Original subtitles

In a 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.

Thank you.

Is this yours?

You alright?

I... I think I was raped.

Special victims? Yeah, I'm Betson.

All right.

Emily, can we get you back to the bed?

I flew up. It's okay.

That's okay. So, Emily, I'm Olivia, and I'm a police captain.

And, uh, you up? You up for answering a few questions?

Can I see my... Yeah. Here you go.

We get a BAC?

Double. So, Emily, how much did you have to drink?

Two. Two drinks.

Tequilas. Mm-hmm. And a four-way clause.

Okay, so six drinks.

And then we went to Josh's and had some more.

And then I don't remember.

I think they were forcing her to drink.

Is that true, Emily? Were they forcing you to drink?

Yeah, maybe.

Okay, so right now, how about we stick to what you actually do remember, okay?

Emily?

So who is Josh?

He's my friend.

They all are, except for that one guy. Three men took turns.

And you were passed out, right, Emily?

No, remember, we talked about that. Can you come outside and talk to me, please,

for a moment?

Excuse us.

I appreciate that you're trying to help. I really do. But right now, I need to

hear the facts as she remembers them, not a story that's altered to get a

better outcome.

I'm just helping her remember.

Well, actually, you were answering.

For her. And I get it. I really do. But trust me, that will bite us in the ass

at the end.

Facts are that she excessively drank. Of her own volition. You know how this ends

for her. I don't. And quite frankly, neither do you.

You know, it's so weird.

You're in a position where you could actually help her.

You just won't.

Usually I only have a couple, but I had off today.

So I just, like, figured let loose, right?

It screwed up so bad.

I did this to myself.

Emily, was it the best idea to drink that much?

It wasn't. Does that mean that anyone is allowed to touch you or do anything to

you without your consent?

So what happened after you realized that you were alone with him?

I started to get the spins.

Okay.

I remember I was looking for a glass of water in the kitchen, and then I was

walking up the stairs.

I was in a bed.

And Josh was, like, on top of me, trying to kiss me.

And Daniel and Scott.

Somebody took my pants off.

I kept asking for my phone.

Okay, that's good, Emily. Did you say anything else?

Do you remember?

Kept asking Josh if his mom was home.

Because I just kept hoping she would come in.

Emily, this is really important. I need you to try to remember.

Did you say anything else to them?

Did you say no or try to push them off?

I don't remember.

I mean, it doesn't matter, does it?

Like, I was so drunk, it's obvious.

Like, who thinks I'd be down for a gangbang with you guys?

And I'm just trying to get the full picture here.

Look, the nurse said to just say that I passed out.

I could say that if it helps my case. The only thing that I want you to think

about is just telling the truth, okay?

You let me worry about this case.

So let's start.

With the guys' names, okay?

Mm-hmm.

Josh. Josh. What's Josh's last name?

Joshua Berger, Daniel Sutcliffe, and a public record search-turned-dub Daniel's

maternal cousin, Scott Paletta.

Emily picked him out of a photo array. He's our guy.

Oh, new partner gets coffee. Never did that for me. Well, that's because I know

how to train my detectives. It's a little sweet. I love slide this time.

Any priors?

Squeaky clean.

Well, it doesn't look like she was drugged. Preliminary tox screen only

shows alcohol, 0.17.

You can't give consent when you're that drunk. Legally drunk people can give

consent. 0.17?

Come on, man. She was wasted.

Well, think about any girl you had sex with in college. Were they drunk? Did

you get consent? This isn't some college hookup. This is three men taking turns

on an inebriated person. But the law says that a victim has to be physically

helpless or given an intoxicating substance without consent.

Then the law is garbage. I couldn't agree with you more. And legislature

even tried to change it this summer, but the session ran out before there was a

vote, so we're stuck with this garbage.

So, let's talk to these three individually before their lawyers get

involved.

If we're lucky, we flip one of them.

Do you know Emily Dawson?

Yeah. Uh, we met last night at trivia.

Is she okay? Did you do anything after trivia?

