Allison Leotta's Blog, page 16

SVU Episode #13-7: Mail-Order Brides

Recap: Wow. I think SVU's excellent writers stepped out for a coffee break, and while they were gone, the guys who wrote Saw IV snuck in and wrote the manuscript for tonight's show.

In the opening scene, we find the tattooed corpse of a lithe young woman behind a dumpster. She's been raped in every possible way. Her face has been sanded down to the bone by a power sander, her teeth have all been extracted, and her fingers amputated to conceal her identity. (Ugh. I had to put aside my popcorn.)  Our detectives soon find that she was Lena, a beautiful Russian mail-order bride. Her distraught American fiancee paid supposed kidnappers an $80,000 ransom to save her life. The fiancee is devastated that she was killed although he coughed up his life savings.

But Lena is actually alive! With the help of facial recognition technology, the detectives find recent pictures of her online. They discover that a Russian crime boss called The Butcher works this scam: he gets a rich man to fall in love with Lena, convinces the sucker that she's been kidnapped, then demands all his money. After the money is collected, The Butcher then murders and tattoos a different prostitute in order to convince the sucker that Lena is really dead. Similarly mutilated corpses have appeared in dumpsters around the world.

Captain Cragen goes undercover and has a "date" with Lena. In the process of talking with her, Cragen gets teary-eyed as he describes his late wife, their attempts to have children, and his drive to help save needy children. Cragen falls in love with Lena, at least a little bit.   I thought this was the best part of the show.  The acting in these scenes was great, and I liked backstory for our devoted Captain.

Cragen soon arrests Lena, and she spends the next few scenes toying with the Captain's heart like a kitten with a ball of yarn. But when Detective Amanda kills The Butcher (nice shot!), Lena snatches a gun off of a uniformed policeman, shoots him dead, and tries to run away. Although Cragen's eyes are haunted, he catches her and hauls her off to prison.

Verdict: C-

What they got wrong: The prostitute killings made absolutely no sense. Sure, there could be a scam where you get someone to fall in love with you, pretend to be kidnapped, and then take their ransom money. Unlikely but possible. But then why kill and tattoo another woman to make it look like you actually died? At that point, you have the guy's money. You're not getting any more money by supplying a mutilated corpse. All you're doing is upping your crime from fraud – where you might serve probation – to first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances, where you're going to jail for the rest of your life. And why rape the corpses of these dead prostitutes? Just to make the guy who was scammed even more upset and likely to help the police? I've never heard of this scam happening in real life. This was more Texas Chainsaw Massacre than a real sex crimes investigation.

What they got right: The Russian mail-order bride business is so rife with fraud that the State Department has a name for it: "Boris-and-Natasha scams." A lonely bachelor in Scranton meets doe-eyed Natasha online, falls in love, and sends her money for airline tickets to visit him. In fact, Natasha is a bearded guy named Boris, who's no longer available for online chats after he pockets the cash. The typical haul is between $2,000 and $5,000. (No mutilated corpses are necessary.)

Facial recognition technology is being used more and more by law-enforcement authorities. A friend of mine (actually my high-school prom date), Steve Russell, created a private facial-recognition company called 3VR, which is being used in many airports and hotels to provide security.

Other companies have found more recreational uses for the technology.  Facebook can recognize your friends' faces and tag photos of them automatically. There's even a company that uses facial-detection programs for the patrons of local bars, so you can check out the male-to-female ratio before deciding whether to head over there.

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SVU Episode 13-6: True Believers

Recap: This was a realistic and subtle exploration of many real issues that come up in sexual assault trials. On a sunny afternoon, a young white woman comes home to her apartment building and politely holds the elevator door for a young black man. They chit chat, then she brings her groceries into her apartment. While her door is propped open, he comes in to her apartment and points a gun at her. She tries to befriend him by asking if he'd like a drink, and she gets him a beer. He demands that she take her clothes off. She asks him to put the gun away, and promises not to fight him. He sets the gun down, she takes her clothes off, and he rapes her on her bed. But she doesn't report the rape right away. Instead, she showers, takes a college exam, and goes to sleep. The next day, she reports the rape to the police. While her sex kit is being performed, Olivia and a rape-crisis advocate argue about who has the girl's best interests at heart: Olivia thinks the girl should press charges, while the advocate thinks it will be too difficult for her.

While the girl is out at a bar the next night, she sees her rapist again. Police pick her up and drive her around until she spots the guy, who's now walking down the street. Nick and Olivia chase the rapist, who runs into his apartment, where his mother, girlfriend, and a baby are screaming. Nick tackles the rapist, and the guy's gun skids under the couch. Nick cuffs the guy, then grabs the gun from under the couch. While the guy is held by police officers on the sidewalk, another detective drives by with the victim. The girl identifies him as her rapist.

