Original subtitles

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.

The train is now approaching.

Ah!

No, don't, don't, don't.

Is this yours?

Are you all right?

I...

I think I was raped.

-Special Victims? -Yeah, I'm Benson.

All right.

Emily, can we get you back to the bed?

-I threw up. -That'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 have some water?

-Yeah. -Here you go.

Here you go.

We get a BAC?

Double.

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

-Two. -Two drinks?

-Tequilas. -Mm-hmm.

And, uh,

four White Claws.

Okay, so six drinks.

No, 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.

Uh, they... they all are, except for that one guy.

Three men, took turns.

And you were passed out, right, Emily?

I don't remember.

No, remember, we talked about that.

Can you come outside and talk to me, please, for a moment?

Excuse us.

Look, I appreciate that you're trying to help, I really do.

But right now, I just...

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.

The 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 can actually help her.

You just won't.

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

so I just figured, let loose, right?

I 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?

I guess not.

So what happened after you realized

that you were alone with them?

Well, I started to get the spins.

Okay.

I remember I was looking for a glass of water

in the kitchen,

and then I was

just walking up the stairs.

I was... 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, and...

I kept... I kept asking for my phone.

Okay, that's good, Emily.

Did you... did you say anything else?

Do you remember?

Uh, I kept asking Josh if his mom was home

'cause I just kept hoping she would come in.

Okay, so 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 gang bang with three 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 Sutcliff,

and a public record search turned up

Daniel's maternal cousin, Scott Paletta.

Emily picked him out of a photo array.

He's our guy.

Oh, new partner gets coffee.

You never did that for me.

Well, that's 'cause I know how to train my detectives.

It's a little sweet. I'll let it 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.

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 wanna do is hear your side of the story.

What, is she saying something happened

she didn't want to happen?

Why don't you just tell us what you remember happening?

Look, uh, 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, um, 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... she gave full consent? She said yes?

Well, she didn't say no.

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

like... 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 gonna call her later and ask her out.

I guess not, huh?

Daniel Sutcliff?

Yeah?

I need to talk to you.

Why don't we sit down inside?

What's this about?

Danny, is that Instacart?

Your girlfriend know what you got into last night?

-No, babe, it's... -hey, just a sec.

She must not be into 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 friendzoned him, and... and... and...

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.

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

Listen, 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 have you been carrying a torch for Emily?

Who even 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.

Okay, but if...

if she's... she's sending you mixed signals,

right, I mean, I can see how you'd get confused.

I mean, she let you take her clothes off.

She told me to lie down with her.

She had the spins.

She said she wanted to hold on to something.

So you did get in the bed with her?

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.

It's my mom's house.

You don't have permission to search it.

Oh, buddy, it's already happening.

I am looking right at it.

-Oh. -Hi.

That's the mother.

Yeah, I'm not sensing cooperation.

Are you sensing laundry day?

She put all the bed linens in the wash,

vacuumed within an inch of her life.

-Still found hair and prints. -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.

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 gonna 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, all I'm saying is this guy's tie

costs more than our car lease, Amanda.

-Yeah, it does. -All right, 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?

Dime store incel begging for an ass-kicking.

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

I bet as soon as we bring them in, they all lawyer up,

and they stop talking.

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

The mom knows.

The mom protected them and tampered with evidence.

She wants to be a good mom.

And I am gonna 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... 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.

She's so wasted.

I'm gonna send her home.

-Bro! You're an idiot. -Why?

'Cause I don't want her puking all over my house?

I thought you were into her, man.

I...

I mean, yeah, but not like this.

Bro, you're missing an opportunity.

You can do whatever you want to her.

She's not gonna remember in the morning.

Come on, come on, come on.

I raised him to be better.

He knows this is wrong.

Pick them up,

all of them.

Docket numbers 89, 90, 91, People of the State of New York

versus Joshua Berger, Daniel Sutcliff, Scott Paletta,

one count each rape in the first degree.

Dominick 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 intox.

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.

Remand is granted.

Next case.

Captain Olivia Benson, meet Aidan 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 gonna ask you about your drunken 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, and he's definitely

not sticking around SVU.

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 you.

Bounce 4 and 11.

What?

Trust me.

Hey, Carisi, who's that?

That's Gwen Sharpe.

She's a jury consultant, expensive one too.

Usually my office can't afford someone like her.

She gets hired by the big firms, you know.

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're bouncing 4 and 11.

I'm glad she said something.

-I would have empaneled four. -Yeah, me too.

-All right, not bad up there. -Thanks.

I do have some notes, though.

-We'll call you when we adjourn. -Yeah.

Thanks for the assist.

I hope that wasn't weird.

I-I just couldn't walk away without saying something.

I'm Olivia Benson, SVU.

-Gwen Sharpe. -Yeah.

My ADA was very impressed, and very little impresses him.

Are you here working on a case?

Mine is still in pretrial motions.

-Uh-huh. -I like to see what

the jury pool is looking like.

-It's good practice for me. -Okay.

Well, um,

what about those jurors flagged 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 put on this jury.

I know. I know.

They judge other women more harshly.

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 gonna go

the way you want it to.

But you haven't heard the evidence.

