Allison Leotta's Blog, page 4

SVU Episode #15-17: Criminal Stories

Was that … sexual tension between Alec Baldwin and Detective Olivia Benson? Cassidy, watch out! Tonight’s episode was a tight and realistic riff on the Tawanna Brawley case. It was also Mariska Hargitay’s directorial debut. I think she hit it out of the ballpark – maybe even to Jupiter?

Recap:

A beautiful young Muslim woman named Heba is found injured and raped in Central Park. At first, she claims that she was assaulted by two white strangers who shouted anti-Muslim slurs. The city is shocked by the hate crime.

Olivia races against a swaggering journalist played by a swaggering Alec Baldwin. Alec’s sources are better than the SVU’s. Soon, he discovers that Heba wasn’t raped in Central Park! “HOAX” screams his front-page headline the next day. Heba’s family enlists the help of a pulpit-pounding minister (why not an imam? because the minister is a regular guest star on SVU), who denounces the NYPD for leaking the case and disgracing Heba.

It turns out Heba was raped, just in a different manner - by her brother’s rich boss and the boss’s friend, after the boss invited her to an “after-party” in his penthouse office. Heba initially lied because she was ashamed to tell her parents she went to see a man by herself and drank champagne. The fibers found on her clothing belong to the goat-skin rug in the boss’s office; the semen inside her belongs to the two cocky real estate brokers.

The men claim consent; the case goes to trial; and a mistrial is declared after Alec finally looks in Heba’s dewy eyes during her testimony, realizes she’s telling the truth, and writes a front-page story saying so. The jurors admit they read the story despite their instruction not to read press coverage, and the judge dismisses them. A retrial is avoided when the cocky boss pleads guilty to a misdemeanor and throws his co-conspirator under the felony bus.

One final twist: the rapist/boss’s family has powerful connections to Alec’s newspaper, and Daddy is the one who pushed Alec to write the HOAX story. Shamed by Olivia’s withering glare, Alec posts a story describing the whole sordid business, then resigns from the paper. “I’ve got balls as big as Jupiter,” he crows from his barstool later that night, while Olivia coyly holds up a finger to order a second round of drinks for them.

Verdict: A-

What they got right:

The Tawana Brawley case rocked the country in 1987, when the young African-American woman claimed she had been gang-raped by several white men then left to die in a garbage bag covered in dog feces. She wouldn’t cooperate with prosecutors, retained Al Sharpton as her PR man, and accused a local prosecutor of being one of the rapists. It was all a hoax. According to NPR, “”a special state grand jury later determined that Brawley had fabricated her claims, perhaps to avoid punishment for staying out late.” In 1998, the prosecutor successfully sued Brawley and Sharpton for defamation.

Did you suspect that the dad and the brother had sexually assaulted Heba, then framed it as a hate crime to deflect blame? Then perhaps you’ve heard of the case of Shaima Alawadi, an Iraqi immigrant found murdered in her San Diego home. A note next to her body read, “This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist.” Reacting to the apparent hate crime, a Facebook page called “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi” was launched. In a few days, over 12,000 women posted pictures of themselves wearing a head scarf. Later, the police arrested Alawadi’s husband and charged him with killing her and planting the note himself.

The hajib Facebook page was the one heartening thing to come out of the tragedy.

Tonight’s episode also got a lot of the details correct. Olivia knew that victims of sexual assault initially omit details of their assault 50% of the time. The concept of “rolling disclosures” is familiar to every sex-offense detective. The way Nick and Finn used a Q-tip to swab the inside of the suspect’s cheeks, then put the Q-tips in a long white box, is exactly how detectives swab for DNA when executing warrants on suspects in real life. Carpet fibers left on clothing or shoes can be tested and matched to carpet in a given home, and DNA analysis can tell what type of animal a hair comes from (although I didn’t see any smoking-gun goat hairs in my prosecutions. Goats again! Why does it always come back to the goats on SVU?).