In court the next day, the rapist ditches his bumbling public defender when a hot-shot private defense attorney agrees to take his case pro bono. The defender argues that too many young black men are locked up and harassed by NYPD. Quaking with fear at the prospect of the high-powered defender, the DA's office puts their Unit Chief, Cutter, in charge of the prosecution. The victim tells Cutter that the last time she had sex was two weeks ago, with her professor boyfriend. But, it turns out, she actually had a one-night-stand the night before the rape. "There goes the Rape Shield," says Cutter.

At trial, the defender confronts the girl about her one-night stand, while her mortified parents watch. The defender tries to suppress the ID procedure and Nick's seizure of the gun. The rapist himself takes the stand and denies everything. The girl ends up looking like a liar and a slut.

The jury finds the rapist not guilty of everything, and the girl is left sobbing and disillusioned. She yells at Olivia that bringing the case wasn't worth it. "No," Olivia insists. "Healing begins when someone bears witness." The parents bundle the girl off. Olivia sits despondently on the courthouse steps afterwards, and the defense attorney approaches her. They are both true believers, they agree, which somehow leads him to invite her to his daughter's softball game.

Verdict: A-

What they got right.

Watch out when you're going into your building. Rapes committed by strangers are rare, but when they do happen, this is often the scenario: a girl lets a stranger follow her into the building, or he "helps" her bring groceries in. Once he's in the apartment, she's at his mercy. Ladies, watch your back when you're unlocking your front door.

Sex-offense detectives and rape-crisis advocates often quibble with each other. You'd think they're on the same team, but, often, they have  different agendas. Detectives and prosecutors usually argue that testifying is the most cathartic way to heal. Rape-crisis advocates often urge staying silent. As a former sex-crimes prosecutor myself, I believe that speaking up and fighting for justice is the best way to regain the power and dignity that is lost in a sexual assault.

Delayed reports are very common. Sex offense victims sometimes need time to come to terms with what happened to them. They are ashamed, afraid, or dreading the process. I've had countless cases where the victim delayed reporting for days, weeks, even years. If you've been a victim, an immediate report will be the strongest – but any report is better than none. Good cases can be made with delayed reports.

The legal issues that the defense attorney raised were ones that come up often in violent-crime trials. But, in this episode, I thought the prosecution clearly won them. The ID was perfectly good: the girl saw the rapist herself the next day (in DC, we call that a "second sighting") and led the police right to him. That wasn't suggestive by the police. And Nick was completely in his rights to reach under the couch when he arrested the guy on the floor next to the couch. Cops are entitled to search the "wingspan" of a person they're arresting in order to secure the scene and the officer's safety. The arrest in this episode was dangerous, unpredictable, and volatile, with a drug-dealer/rapist and his screaming family surrounding the detectives. Nick was well within his constitutional limits (and may have saved his and Olivia's lives) when he secured the gun.

Finally, the issue of the Rape Shield law was spot-on. In the old days, trials might revolve around the victim's sex life, reputation, or virtue. Not anymore. Rape Shield rules mean that this information is kept out of the trial. But once the girl lied about when she'd last had sex, she opened this door. The defense has the right to any information indicating the victim has lied, and to question her about it in open court. It's crucial for a victim to tell the truth from the beginning. I've seen juries convict when the victim was a prostitute, or a drug addict, or both. But juries are very reluctant to convict when the victim is a proven liar, even if the lie was about something seemingly small.

What they got wrong.

There is a stereotype of a bumbling public defender, like the guy in this episode who didn't know his client's name, and kept dropping his files. In D.C., the Public Defender's Service provides some of the best legal defense in the country. Their lawyers come from Ivy-league schools, they lead the national charge on cutting-edge legal issues, and are fierce advocates for their clients. I'd sometimes see an indigent defendant and his family scrape up every last dime to hire a private attorney, on the assumption that a private lawyer must provide better representation than a public defender. Not true. In D.C., some of the best legal defense is done by PDS.

On a related note, I found it hard to believe that the DA's office in this episode put their unit chief in charge of a case just because a big name was on the other side. Prosecutors face big cases and formidable opponents every day. There aren't enough supervisors to go around.

Finally, the defendant almost never testifies in a sex assault case. A defense attorney worth his salt will persuade his client to stay off the stand. The defendant's got too much to lose, and he might trip over his own lies. In this case, we knew the guy was guilty. It was a terrible legal strategy for this supposedly savvy defense attorney to put his client on the stand.