I mean, look, 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 have 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.

Ms. 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. -Is 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?

Um, 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 for my phone.

I-I was 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.

-Sustained. -Take it down a notch, Counsel.

I have nothing else.

Redirect, Mr. Carisi?

No, Your Honor.

Emily, you're free to go now.

You're free to go.

The People rest.

Put your game face on.

We'll take them apart in the cross.

The defense rests, Your Honor.

Verdict?

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 gonna be a tough case.

But at least this way, they're on the sex offender registry.

Carisi.

You can't make this deal, not after everything

that Emily has gone through.

I'm telling you,

we're gonna get buried here.

And then they're gonna 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.

-A 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.

Carisi, 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.

Anyway, I'm here as a courtesy.

I'm not asking for your permission.

Hey. Sorry.

Sonny, 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. -Well, 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.

I guess I just wanted to tell you in person

after everything you've done.

Well, I just did my job, and I am sorry that...

that it wasn't enough.

No, I'm sorry.

I always thought of myself as, like,

this pretty strong person, but...

I was sitting there in the courtroom,

and everybody's looking at me like I'm some drunk whore.

That's not true.

It is.

I mean,

some of them thought so on the jury.

I...

I just can't do it again.

And...

I know I'm disappointing you.

-Listen to me. -You're not disappointing me.

It's actually the opposite. I'm amazed by you.

You are... you are an incredibly strong woman.

And I'm not gonna sit here and lie to you

and tell you that another trial would be easier because...

because it would probably be harder.

And you've been through something incredibly difficult.

And you're still here.

Maybe I should have just said I passed out.

It's just, like, kind of messed up that

the truth doesn't always matter.

Hi.

-Gwen, what are you... -what are you doing here?

Oh, I had to meet a client downstairs.

Listen, I heard about the mistrial.

Oh, yeah.

I thought you might wanna drown your sorrows a little.

I think the stay-at-home mom was one of the holdouts

and the old guy with the missing tooth.

He didn't like your ADA.

Well, all of this information is super helpful

after the fact, so thank you so much for that.

Listen, I was rooting for you.

I've been wrong before.

You always take your losses so hard?

No, I don't.

What's so special about this one?

I've been doing this work for almost 30 years,

and most of the time, I convinced myself

that even when a case goes south

that it's the fight that matters.

That's... that's a nice way of thinking about it.

Yeah.

We don't stop anything.

We don't prevent a crime from happening.

We just pick up the pieces afterwards.

But that's always been the case, hasn't it?

You didn't pick Anti-Crime. You chose SVU.

-That is true. -That is true.

So what's changed?

That is the problem, is that nothing has changed.

We're 30 years in, and a jury gets to decide

that if a woman drinks too much,

then she deserves to be raped.

That is the problem.

Yeah.

That's hard.

How do you deal with that?

You know, the work used to be enough.

My old partner used...

violence to deal with it.

He used to get physical with the suspects.

But that took a toll on him too.

I mean,

maybe there is no good way.

Um,

so I have a...

a personal history with the type of crimes you investigate.

It's a... it's a story for another time.

But what I can say is, you're right.

The world hasn't changed much in 30 years,

and certainly, the perps haven't.

So what can you do about it?

Quit?

No.

No, I'm not...

I'm not ready to quit.

Okay.

Then the only other option is to fight.

Just fight different.

♪ They know not if it's dark outside or light ♪

♪ They know not if it's dark outside or light ♪

Late night visits gonna be

a regular thing from you, Captain?

-Look, I... -I need an arrest warrant.

For whom?

Josh Berger's mother, Stephanie.

On what charge?

Tampering and obstruction of justice.

Hold on. Uh, uh.

Berger's mother cooperated.

She handed over evidence.

The charges will never stick.

And you can just arrest her yourself.

You don't need a warrant from me.

I'd like to go through the proper channels.

You wanna use her to get her son to flip.

You wanna arrest someone you know to be innocent

to pressure their child.

And you came to the new dumb ADA

because you know Carisi wouldn't go for it.

I don't need an ethics lecture from you.

I'm not lecturing.

It's a great idea, mob tactics.

If you can't get the guy, go after the family.

You surprise me, Hawkins.

I might suggest adding a conspiracy

to commit rape charge.

You wanna pressure Berger?

That ought to do it.

By all means.

Come in.

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. Sutcliff and Mr. Paletta,

we can offer you rape two.

Sentencing is 2 1/3 to 5.

-Sex abuse three, time served. -No.

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 messed up.

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 was this, Liv, huh?

After all these years, you're gonna go behind my back?

I didn't wanna 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, Carisi, I...

-let's just talk, please. -Liv,

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... I didn't mean...

-I didn't mean it like that. -Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did.

That's why you're sitting in the courtroom every day, huh?

No.

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

Carisi, stop.

That's... that's not it.

I did what needed to be done.

Josh flipped.

He's gonna 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 lie 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'm sorry.

I'd been thinking about her so much and...

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 Sutcliff?

Guilty.

As to the charge of rape in the first degree,

how do you find the defendant, Scott Paletta?

Guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf

of the People of the State of New York, I thank you.

-Great... -great work, Carisi.

Thank you.

Okay.