And the difficulties in prosecuting a case like this were well articulated. It’s very hard to make a case when a victim has lied so enormously in the beginning. The fact that Barba was able to get a misdemeanor plea out of one defendant and a felony conviction out of the other speaks to his legal skills (and, maybe some dramatic license in the overwhelming quantity of corroborating evidence the police found). After the victim lied and deliberately faked a crime scene, I’m not sure this case would be winnable in a real courtroom. And Barba was right about how the plea went down. Although the rich boss was the worst offender, every criminal attorney knows that, “The first one in the life boat gets the best seat.”

What they got wrong:

Besides Woodward and Bernstein breaking Watergate, I’ve never seen a case where a single journalist is so important to coverage. In real sex-offense cases, it seems, everyone is interested or no one is. And no way would Alec quit at the end. A grizzled veteran reporter like him would have seen hundreds of cases far worse than this one.

What do you think, SVU fans? Would you believe a rape victim’s subsequent story if she were initially caught in a serious lie? Are goat hair accessories going to be all the rage? And can Olivia personally vouch for Alec’s planetary dimensions? Leave your comments!

SVU Episode #15-17: Gambler’s Fallacy

Whoa! In tonight’s shocking episode, Amanda performed some acts no cop ever should. By the second commercial break I was bidding her character farewell, because there was no way NYPD could keep her on the force. Then, in a fabulous plot twist, the writers turned everything its head. The episode wasn’t particularly realistic, but it scored high points for fun.

Recap:

Amanda hasn’t kicked her gambling problem. In fact, she’s traded her Gamblers Anonymous meetings for gambling at an illegal speakeasy in an abandoned warehouse. She’s down $15,000 when a waitress recognizes she’s a cop.

Amanda spends the rest of the episode trying to work off her debt to the beautiful pregnant boss lady and her Irish rogue deputy, who rough up Amanda and threaten to turn her in to Internal Affairs if she doesn’t do their bidding.

Amanda’s sins grow exponentially. In sequence, she:

(1) Looks to fix traffic tickets, but ultimately demurs, saying NYPD is watching this now,

(2) Tracks a juror’s address so the bad guys can “have a talk” with her, but then has an attack of conscience and doesn’t turn the address over,

(3) Performs oral sex on the Irish guy! While he tapes it on his cellphone video! (…which is the only act on this list which, if performed correctly, would not lead to her immediate termination if discovered…)

(4) Disposes of a gun from the police evidence room, in order to set free co-conspirator Carlos and keep his DNA out of the system!

(5) After Carlos rapes the wife of an ambassador in debt to the speakeasy, goes to their home, showing the victims that their assailants have friends in the NYPD!

(6) Fixes a DNA test to exonerate the rapist!

(7) Points a gun at the pregnant boss’s belly and threatens to kill the unborn baby!

(8) Extorts the boss’s art dealer / criminal mastermind boyfriend to the tune of a million dollars and a private jet to fly her out of the country!

I thought poor Kelli Giddish’s contract fell through, or maybe she’s heading to CSI, because her character is done.

)

But it turned out that Amanda did not, in fact, fellate the Irish guy. The cut-to-commercial which blacked out the act itself was not the network’s attempt to keep things family-friendly, but rather to mislead us. When Amanda got on her knees, Murphy told her that he was an undercover cop and she was working for him now. Everything Amanda did after that was a good faith effort to catch the bad guys.

Amanda’s colleagues are upset that she lied to them, Olivia doesn’t trust her any more, and Internal Affairs is seriously peeved at the antics. But Lt. Murphy uses his gift of gab to keep Amanda on the force and whisper sweet Irish nothings into her ear.

Verdict: B- for realism, but A for entertainment

What they got wrong:

It would be hard for me to overstate how hard it is to get DNA samples tested even when you have perfect paperwork. There’s always a backlog. Cops and prosecutors often have to go to the mat to get testing done quickly. Plus, Amanda’s shenanigans were unnecessary. The speakeasy couldn’t tell whether she actually spoke to a scientist. She could’ve just forged some papers to bring to the criminals.