Still, he may have excellent taste in woman. Was he hitting on Olivia in that final scene?

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Twelve Things TV Doesn't Tell You about Judges — a guest blog by Judge Scott Schofield

There's no new SVU episode tonight, but I'm excited to introduce the Honorable Scott Schofield as our guest blogger this week!  Judge Schofield is a Michigan judge who presides over a criminal docket ranging from littering to larceny.  He's long been known for his thoughtful decisions and hard work ethic.  Now he's  becoming one of the hottest legal bloggers in cyberspace, bringing humor and insights to the mysterious world behind the black robe. Judge Schofield writes the blogs Accepting Responsibility, about the need to be accountable for one's choices, to avoid weak excuses and to make sincere apologies, and  Wearing Basic Black, a blog for other judges.  Check them out!  Meanwhile, enjoy his guest post here. – Allison

Twelve Things TV Doesn't Tell You about Judges

— a guest blog by Judge Scott Schofield

1. It's not easy to say "No." Offenders almost always ask for leniency, for me to give them a break. Justice is too harsh if it's not tempered with mercy, but more often it's appropriate to impose the full consequences that an offender has earned. It would be easier to say "Yes" and make offenders and their families happy, but instead I say "No" a lot.

2. Judges are not as good-looking and articulate as they make us appear on TV. Although many of us think we are.

3. Hearing about horrible things takes a toll on me. I see and hear things that no one should have to see and hear. I'm not complaining; this is the job I've taken on. But although I don't suffer anything like those who directly experience the violence I hear about in the courtroom, experiencing trauma second-hand day after day is damaging too. I ignore its effects at my peril.

4. Sometimes I trip on my robe as I walk up to the bench. Because I wear bifocals, it's easy to trip on the way down too. And my female colleagues have to navigate those steps in high heels.

5. I get tired of making decisions. Making decisions is what I get paid to do. And every day I make a lot of decisions, big and small. When I trudge through my back door at the end of a hard day, I'm not in a mood to make any more decisions. I ask my wife to decide what will go on the pizza we're ordering.

6. The courthouse is not a passion pit. If the lawyers who regularly appear in my courtroom are having torrid sex with one another like lawyers do on TV, I see no evidence of it whatsoever. They're way too busy during the day, and they're way too tired at the end of the day to rip off anyone's clothes but their own.

7. I have a life outside the courthouse. It's awkward to run into my "customers" while pushing a cart through the produce section of the grocery store. They're shocked to see me there without a robe, apparently assuming that I dwell in some courthouse back room when I'm not on duty. And I've found that 7 AM is the best time to shop at WalMart without seeing anyone who's recently been released from jail.

8. Trials are a small part of what I do. And trials are not the fast-paced, riveting courtroom dramas you see on TV. Most cases are resolved not by trial but by a plea agreement or dismissal. Then there are all the pre-trial proceedings like arraignments, preliminary examinations, and motion hearings. And did I mention the stacks of paper back in my chambers waiting for my signature?

9. I don't have a gavel. No, I've never banged a gavel, not even once. If I can't control my courtroom with a stern look or a few well-chosen words, I'm not much of a judge.

10. I don't see the success stories. If someone behaves himself and never re-offends, I don't see him again. I only see the offenders who come back into court after more poor choices. No one comes into my courtroom and says: "Judge, I just wanted to stop by and tell you things have been going great for me lately."

11. Sometimes I talk in code. "I'm going to take a five-minute recess" is judge-speak for "I need to attend to an urgent call of nature." I really don't think any further comment is needed.

12. I'm not likely to get my own show. Unlike the judges on those syndicated afternoon TV shows, I am not allowed to belittle, abuse or disrespect the lawyers or litigants. That's as it should be. Everyone who comes into my courtroom is entitled to courtesy and respect. So, there were no offers from Hollywood clogging up my inbox this morning.

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SVU Episode #13-5: Missing Pieces

Recap: A young couple from Buffalo comes to Manhattan and claims that their 3-month-old baby was stolen along with their car. Soon mom and dad's stories start to conflict and fall apart. Things look even more suspicious when the baby's fecal matter is found inside a cooler. The father then confesses that he shook the baby to death, while the mother confesses that she drowned the baby in a tub. But, it turns out, both parent were lying. The ME discovers that the baby died of SIDS. The parents confessed to protect each other. At the end, the detectives let the sobbing couple go home.

