Barba.
I'm going to offer Aaron probation.
When I was five months pregnant, the doctors said that there was a good chance that he would be like this.
Don't do this to yourself, Maggie.
Aaron, um, wanted me to get an abortion, and I was the one who said that we should take our chances.
Wasn't I the brave one? What chance did I take? I did the righteous thing, and my baby has to do all of the suffering.
You should not judge yourself.
Why the hell not? He can't breathe without a machine.
He can't eat without tubes.
He can't see.
He can't hear.
And I could've prevented that, and I chose to be righteous.
[sobbing.]
Why? Why can't he just die? Why? [sobbing.]
[sniffles.]
He can.
[exhales deeply, sniffles.]
[sobbing.]
Okay, okay.
All right, all right, okay, okay, okay.
Oh, God.
[sobbing.]
Maggie.
Maggie, you should go.
I can't leave him.
Maggie, go.
Go, please.
[breathing heavily.]
Rafa, what the hell? - Latte, right? - I don't want coffee.
You killed the baby? I expedited his passing.
That's gonna be a tough hair to split in a courtroom.
The courtroom's the last thing I was thinking of when I was in that hospital room.
- You could go to prison.
- You don't think I know that? Sometimes you have to act without concern for the consequences.
Not you.
You wear suspenders and a belt.
I had no option.
[sighs.]
I gotta fix this.
Liv.
Liv! Liv, you can't help me.
Mr.
McCoy, hi.
Colleagues get to call me Jack, Lieutenant.
File the motion.
I suppose you wanna talk to me about ADA Barba.
He's the best ADA that I've ever worked with.
He is honest and honorable.
But I can't have my ADAs running around killing people.
It's unbecoming.
He did what he thought was right.
I know that.
- You know that.
- Yes, I do.
Let's hope the jury agrees with us.
Oh, here comes my dinner date.
Lieutenant Benson, say hello to Peter Stone.
He's the hotshot out of Chicago who's going to be special counsel in the People v.
Rafael Barba.
[clears throat.]
It's a pleasure.
I sure hope you suck.
Hey, Jack.
How'd you know I was gonna say yes? Because You have more of your father in you than you know.
I have to admit, I thought my surprise quotient was filled for the year when McAdoo benched Manning.
But this, I gotta tell you, on the all-time scale is up there between Bucky Dent and Charlie Rose.
If you don't wanna represent me, that's okay.
I don't wanna represent you, I have to represent you.
Cases like this wet my whistle, so to speak.
So, what did the little bastard do to you? - This was a mistake.
- Okay, okay.
I'll skip the whole self-defense angle.
I'm sorry I wasted your time, Mr.
Dworkin.
Randy.
And my point is this whole thing is a sick joke.
You killed something that nine out of ten doctors would say wasn't alive.
What about the tenth doctor? Look, you wanna prove a point, and I wanna prove a point.
It's what my nana would call the perfect shidduch.
What point do you wanna prove? That the government's power has grown too damn much.
That the bigger the government gets, the smaller it leaves the individual.
That once the government takes away our right to die, it takes away our right to live.
How am I doing so far? When he had trouble breathing, our pediatrician sent us to Dr.
Vacarro.
And what did he tell you? He said that it was bad, but that there were some doctors somewhere doing experiments with stem cells.
He said the results were promising.
In other words, he gave you hope.
That was enough.
There was no hope.
Drew was already dead.
He couldn't see or hear or breathe or think.
That is dead.
I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Mrs.
Householder.
Then why are you doing this? Because the law says I must.
Do you recognize this document, Mrs.
Householder? Looks like a report from Dr.
Mitchell.
She was my OBGYN.
Please read the highlighted portion.
"The patient has been informed of both the likelihood "that her child might develop MDDS and the consequences thereof.
" Please continue reading, Mrs.
Householder.
"In spite of being so informed, the patient has refused to end the pregnancy.
" In other words, you knew your child would have MDDS.
And yet you still refused to have an abortion.
- Yes.
- Why? I couldn't.
Couldn't what? I couldn't kill my baby.
Because that would be wrong? Yes.
So it was wrong to kill Drew when you were five months pregnant, but it's okay to kill him ten months after he was born? Is that what you're saying? Lieutenant.
Have you spoken to Rafael Barba? Actually, the law says I can't.
Look, forget the law for a minute.