It probably won’t come as a big surprise to you, but I’ll go ahead and say it: This is not how undercover operations are done. Cops don’t go ripping shirts off other cops to see if they’re wired up. Not only is it considered impolite, but every cop knows that mikes don’t only come in the form of wires on your torso these days.

And Amanda couldn’t start working for Murphy like that. After that little meeting on her knees, she’d go directly to NYPD Vice – do not pass go, do not collect $200 – and get the green light to be part of his undercover work.

And Vice might have advised her not to go pointing a loaded gun at a fetus! Even when they’re undercover, cops can’t commit crimes. Murphy was so proud of Amanda, he told IAB that she managed in just three days to crack a case he’d worked for two years. Well, yeah. I’m sure if Murphy just pointed a gun at the lady two years ago, he would’ve gotten to her boss right quick. Amanda could no more legitimately do this than pull out the woman’s fingernails.

What they got right:

Yes, recording devices can be hidden in very small objects like the gaudy class ring Murphy wore tonight. Be alert if your partner in crime suddenly starts to wear a lot of bling. If you’re interested in catching someone in the act of … anything, check out these nifty gadgets, including a spy-cam Barbie, espionage jewelry, and secret recording buttons.

Amanda’s machinations with the gun and DNA testing had a ring of truth. DNA profiles of individuals are entered into CODIS, the national DNA database, under very specific circumstances. For a while, it was only felony convictions, but a movement has been underway to expand to misdemeanor convictions and arrests that don’t end in convictions.

NYPD weathered a scandal in 2011, where officers were charged with “fixing” traffic tickets for friends and family. One of those officers was also charged with hiring someone to kill a witness against him.

What do you think, SVU fans? Will Amanda go for Murphy or Nick? (Before tonight, I thought Amanda and Nick had as much chemistry as a bowl of oatmeal and its spoon.) Should Amanda be allowed to keep her job after pointing her gun at the fetus? And are you tempted by the spy cam Barbie? Leave your comments!

SVU Episode #15-16: Gambler’s Fallacy

Whoa! In tonight’s shocking episode, Amanda performed some acts no cop ever should. By the second commercial break I was bidding her character farewell, because there was no way NYPD could keep her on the force. Then, in a fabulous plot twist, the writers turned everything its head. The episode wasn’t particularly realistic, but it scored high points for fun.

Recap:

Amanda hasn’t kicked her gambling problem. In fact, she’s traded her Gamblers Anonymous meetings for gambling at an illegal speakeasy in an abandoned warehouse. She’s down $15,000 when a waitress recognizes she’s a cop.

Amanda spends the rest of the episode trying to work off her debt to the beautiful pregnant boss lady and her Irish rogue deputy, who rough up Amanda and threaten to turn her in to Internal Affairs if she doesn’t do their bidding.

Amanda’s sins grow exponentially. In sequence, she:

(1) Looks to fix traffic tickets, but ultimately demurs, saying NYPD is watching this now,

(2) Tracks a juror’s address so the bad guys can “have a talk” with her, but then has an attack of conscience and doesn’t turn the address over,

(3) Performs oral sex on the Irish guy! While he tapes it on his cellphone video! (…which is the only act on this list which, if performed correctly, would not lead to her immediate termination if discovered…)

(4) Disposes of a gun from the police evidence room, in order to set free co-conspirator Carlos and keep his DNA out of the system!

(5) After Carlos rapes the wife of an ambassador in debt to the speakeasy, goes to their home, showing the victims that their assailants have friends in the NYPD!

(6) Fixes a DNA test to exonerate the rapist!

(7) Points a gun at the pregnant boss’s belly and threatens to kill the unborn baby!

(8) Extorts the boss’s art dealer / criminal mastermind boyfriend to the tune of a million dollars and a private jet to fly her out of the country!

I thought poor Kelli Giddish’s contract fell through, or maybe she’s heading to CSI, because her character is done.