Verdict: B

What they got right: This is such a tragic scenario, but one I had to deal with all the time. About two or three times a month, we'd get the case of a baby who died from or suffered catastrophic injuries. Of course, the infant can't tell us what happened, so investigators are left to figure it out as best we can. It's very difficult, as an emotional and evidentiary matter. Often, the cause of the injuries is Shaken Baby Syndrome, where the child suffers severe brain damage from being shaken.  Shaken babies' brains show a particular pattern of brain injuries, but that pattern can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from a baby who merely fell off a bed. Investigators rely heavily on the stories given by the parents, but must take their stories with a grain of salt, as the parents are often the ones who inflicted the injuries. The long, drawn-out questioning in this episode – with the detectives agonizing over the case, trying to figure out what the hell actually happened, all the while losing time with their own kids – was very realistic.

What they got wrong: There have been plenty of cases in the last decade of parents falsely claiming that their children were abducted. Never has there been a case where SIDS was the actual culprit. And it didn't make much sense. Why would the parents confess to a much worse story than what actually happened? Yes, people sometimes make false confessions. But saying you drowned your kid when you know that he died in his sleep seems not only unwise, but unbelievable.

At the end of the episode, SVU decides to let the parents go free. "They'll be paying for this for the rest of their lives," Nick says, and everyone nods sadly. Not in the real world. They'd be facing obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and lying to the police charges. At the very least, the mom's statement that "everyone knows bad things happen in New York City" would get her some charges from this crew.

Finally, I was underwhelmed with their "poop in the cooler" evidence. Not to be totally gross, but . . . I have two pre-school-aged boys, and a small layer of their poop probably coats every item in my house. I doubt any of it would have much evidentiary value.

On a side note, did anyone else notice that the DA is looking paler and paler, and her hair getting more maroon, every episode? My theory is that she's turning into a vampire. Hey, that might be a good show: vampires solving sex crimes! What do you think?

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Meth Makeover

In over a decade as a prosecutor, I spent a lot of time waiting in police stations, killing time by reading the public service announcements. The "Faces of Meth" posters are always the most morbidly fascinating.  Drugs can mess you up in many ways, but none will destroy your face faster and more dramatically than crystal meth. Check it out:

As for tonight's SVU episode – stop by next week, when I'll have my analysis posted.  I recently got edits for my next novel back from my brilliant editor, and I'm once again working under a tight deadline. The book's coming along great, but I'm sorry for the blogging delay.  Meanwhile, if you want to post comments or questions about the SVU episode, I'll answer them in my next blog post. See you next week!

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SVU Episode #13-4: Double Strand

Recap: Blond women along the east coast are being terrorized by the Atlantic Coast Rapist. In tonight's episode, our SVU detectives seem to have caught him at last! The man's DNA is a perfect match, the victims pick him out of a lineup, and the timeline of his job transfers perfectly correlate with the geography of the rapes. "Wish all my cases were all this easy," the DA says. But something isn't sitting right with our new detective, Nick. The suspect seems like a nice fella. Munch waxes nostalgic for the glory days when DNA didn't get in the way of what your "gut" told you. Turns out, the rapist is actually the twin brother of the suspect. The suspect didn't realize he had a twin because he was adopted. But the evil twin had learned it, and based his entire decades-long crime spree on pinning it on his brother. SVU is flummoxed – how can we prove the rapist is the evil twin and not the good twin? They bait a trap: conveniently blond new detective Amanda jogs through the park where the evil twin works. He chases her, holds a knife to her throat and tries to rape her in broad daylight. He is arrested, and Amanda then extracts a sobbing confession from him in the final scene.

Verdict: B-

What they got right: There really was an East Coast Rapist, who preyed on women in cities along (you guessed it), the east coast. His DNA was found at some rapes, but there was no match in CODIS, the national database of convicted felons. Police across several states launched a massive and laudably creative manhunt for him. They enlisted the help of the press and launched a website devoted just to him. The Washington Post ran a big article on his habits and MO. A civilian read the article, thought the guy sounded familiar, and tipped off the police. The police followed the suspect, picked up a cigarette butt he dropped, and DNA tested it. It was a match. That man is now in custody, charged with a series of rapes. No evil twin has been implicated in that case.

It's also true that identical twins have the same DNA as each other, but different fingerprints. Whenever a prosecutor has a case based on DNA, she has to make sure her suspect doesn't have a twin. (Conditioned this way, I shouted "He's a twin!" sometime after the first commercial break, but that's kind of obnoxious, and I vacillated about admitting my outburst here on the blog. But we're all friends, so there you go.) There was a set of twin brothers in D.C. who got away with a series of small-time crimes for a period by constantly pointing to the other twin (creating reasonable doubt) or having their twin create an alibi for them. After a while, though, they got caught. If you're considering a life of crime, it definitely helps to have a twin.