We went to one of the guys' places for drinks.

Josh, I think.

I'm new to the group. I don't know everyone yet.

What's this about?

So we got this weird allegation that we are required to look into.

Allegation? Yeah, yeah, right now that's all it is, just an allegation. Okay,

Emily told us a story.

She woke up maybe not feeling so good about what happened last night. All we

want to do is hear your side of the story.

Wait, is she saying something happened she didn't want to happen? Why don't you

just tell us what you remember happening?

Look, I mean, you're not wrong, okay? Things got weird.

Like, like really weird. But it was great.

I mean, we were all hanging out.

It was me, Emily, Josh, Daniel.

He's my cousin.

And eventually we were in the bedroom and...

I mean, I can safely say I've never done anything like that.

Like what, exactly?

Have sex with someone and then watch other people have sex with that person.

Okay. And Emily was actively participating in this?

Yes. Yeah? She gave full consent? She said yes?

Well, she didn't say no.

And, I mean, she was acting, like, very into it. Like, very.

Oh?

What does that look like?

Kissing. Me.

Everyone. Did she take off her own clothes?

I think someone took off her pants.

Josh, maybe. Did she ever lose consciousness?

No. What?

Absolutely not.

If I thought for a single second she was too out of it or didn't want to, I

definitely would have stopped.

God, I feel... I mean, I feel terrible.

I was going to call her later and ask her out.

Guess not, huh?

Daniel Sutcliffe?

Yeah? I need to talk to you. Why don't we sit down inside?

What's this about?

Danny, is that an Instapart?

Your girlfriend know what you got into last night? No, babe, it's... Hey, just

a sec.

She must not be in the trivia.

What do you want? Emily Dawson. What about her?

You remember what happened to her last night?

It wasn't planned. It just happened.

So you raping her with two of your boys just happened?

Whoa, whoa, what?

What? Is that what she's saying now? That's the story. If you got a better

one, it's your time to tell it. No, no way. She doesn't get to wake up and cry

rape just because she feels like a skank now.

Man, she was the one making us do shots, grabbing my crotch. She's a tease. So

you decided to make her pay for it? No.

Josh had a crush on her. I don't even like her that way. And then she friend

-zoned him, and she's flirting with him all night. And you want me to believe

that she decided to take on three guys at once? Man, she was coming on to all

of us. If she regrets it now, that's her fault.

I know I don't have to talk to you.

Josh, we could arrest you right here in front of all your colleagues, but I'd

really rather just talk. Maybe we can clear this whole thing up.

I didn't do anything wrong.

No harm in answering some questions.

Like, how long you been carrying a torch for Emily?

We haven't said that.

That was forever ago. We're friends.

So, you used to have a crush, but not anymore?

I'm not saying anything else.

But if she's sending you mixed signals, right? I mean, I can see how you'd get

confused. I mean, why'd you take her clothes off?

She told me to lie down with her.

She had this pen. She said she wanted to hold on to something. So you did get in

the bedroom? Seriously, I'm not saying anything else. What I understand is no

one was making her drink.

So the fact that she was out of it, that's her fault, not yours.

I'm not talking anymore.

I've seen these situations before. And usually, there's a ringleader.

There's an instigator.

I don't think that's you.

The fact that it happened at your house doesn't look good for you.

So you should tell us before we find something that could really hurt you.

My mom says you don't have permission to search.

Oh, buddy.

It's already happening.

I am looking right at it.

Oh, hi.

That's the mother. Yeah, I'm not sensing cooperation.

You're sensing laundry day?

She put all the bed linens in the wash, vacuumed within an inch of her life.

Still got hair imprints. Okay, what about the doorbell cams? She claims it

isn't working. We're subpoenaing the company to see if they've archived any

footage. All right. Thanks. I don't even know what I'm paying you for. If you

can't help me... Mrs. Berger, I'm Captain Benson from SVU.

Speak to my attorney.

Call her back.

You can't do that.

And when he does call you back, let him know that you spent the morning

obstructing an investigation and destroying evidence.