)

But it turned out that Amanda did not, in fact, fellate the Irish guy. The cut-to-commercial which blacked out the act itself was not the network’s attempt to keep things family-friendly, but rather to mislead us. When Amanda got on her knees, Murphy told her that he was an undercover cop and she was working for him now. Everything Amanda did after that was a good faith effort to catch the bad guys.

Amanda’s colleagues are upset that she lied to them, Olivia doesn’t trust her any more, and Internal Affairs is seriously peeved at the antics. But Lt. Murphy uses his gift of gab to keep Amanda on the force and whisper sweet Irish nothings into her ear.

Verdict: B- for realism, but A for entertainment

What they got wrong:

It would be hard for me to overstate how hard it is to get DNA samples tested even when you have perfect paperwork. There’s always a backlog. Cops and prosecutors often have to go to the mat to get testing done quickly. Plus, Amanda’s shenanigans were unnecessary. The speakeasy couldn’t tell whether she actually spoke to a scientist. She could’ve just forged some papers to bring to the criminals.

It probably won’t come as a big surprise to you, but I’ll go ahead and say it: This is not how undercover operations are done. Cops don’t go ripping shirts off other cops to see if they’re wired up. Not only is it considered impolite, but every cop knows that mikes don’t only come in the form of wires on your torso these days.

And Amanda couldn’t start working for Murphy like that. After that little meeting on her knees, she’d go directly to NYPD Vice – do not pass go, do not collect $200 – and get the green light to be part of his undercover work.

And Vice might have advised her not to go pointing a loaded gun at a fetus! Even when they’re undercover, cops can’t commit crimes. Murphy was so proud of Amanda, he told IAB that she managed in just three days to crack a case he’d worked for two years. Well, yeah. I’m sure if Murphy just pointed a gun at the lady two years ago, he would’ve gotten to her boss right quick. Amanda could no more legitimately do this than pull out the woman’s fingernails.

What they got right:

Yes, recording devices can be hidden in very small objects like the gaudy class ring Murphy wore tonight. Be alert if your partner in crime suddenly starts to wear a lot of bling. If you’re interested in catching someone in the act of … anything, check out these nifty gadgets, including a spy-cam Barbie, espionage jewelry, and secret recording buttons.

Amanda’s machinations with the gun and DNA testing had a ring of truth. DNA profiles of individuals are entered into CODIS, the national DNA database, under very specific circumstances. For a while, it was only felony convictions, but a movement has been underway to expand to misdemeanor convictions and arrests that don’t end in convictions.

NYPD weathered a scandal in 2011, where officers were charged with “fixing” traffic tickets for friends and family. One of those officers was also charged with hiring someone to kill a witness against him.

What do you think, SVU fans? Will Amanda go for Murphy or Nick? (Before tonight, I thought Amanda and Nick had as much chemistry as a bowl of oatmeal and its spoon.) Should Amanda be allowed to keep her job after pointing her gun at the fetus? And are you tempted by the spy cam Barbie? Leave your comments!

SVU Episode # 15-16: “Gridiron Soldier”

Today’s post is written by the fabulous David Delee.  David was a licensed private investigator and holds a Masters in Criminal Justice. Now he writes the acclaimed Grace deHaviland Bounty Hunter novels and is a star of the Dark Road Publishing empire. Check out his latest novel, Pin Money.

David was kind enough to fill in for me because I’m still hunkered down trying to finish up my next book. I’m six days past my publisher’s deadline. Gah! I’m the person who shows up five minutes early for everything. David’s generous blogging freed me up to perfect my own story (which I’m hoping to turn in tomorrow).  With my extra time last night, I wrote a smoking hot sex scene. So, when my book eventually comes out and you get to the part where you think Yowzers! you’ll know that was written the evening of 3/5/14, while intrepid David was discovering the crazy things that turn up in Google when you’re researching SVU.

Many thanks, David! Hope you’re recovering from your 3 AM Google adventures today!