What they got wrong: There's a serial rapist who likes blonds – okay, let's send a blond running past him! He'll have to try to rape her, right? This ploy is just plain ridiculous. But it comes up so often on SVU. Last season, there was a guy who had a fetish that compelled him to cut women's hair. So SVU sent Olivia into a park, where she sat on a bench flipping her hair for a few minutes and – wham! – the Haircutting Horror popped up to snip off a lock. I've never heard of a trap like this being used. It wouldn't be effective. Even the East Coast Rapist – the guy so horrific he got his own website – only struck once or twice a year, at the most. Real crime is way to random, sporadic, and unpredictable to be able to bait a trap like they do on SVU.

And DNA testing is way more effective than anyone's "gut." Munch might be nostalgic for the old days. But would you prefer the heartfelt opinion of a lovable but slightly crazy, conspiracy-theorist detective, or a nice solid DNA match? 'Nuff said.

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SVU Episode #13-3: Blood Brothers

Recap: This storyline was an imaginative twist on the Arnold Schwarzenegger situation. In real life, Arnold had an affair with his housekeeper, who got pregnant and had his baby.  Neither of them mentioned that to Arnold's beautiful and politically-connected wife, Maria Shriver. Housekeeper and child lived in the mansion with Arnold, Maria, and their kids for over a decade. Maria finally learned the truth when The Enquirer broke the story. The fact that no crime was committed then says a lot about Maria's self-control.

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In this episode, a shy 13-year-old girl is pregnant but her hymen is still intact. SVU is called to find out who the father is. The girl won't disclose at first, claiming that she was impregnated miraculously by God. That might work on another network, but SVU isn't that kind of TV show. The detectives go looking for a human culprit. After dispensing with the usual suspects (a priest, a teacher who's on the sex-offender registry), the detectives hone in on Arturo, the girl's schoolmate and best friend. Arturo denies having sex with her, but points to Tripp Raines, the 13-year-old son of a wealthy and powerful Ambassador. Arturo's mom used to work for Tripp's family; Arturo introduced the girl and Tripp. Tripp cockily admits to taking the girl's "cherry," but doesn't care that he's messed up her life.

The girl finally admits she had sex with Tripp, once, in his bedroom, during a party at his house. Tripp said she was pretty, they kissed, then he pushed her down on the bed and had sex with her. She said "no," but Tripp asked if she wanted him to like her; she said yes, and he continued. Afterward he sent her roses and a note that said, "Still dreaming about you." She loved him, thought they were going to be married, and dreamed he would make her a princess.

The detectives go to the Raines family mansion and try to talk to Tripp's father, the Ambassador, without his wife. "We have no secrets from each other," the Ambassador's wife sniffs. Uh oh, start the scary music, because you know what that statement means. This episode won't end until the wife's still-beating heart has been torn from her chest by some colossal secret her husband is harboring.

Meanwhile, the detectives find Tripp bludgeoned to death in Central Park. Turns out Arturo did it. He had figured out that he was the Ambassador's son – which got him and his mom kicked out of the Raines house (with a hefty payoff). And Arturo was deeply in love with the girl, and offended by his half-brother's cavalier attempt to make her get an abortion.  You can't solve every problem with money, Arturo sobs. With all the emotions swirling around his adorable little head, Arturo beat Tripp to death with a rock. (Is it just me, or was that cute little actor the furthest thing from a homicidal maniac you could imagine?)

Verdict: B+

What they got right: Let's handle the most uncomfortable physical fact first. Yes, a girl who's had sex could still have an intact hymen. It doesn't mean a virgin birth is about to happen, just that that piece of anatomy is stretchy and tough. This doesn't actually come up in many sex offense cases.

There is no florist-client privilege. These days, a lot of people believe in privileges that don't actually exist. I've had people argue that information they told their hotel, their postman, or their yoga instructor was privileged. Nope. Basically, you have a privilege for things you tell your doctor, spouse, attorney, or  religious leader.   That's all. And in certain circumstances, even those can be circumvented.

Sex-crime victims often don't want to identify their assailant. I've actually seen remarkably similar cases – usually involving teenage girls – many times. Often, the victim is in love with her assailant and her allegiance is with him, not the police.

The sex crime in this episode was a tough call. Olivia thought they had a good forcible-rape case against Tripp, but the ADA disagreed. I saw the ADA's point. It's hard to try a case where the victim initially lied about who raped her, even before you get to the muddled issue of consent here. But reasonable minds could disagree. I can see the debate between the ADA and Olivia happening exactly that way in real life.