Look, I know that you don't want to see your son in trouble, but covering for

him is only going to hurt him in the long run.

I have nothing to say.

Nothing from the phone dump.

These guys might be clowns, but they know not to text anything incriminating.

Hey, you get anything from CSU? Yeah, the mother wasn't lying about the busted

door cam. There's no footage.

They got DNA, but until we get the rape kit back, we got nothing to compare it

to. And even if it matches, they're claiming the sex was consensual.

Hey, sorry I'm late. I got held up with the new ADA mentee. How's that going?

I doubt this guy's ever talked to a police officer in his life. He's a

snazzy dresser, and Sonny's feeling threatened.

Look. I'm saying, is this guy's dying? Of course, more than our quality. Yeah,

it does. These guys, they all sticking to this story?

More or less. If there's a weak link in the bunch, it's Josh.

And if there's a sociopath, it's Scott. I mean, he said all the right things,

and I wasn't buying it for a minute. And what about Daniel?

Dying story in cell, begging for an ass-kicking.

He ratted out Josh for having a crush on the victim.

But as soon as we bring him in, they all lawyer up, and they stop talking.

All right, we need one of these guys to flip. The mom knows.

Mom protected him and tampered with evidence. She wants to be a good mom.

And I am going to give her another chance.

He's not here.

I actually came to speak with you.

Well, I told you I have nothing to say. You know, I have a son.

And every day I hope and I pray that he will grow up to be a good man.

But at the end of the day...

Our children make their own choices.

And it doesn't mean that we messed up as parents if they make the wrong choice.

But if you teach your son that he's not responsible for his actions, that is

on you.

That is a mistake, one that he will pay for over and over

long after you're gone.

I wanted something for the back door, so I just set up an old webcam.

And when I heard the police were talking to Josh, I gave it to a neighbor.

I raised him to be better.

He knows this is wrong.

Pick them up.

All of them.

Docket number is 89-90-91.

People of the state of New York versus Joshua Berger, Daniel Sutcliffe, Scott

Paletta. One count each rape in the first degree.

Dominic Carisi for the people.

Andrea Vargas representing all three of the defendants, Your Honor.

Waivers have been signed, I presume? Yes, Your Honor.

The plea?

Not guilty.

Proceed. This was a gang rape.

The defendants egged each other on and then took turns with the victim over a

protracted period of time.

It's a Class B felony, and the people request remand. She was voluntary in

talks. Your Honor knows the law on that. Plus, the evidence is clear that this

was a consensual encounter.

Consensual? She was barely conscious, Your Honor. You expect us to believe

that she wanted these three men to do whatever they felt like to her body?

Look, is it my cup of tea? No, but believe it or not, there are some people

who favor multiple partners. I can assure you that the victim is not one of

them. These young men have never been arrested.

They deserve release or a reasonable bail.

Romand is granted.

Next case?

Captain Olivia Benson.

Meet Aiden Hawkins, fresh out of criminal court and Harvard Law.

Impressive. Looking forward to working with you.

Great. All right, training starts with jury selection, Hawkins.

You're doing the voir dire.

Who here has ever been drunk?

I know I have.

Oh, come on.

There's no judgment. I'm not going to ask you about your drug and escapades.

Thank you.

Does intoxication affect someone's judgment?

Yeah, for sure.

And if they're very intoxicated, do you believe they make good decisions?

Not usually.

He's good.

What is your beef with him?

Aside from the tie.

He's a rich kid.

He's definitely not sticking around nice for you.

Do you believe someone who has become intoxicated voluntarily, automatically

consents to whatever happens to them?

I don't think so.

Why not?

You're not yourself.

You can be influenced to do things you wouldn't normally do.

Mr. Hawkins, we're about to hit noon. Let's break for lunch.

We're back in an hour. See ya.

It's 4 and 11.

What?

Trust me.

Hey, Chrissy, who's that?

That's Gwen Shaw.

She's a jury consultant.

Expensive one, too. Usually my office can't afford someone like her.