Look into his eyes, talk to him.
That man lives in a place that the men who wrote the law don't even think about.
Well, down here amongst us mere mortals, he's a Class A felon.
- You don't have kids, do you? - No, I don't.
Yeah, well, their pain is your pain.
Rafael knows that.
Look, I know exactly why he did what he did.
And I understand completely.
So? So if we as a society ignore it, we are saying that murder is no longer absolutely wrong.
Condoning it in one case would allow us to condone it in any case, and that would be capricious.
I'm talking about a decent man who did a decent thing.
They shoot horses, Lieutenant, not people.
What if little Drew didn't have MDDS? What if he had Down Syndrome? Or Leukemia? Or a sore throat? What if he didn't have physical pain at all? What if he was just unhappy? That's the thing about you lawyers.
You're always talking about the reasonable man.
Let me tell you something.
You wouldn't know a reasonable man if he fell out of the sky and he landed at your feet.
I worked in the DA's office for 21 years.
Mr.
Barba, is it fair to say that you spent your entire professional life practicing law? - Yes.
- Enforcing the law? That's correct.
Putting those who violate the law behind bars? Yes.
Murder is against the law.
Is it not? It is.
So what happened here? I don't believe that what I did was murder.
But when you went into Drew Householder's hospital room he was alive.
When you came out, he was dead.
Somebody did something.
Yes, I killed him.
Um, but what I did, I don't believe that it was murder.
I'm starting to feel like we're walking a razor's edge here, Mr.
Barba.
It was a justifiable homicide.
In other words, you had to do it? There were these, um, flowers on the table, next to Drew's crib.
Orange roses.
He would never know how wonderful they are.
He couldn't smell them.
His mom was playing one of Bach's cantatas, from her phone.
The eternal Bach.
Drew couldn't hear it.
He'd never see a cloud.
A rainbow.
Um, the sun.
The moon.
The bottom line is that he would never even know that these things existed.
He didn't know if he was hungry or thirsty.
He couldn't recognize the faces of his mother or his father.
All that he did know, all that he would ever know, is the pain that was his so-called life.
How do you know? The doctors say that his brain had stopped functioning.
So he was dead already? So to speak.
Surely, you, as a man of the law, must be able to make a distinction between who is dead and who's alive.
Courts have only dealt with this issue tangentially.
In Roe v.
Wade, the court implied that an unborn baby was alive when it could survive on its own.
Could Drew Householder survive without being hooked up to all those machines? His doctors say that he could not.
So, in effect, the life you took from Drew Householder wasn't really life to begin with, was it? Objection.
All I know is that when I looked in his crib, I saw a baby who couldn't form the most basic thought of his own.
He couldn't love.
Or or hate.
Or Or hope.
And when I saw the pain that that the unutterable suffering that his existence was causing the two people who loved him most, I had to do something Whether that meant going to prison or not.
Does Mrs.
Householder have sole custody of Drew? Um, no.
She, uh she shares it with Mr.
Householder.
Did you confer with him before you hastened the death of his son? No.
Do you feel guilty for what you've done? Do you feel guilty for what you're doing? I'll ask again, do you feel guilty for what you've done? I did what I thought was right.
Mr.
Barba, do you feel guilty, sir? I do.
[somber music.]
Will the defendant please rise? - Have you reached a verdict? - Yes, we have, your Honor.
On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, we find the defendant, Rafael Barba Not guilty.
Members of the jury, you are excused.
The court thanks you for your service.
Well done.
You do realize half my job is stopping people who work here from doing something stupid.
Well, now you have one less person to worry about.
You don't have to do this, Rafael.
I know.
What're you gonna do? Would it be unbearably corny if I said, "I'm going to do what I must"? Yes, it would.
But I understand.
I feel so guilty about this.
What did you do? I called you about this case.
You know, when we first started working together - what was it, five years ago? - Six.
[exhales deeply.]
The world was an old movie.
It was all black and white.
And it was high noon.
I was Gary Cooper.
[chuckles.]
I was absolutely sure absolutely who were the good guys, who were the bad guys.
And then you You started to weasel your way into my world, and the black and white became different shades of gray.
Don't Say it.
[chuckles.]
Before I knew it, there were blues and greens and yellows and reds.
I'm you now, Liv.
You opened my heart.
And I thank you for it.
And? I've got to move on.