What they got wrong: After they determined that the possible assailant was a 13-year-old boy, the case would no longer be handled by a sex-offense DA. It would go to the unit that handles juvenile cases. If Tripp was charged, it would be as a juvenile. In D.C., the case would go from the U.S. Attorney's Office to the Office of the Attorney General, next door.

Hurry up – and wait. After Tripp admitted having sex with the girl, the detectives kept running around trying to confirm that actually happened. In most cases involving 13-year-olds, the detective would simply wait until the girl had the baby, and then run DNA testing to confirm that the suspected father was the biological father.

Finally, in most cases of a pregnant 13-year-old girl, no authorities would be called at all. There are countless teenage girls who give birth and no police officer is ever notified. The idea that the girl's school would call the police is a nice one – but not always the case in real life, where schools see so many underage pregnancies they become numb to them. Often, I would meet girls who'd given birth to babies a year or two ago – and who'd just recently found the courage to come forward and identify their adult assailant. No reports had been made by anyone at the time of the girl's pregnancy or birth.

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SVU Episode #3: Blood Brothers

Recap: This storyline was an imaginative twist on the Arnold Schwarzenegger situation. In real life, Arnold had an affair with his housekeeper, who got pregnant and had his baby.  Neither of them mentioned that to Arnold's beautiful and politically-connected wife, Maria Shriver. Housekeeper and child lived in the mansion with Arnold, Maria, and their kids for over a decade. Maria finally learned the truth when The Enquirer broke the story. The fact that no crime was committed then says a lot about Maria's self-control.

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In this episode, a shy 13-year-old girl is pregnant but her hymen is still intact. SVU is called to find out who the father is. The girl won't disclose at first, claiming that she was impregnated miraculously by God. That might work on another network, but SVU isn't that kind of TV show. The detectives go looking for a human culprit. After dispensing with the usual suspects (a priest, a teacher who's on the sex-offender registry), the detectives hone in on Arturo, the girl's schoolmate and best friend. Arturo denies having sex with her, but points to Tripp Raines, the 13-year-old son of a wealthy and powerful Ambassador. Arturo's mom used to work for Tripp's family; Arturo introduced the girl and Tripp. Tripp cockily admits to taking the girl's "cherry," but doesn't care that he's messed up her life.

The girl finally admits she had sex with Tripp, once, in his bedroom, during a party at his house. Tripp said she was pretty, they kissed, then he pushed her down on the bed and had sex with her. She said "no," but Tripp asked if she wanted him to like her; she said yes, and he continued. Afterward he sent her roses and a note that said, "Still dreaming about you." She loved him, thought they were going to be married, and dreamed he would make her a princess.

The detectives go to the Raines family mansion and try to talk to Tripp's father, the Ambassador, without his wife. "We have no secrets from each other," the Ambassador's wife sniffs. Uh oh, start the scary music, because you know what that statement means. This episode won't end until the wife's still-beating heart has been torn from her chest by some colossal secret her husband is harboring.

Meanwhile, the detectives find Tripp bludgeoned to death in Central Park. Turns out Arturo did it. He had figured out that he was the Ambassador's son – which got him and his mom kicked out of the Raines house (with a hefty payoff). And Arturo was deeply in love with the girl, and offended by his half-brother's cavalier attempt to make her get an abortion.  You can't solve every problem with money, Arturo sobs. With all the emotions swirling around his adorable little head, Arturo beat Tripp to death with a rock. (Is it just me, or was that cute little actor the furthest thing from a homicidal maniac you could imagine?)

Verdict: B+

What they got right: Let's handle the most uncomfortable physical fact first. Yes, a girl who's had sex could still have an intact hymen. It doesn't mean a virgin birth is about to happen, just that that piece of anatomy is stretchy and tough. This doesn't actually come up in many sex offense cases.

There is no florist-client privilege. These days, a lot of people believe in privileges that don't actually exist. I've had people argue that information they told their hotel, their postman, or their yoga instructor was privileged. Nope. Basically, you have a privilege for things you tell your doctor, spouse, attorney, or  religious leader.   That's all. And in certain circumstances, even those can be circumvented.

Sex-crime victims often don't want to identify their assailant. I've actually seen remarkably similar cases – usually involving teenage girls – many times. Often, the victim is in love with her assailant and her allegiance is with him, not the police.

The sex crime in this episode was a tough call. Olivia thought they had a good forcible-rape case against Tripp, but the ADA disagreed. I saw the ADA's point. It's hard to try a case where the victim initially lied about who raped her, even before you get to the muddled issue of consent here. But reasonable minds could disagree. I can see the debate between the ADA and Olivia happening exactly that way in real life.