She gets hired by the big firms. Okay, could she be working for the defense?

I doubt it. She's known to donate her time exonerating people who've been

wrongfully convicted.

Well... She said to bounce 4 and 11.

Then we'll bounce a 4 and 11.

I'm glad she said something. I would have been penalized. Yeah, me too.

All right, not bad up there.

Thanks. I do have some other stuff.

We'll call you when we return.

Thanks for the assist.

I hope that wasn't weird.

I just couldn't walk away without saying something.

I'm Olivia Benson, SVU. Gwen Sharp. Yeah. My ADA was very impressed, and

very little impresses him.

Are you here working on a case?

Mine is still in pre-trial motions.

I like to see what the jury pool is looking like. It's good practice for me.

Okay. Well, what about those jurors' flag for you?

Well, 4 was uncomfortable with any discussion around sex acts.

I think she'll blame the victim when she hears the evidence.

And 11 was lying about alcohol.

She doesn't drink.

I'd worry she'd judge anybody who does.

And you saw all of that from across the room?

I've been doing this for a long time.

I'd be worried about any woman you put on this jury. I know. I know. They judge

other women more harshly. But they project themselves onto the victim. I

would never put myself in that position. This could never happen to me.

Therefore, the victim is to blame. I wish that I could bring you on for the

duration.

I'd prepare yourself.

I think you're invested in the outcome.

Rightly so.

I just don't think this is going to go the way you want it to.

But you haven't heard the evidence.

I mean...

We have these men on video plotting.

This is a very tricky case, but I don't know how anybody sees three men on one

drunk woman as anything other than rape.

You have faith in the system. I hope you're right.

I just wouldn't have gone to trial on this.

I thought they were my friends.

Josh and Daniel I've known for ten years.

And so you had no reason to be on guard with them?

None.

I thought they were safe.

Thank you, Emily.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Miss Vargas.

Now, is it fair to say that no one made you drink that night, Emily?

No one made me drink.

And you had a lot to drink.

Objection, Your Honor. She testifying. I'll rephrase.

How many drinks did you have that night?

Seven?

I really don't remember.

Oh, would you like me to read your statement to SVU? I think seven or

eight. Now, you could have stopped at any time, correct?

Yes. And as a result, your memory of that night is spotty at best.

I remember enough. I mean, you can't honestly sit here right now and say

whether or not you consented.

I would never consent to that.

Oh, so you said no.

Did you push them away?

Did you do anything to make them stop? Well, I was looking through my phone. I

was just trying to leave. Or were you encouraging them?

No. So now you say no, but isn't it true that you told Captain Benson you don't

remember saying no?

I don't know.

You never said no, did you, Emily?

And then when you woke up, you changed your mind. Objection, Your Honor. She's

badgering. Justine, take it down on that, Counsel.

I have nothing else.

May I direct, Mr. Carisi?

No, Your Honor.

I'm going to leave you free to go now.

You're free to go.

The people rest.

It's all right. Put your game face on. We'll take them apart in the cross.

The defense rests, Your Honor.

Vargas came to me with an offer. What is it?

Forcible touching. Time served.

Time served?

Is she kidding?

Look, we all knew this was going to be a tough case, but at least this way,

they're on the sex offender registry.

Percy, you can't make this deal not after everything that Emily has gone

through. I'm telling you, we're going to get buried here.

And then they're going to walk, and we will have nothing.

I agree with Captain Benson.

Oh, great. Let's hear from the guy who was cutting deals with purse snatchers

in criminal court six months ago.

That deal makes us look bad. It's bad for justice.

It makes us look bad?

Well, so does an acquittal.

That's what we're looking at here. A misdemeanor.

Absolutely not.

Chrissy, you can't settle for that.

You know what, Liv?

It would be nice if, for once, you could give me some credit for knowing what the

hell I'm talking about.

And anyway, I'm here as a courtesy.

I'm not asking for your permission.

All right. Sorry.

Senator, your office called, and the judge wants everybody back.

I have a note here from our jury foreperson.