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Talk about life imitating art. Tonight’s SVU episode began by tackling the Jonathan Martin – Richie Incognito hazing scandal and ended with University of Missouri player Michael Sam’s

recent announcement about his sexual orientation. Quite a feat considering the episode was written in December and wrapped up production in early February, days before Sam came out according to an article in the Wall Street Journal today.

Recap: Amanda Rollins is spending her time off in a bar upset over a ref’s bad call in a basketball game on TV. Turns out she’s in deep with her bookie, who’s threatening her, and so desperate she goes to her ex-sponsor, ‘thirteen-stepper’ Nate who’s surprisingly free with his bar’s money, giving it to Rollins, presumably so she doesn’t get her legs broken, asking only in return she go to a Gambler’s Anonymous meeting with him.

 Meanwhile football player Cedric Jones arrives in town from Georgia where he’s met by Hudson University coach Bill Becker and Zoe and Tanya, two, beautiful, young women the coach introduces as his hostesses for the weekend. After telling the girls he’s committed to Georgia Tech, Cedric attends the recruitment dinner where the coach has some of the other players give him a tour of the facility, a tour that ends in the weight room, where according to one of the players, “boys turn into men,” and where Zoe and Tanya are waiting for him, with a blindfold, and Cedric with a grin so big it would make the Cheshire Cat proud.

 Larry Jones, Cedric’s uncle and an old track star friend of Amanda’s, arrives in the squad room to report Cedric missed his flight home and is now missing. While Rollins and Fin check out the school, Amaro gets a location on Cedric’s cell phone. It was left at a gay bar in Chelsea where Cedric got into a fight and beat up a man who tried to pick him up.

 Arrested for assault and possibly a hate crime, Rollins and Finn bring him to the SVU interrogation room, where questioning him its clear Cedric’s hiding something. Rollins and Amaro soon learn Cedric was pranked in the weight room, expecting to be ‘serviced’ by Zoe and Tanya, when they took the blindfold off—surprise—Cedric was being serviced by Ty, a gay member of the cheerleading squad.

 When Cedric learns there’s a video of Ty performing fellatio with him, he attempts suicide, breaks his neck, but survives, thus ending his chances of ever playing football. Finally Benson interested and orders Rollins to pick up Tanya, ready to charge her with witness tampering and blackmail because the coach sent her into tell Cedric about the video.

 All of the players involved in the prank are brought in. The detectives want to see who’ll break ranks first. They score with Eddie Thorpe. In the interview, Benson realizes something’s eating at Eddie. He’s got a lot of weight on him. He tells her he can talk it. It was nothing he can’t handle. But when Amaro asks if they raped him, Eddie lets loose and takes out the one-way mirror glass with his fist.

 The coach and several players are arrested and take a plea, avoiding a trial and saving Eddie from having to testify about what was done to him. In the end, Eddie tells Amaro he’s quitting football, not because of the assault but because he’s gay, and that the NFL isn’t ready for that.

 Rollins ended up sleeping with sleazy Nate. Afterward she tells him she won’t be going to any more meetings because she hit a lucky streak, tosses him money as repayment, and tells him they’re even.

 Verdict: B+

 This is the part where Allison would let us know what the show got right and what they got wrong with respect to the law, legal procedure, and courtroom shenanigans, I’m not a lawyer and I don’t even play one on TV so I don’t feel qualified to do that, but wow, the things I learned from tonight’s episode.

 First up, “Bull in the Ring” – Amaro said to Coach Becker he didn’t know teams still did that drill anymore. I’ve never played football so this old football drill was new to me. I looked it up online and found out it’s a player stands in the middle of a ring of players (hence the name of the drill) as his teammates tackle him repeatedly at full force. Much like they showed it on the episode, though I didn’t really see it until I looked back again on rewind to see what the players were doing. Some coaches believe it’s an exercise in agility and mental fortitude, others think it’s violent. Duh. Sounds violent to me. Here’s a 2011 article about it when a youth football coach decided to stop the drills after his team suffered up to 20 concussions in one season.