What they got wrong: After they determined that the possible assailant was a 13-year-old boy, the case would no longer be handled by a sex-offense DA. It would go to the unit that handles juvenile cases. If Tripp was charged, it would be as a juvenile. In D.C., the case would go from the U.S. Attorney's Office to the Office of the Attorney General, next door.

Hurry up – and wait. After Tripp admitted having sex with the girl, the detectives kept running around trying to confirm that actually happened. In most cases involving 13-year-olds, the detective would simply wait until the girl had the baby, and then run DNA testing to confirm that the suspected father was the biological father.

Finally, in most cases of a pregnant 13-year-old girl, no authorities would be called at all. There are countless teenage girls who give birth and no police officer is ever notified. The idea that the girl's school would call the police is a nice one – but not always the case in real life, where schools see so many underage pregnancies they become numb to them. Often, I would meet girls who'd given birth to babies a year or two ago – and who'd just recently found the courage to come forward and identify their adult assailant. No reports had been made by anyone at the time of the girl's pregnancy or birth.

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SVU Episode #13-2: Personal Fouls

I loved tonight's show. It was realistic, interesting, and shone a light on an important and taboo subject. I liked the raw, stripped-down feel of this episode. The writers got rid of the unbelievable technology and DA cleavage that's cluttered recent shows and focused on the issue of male sex-assault victims in a true and gut-wrenching way. I actually teared up at the ending. This is the SVU that made so many loyal fans fall in love with it.

Verdict: A+

Recap: A youth basketball coach is being honored for his work with young boys. During the award ceremony, a man named Stevie busts in and shouts that Coach deserves to be in jail, not the hall of fame. Our SVU detectives learn that Stevie was molested by the coach when he was a kid. The coach paid him off for many years to keep the secret – and he did it to others. The detectives interview other young men who've received payments from the coach, but all of them deny being sexually assaulted. We see their different reactions. Some are afraid of being considered gay. Some seem to pause and consider talking, but can't get past the shame. One man freaks out and says he'd stab anyone who touched him like that.

Finally, our detectives track down Prince, the most famous basketball player the coach ever taught. Prince is a Michael Jordan-like NBA star with his own brand of shoes, fragrance, and clothing. It's clear that Coach sexually abused him as a child, but the arrogant Prince can't bring himself to admit it.

In the meantime, we see the destruction that Coach's sexual assaults have wrought, from a boy who committed suicide decades ago, to Stevie himself, who's a junkie. Stevie ends up murdered by Prince's second-in-command, who wants to protect the superstar's "brand."

The detectives struggle with how to make the Prince talk to them. The consider using a wire or forcing him to talk in the Grand Jury. But they realize they need his cooperation. Finally, they convince him by showing him a boy who's about to go on a road trip with the coach. Prince sees a bit of himself in the talented young athlete who's in the precarious position. Prince finally agrees to testify truthfully in the Grand Jury.

In the final scene, Prince musters up the courage to hold a press conference telling the world what Coach did to him. We see how much this means to the other victims, from the mother of the boy who committed suicide, to the young athlete who's currently being molested by the coach. The boy silently reaches for his mother's arms as Prince says, "The shame is not ours, it his." That's when I had to grab my Kleenex.

What they got right: Sexual assaults are the most under-reported crimes in America, and assaults against male victims are the most under-reported of all. It's estimated that 1 in 4 American women and 1 in 6 American men will be the victim of a sexual assault in their lifetime. But hardly any of the male survivors come forward. This is a real problem. As a prosecutor, I saw the fraction of sexual assault cases that were reported. Although men make up a significant portion of the survivors, the vast majority of my cases involved female complainants. The stigma attached to sexual assault is even worse for male victims, and they are much less likely to report it or even talk about it. Detective Amanda Rollins got it right when she said, "Male victims today are where female victims were 40 years ago. It's the dark ages." Kudos to SVU for getting people to talk about this subject. I hope the episode will help survivors realize that they're not alone, and encourage some to seek out counseling or even come forward.

The show also got right how the police struggled to get the testimony they needed from the victims. Often, the real challenge in these cases isn't solving the crime but helping the survivor find his voice. I've never seen a wire used on a victim (rather than a suspect), but it was a creative twist. And it was good that they ultimately decided that they needed to get Prince to want to testify. That's very real. It's almost impossible (and inadvisable) to bring a sex offense case unless you have a victim who's found the strength to want to talk about what happened.

If you're interested in this topic, a great novel dealing with it is Bryan Gruley's Edgar-nominated "Starvation Lake," about the secrets kept in a small northern Michigan hockey town.