Our deliberations have stalled.

And we are hopelessly deadlocked.

Pretty unequivocal.

Your Honor, we request that you give the jury an Allen charge.

Already done, Mr. Carisi. Then give them a modified Allen charge. Force them to

restart deliberations until they reach a verdict. They're hung.

And I'm declaring a mistrial.

Your Honor, a motion for the immediate release of my clients? Absolutely not.

The people fully intend to retry this case at the court's earliest

convenience. The bail condition should remain the same.

Yeah, I agree.

The defendants will remain in custody. Oh, and let's bring the jury back in.

We'll thank them for their service.

And then we'll start all over again.

What is this?

Where's my lawyer? I'm Steve Kaplan.

The judge in your case appointed me to be your new defense attorney. What? No,

no, no. I didn't agree to that. Because the district attorney's office has an

offer that you should hear.

You arrested my mother!

She didn't do anything wrong.

We've determined that of the three defendants in this case, you are the

least culpable.

In exchange for your testimony against Mr. Sutcliffe and Mr. Palletta, we can

offer you rape, too.

Sentencing is two and a third to five. Sex abuse, three times served.

He's useless to me as a witness if I give him a misdemeanor. It'll look like

we bought his testimony.

Plead to the felony, testify.

With good behavior, you're out in two.

And any legal issues that your mother is facing, go away.

What you are doing is so messy. What I'm doing is saving you from a potential 20

-year sentence.

From what I understand, more people thought you were guilty than not.

This is a way to save yourself, Josh.

I recommend you take this deal.

Fine.

I'll testify, but my mom has to be out today.

Great news. We'll be in touch as soon as my boss signs off.

What the hell is this, Liv, huh?

After all these years, you're going to go on?

I didn't want to put you in a position. In what position?

Wrongly arresting an innocent woman to get to her son? That one? Sonny, listen.

No, you need to walk away from me right now.

Okay, Kersey.

Let's just pause.

You know what?

You think you're the only person who cares about these victims, and so you

push and you push and you push until you get what you think is justice. Yes, I

do, because somebody has to.

I didn't mean it like that.

That's why you're sitting in the courtroom every day, huh? No.

Watching me to make sure I don't screw up?

Kersey, stop.

That's not it.

I did what needed to be done.

Josh Flint.

He's going to testify against the other two.

This is good news.

This is the best outcome that we could have hoped for.

You get a new trial with Josh's testimony, and I'm certain that Emily

will testify. This is... This is a win!

What is going on with you, Liv?

Mr. Berger, when did you decide to take Emily into the bedroom?

She was dizzy. She said she wanted to lay down.

And at that point, was she extremely intoxicated?

Yeah, she could hardly stand up.

So what happened when you got into the bedroom?

I, uh, laid down next to her in the bed.

Did she say anything?

She kept asking where her phone was. Did you give it to her?

No.

Why not?

Scott had it. Why did Scott have it?

She was trying to get an Uber, and he took it from her so she couldn't.

Did either of the defendants come into the bedroom at any point?

Yeah.

Both Scott and Danny came in.

And then what happened?

Mr. Berger, please tell the jury what happened.

after the defendants entered the bedroom.

Um... So by then, Emily was passed out, and...

Scott took off her pants.

And he was like, come on, man.

You go first.

And at that point, you raped her.

Yes.

What happened next?

Scott told Danny to go next.

And then he told me to stay and watch.

And... Then Scott took his turn.

Was Emily conscious during this?

She kept waking up and passing out.

So your testimony, to be clear, is that there were times when Emily was

completely unconscious.

Yeah, she had no idea what was going on for most of it

I've been

thinking about her so much and a

fantasizing and I Convinced myself that she

wanted it That if she was awake she would have wanted it

As to the charge of rape in the first degree, how do you find the defendant,

Daniel Sutcliffe?

Guilty.

As to the charge of rape in the first degree, how do you find the defendant,

Scott Palletta?

Guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the people of the state of New York, I thank

you.

Great.

Great work, I say.

Thank you.