On a different note, I liked the new detective, Nick Amaro. We just got a few hints about his character. He took out a picture of his little girl for his desk, then looked around the precinct and put it away. Maybe he doesn't want sex offenders to see his kid?  There was also a quick reference to a wife serving in Iraq. No sexual tension yet between him and the new female detective, but the season is still young.

What they got wrong: Believe it or not, I didn't see anything to nitpick tonight. I was too riveted by the story. Sorry for falling down on the job. If you saw some nits that I missed, please leave a comment!

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SVU Episode #2: Personal Fouls

I loved tonight's show. It was realistic, interesting, and shone a light on an important and taboo subject. I liked the raw, stripped-down feel of this episode. The writers got rid of the unbelievable technology and DA cleavage that's cluttered recent shows and focused on the issue of male sex-assault victims in a true and gut-wrenching way. I actually teared up at the ending. This is the SVU that made so many loyal fans fall in love with it.

Verdict: A+

Recap: A youth basketball coach is being honored for his work with young boys. During the award ceremony, a man named Stevie busts in and shouts that Coach deserves to be in jail, not the hall of fame. Our SVU detectives learn that Stevie was molested by the coach when he was a kid. The coach paid him off for many years to keep the secret – and he did it to others. The detectives interview other young men who've received payments from the coach, but all of them deny being sexually assaulted. We see their different reactions. Some are afraid of being considered gay. Some seem to pause and consider talking, but can't get past the shame. One man freaks out and says he'd stab anyone who touched him like that.

Finally, our detectives track down Prince, the most famous basketball player the coach ever taught. Prince is a Michael Jordan-like NBA star with his own brand of shoes, fragrance, and clothing. It's clear that Coach sexually abused him as a child, but the arrogant Prince can't bring himself to admit it.

In the meantime, we see the destruction that Coach's sexual assaults have wrought, from a boy who committed suicide decades ago, to Stevie himself, who's a junkie. Stevie ends up murdered by Prince's second-in-command, who wants to protect the superstar's "brand."

 The detectives struggle with how to make the Prince talk to them. The consider using a wire or forcing him to talk in the Grand Jury. But they realize they need his cooperation. Finally, they convince him by showing him a boy who's about to go on a road trip with the coach. Prince sees a bit of himself in the talented young athlete who's in the precarious position. Prince finally agrees to testify truthfully in the Grand Jury.

In the final scene, Prince musters up the courage to hold a press conference telling the world what Coach did to him. We see how much this means to the other victims, from the mother of the boy who committed suicide, to the young athlete who's currently being molested by the coach. The boy silently reaches for his mother's arms as Prince says, "The shame is not ours, it his." That's when I had to grab my Kleenex.

What they got right: Sexual assaults are the most under-reported crimes in America, and assaults against male victims are the most under-reported of all. It's estimated that 1 in 4 American women and 1 in 6 American men will be the victim of a sexual assault in their lifetime. But hardly any of the male survivors come forward. This is a real problem. As a prosecutor, I saw the fraction of sexual assault cases that were reported. Although men make up a significant portion of the survivors, the vast majority of my cases involved female complainants. The stigma attached to sexual assault is even worse for male victims, and they are much less likely to report it or even talk about it. Detective Amanda Rollins got it right when she said, "Male victims today are where female victims were 40 years ago. It's the dark ages." Kudos to SVU for getting people to talk about this subject. I hope the episode will help survivors realize that they're not alone, and encourage some to seek out counseling or even come forward.

The show also got right how the police struggled to get the testimony they needed from the victims. Often, the real challenge in these cases isn't solving the crime but helping the survivor find his voice. I've never seen a wire used on a victim (rather than a suspect), but it was a creative twist. And it was good that they ultimately decided that they needed to get Prince to want to testify. That's very real. It's almost impossible (and inadvisable) to bring a sex offense case unless you have a victim who's found the strength to want to talk about what happened.

If you're interested in this topic, a great novel dealing with it is Bryan Gruley's Edgar-nominated "Starvation Lake," about the secrets kept in a small northern Michigan hockey town.

On a different note, I liked the new detective, Nick Amaro. We just got a few hints about his character. He took out a picture of his little girl for his desk, then looked around the precinct and put it away. Maybe he doesn't want sex offenders to see his kid?  There was also a quick reference to a wife serving in Iraq. No sexual tension yet between him and the new female detective, but the season is still young.

What they got wrong: Believe it or not, I didn't see anything to nitpick tonight. I was too riveted by the story. Sorry for falling down on the job. If you saw some nits that I missed, please leave a comment!

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