 Next was “Straight-baited” – While at the university when Ty admitted to performing oral sex on Cedric, Rollins said, “Come on, they straight-baited him.” According to the Urban Dictionary ”straight-bait” is a heterosexual that is seduced by a homosexual of the same sex into having sexual relations with them. When googling the term straight-bait, be careful what links you click on, you might see more than you bargained for.

 Then there was “Rape by Deception” – Not a crime I’d ever heard of, and clearly not a charge Benson was willing to entertain when Rollins brought it up. According to our friend’s at wikipedia (yes, I know, not the most reputable resource in the world but its late, go with me on this). Rape by deception is a crime in which the perpetrator has the victim’s sexual consent and compliance, but gains it through deception or fraudulent statements or actions. Though it is on the books in a few states, sometimes referred to as rape by fraud, according to an article I found in The Yale Law Journal (see I can find scholarly material too). “Rape-by-deception” is almost universally rejected in American criminal law. So I say, “You go, Olivia.” She really did study for that sergeant’s exam and this proves she deserves to be running the joint.

And lastly, from Finn’s reaction when he learned Cedric’s phone was in a bar in Chelsea, does that mean there are no straight bar there?

In closing, I’d like to say I enjoyed this episode, as I typically do, being a longtime fan of the show. And while I could quibble with some things, like this wasn’t an SVU case and there was no way Olivia should have let Rollins run with it—at least not until they learned about the sexual component of the hazing. The show is at its best when it engages in debate over issues with no clear cut, black and white answers. In tonight’s episode that point came in the discussion in the squad room over Cedric consent, or lack of it. What constitutes consent? Does force need to be a component to make it rape? Is deception a factor in determining consent? Interesting stuff to ponder, if you ask me.

And finally, Allison, thank you for asking me to fill it. It was a lot of fun.

 What about you, SUV fans? What did you think of this episode? Did the writer’s do the Martin-Incognito scandal justice? Do you think the NFL’s ready for Eddie Thorpe and, more importantly, Michael Sam? Can Olivia and Finn grow into their roles of momma and pappa bear? And with offspring like Amaro and Rollins are they ready for it? Let us know what you think.

 

 

 

SVU Episode #15-14: Comic Perversion

Tonight’s Law & Order: SVU started with a special warning: “Due to sensitive content, viewer discretion is advised.” Whoa, I thought. When a show that has tackled dolphin sex, vodka tampons, and sexualized amputation fetishes has to open with a warning, you’d better brace yourself. But although the language was offensive, the episode tackled some real issues in a way that was explicit and interesting but not exploitative.

Recap:

Riffing on the real-life Tosh scandal, “Comic Perversion” was about a comedian who jokes about rape. The fictional “Josh” headlines at a comedy club, where he gets laughs by suggesting that rape is funny, and that a feminist protester in his audience will “get” the joke if she’s gang-raped later that night. Later that night, two guys from the audience do assault poor Renee. Luckily, she gets away.

The detectives argue with the ADA about whether Josh is legally responsible for Renee’s assault or whether his speech is protected by the First Amendment. This debate soon becomes moot.

As our detectives investigate at the club, another girl, Carly, tells them she “might have been” raped by the comedian. The facts are grey. On the night in question, she went to his show (for the sixth time), then drank, danced, flirted, and made out with Josh, before retiring to his penthouse, where she ordered more champagne, lay on his bed, and blacked out. When she came to, he was sodomizing her. She doesn’t remember if she said “yes” or “no” to that.

After this incident becomes part of Josh’s standup act, she reports it as a rape. Olivia somehow convinces ADA Barba to bring the case. Josh uses the trial to talk about being an edgy social commentator. He also shows a cell phone video of Carly flashing the audience shortly before going home with him. The government is about to lose the trial, which infuriates Renee, our feminist protestor.

Renee goes vigilante. She buys a pair of glasses that have a hidden video camera. She picks up Josh in a bar and goes to his penthouse, where he promptly proceeds to attempt to rape her. She gets away, thanks again to her impressive self-defense moves.

Renee gives the video to Barba, who uses it to get a plea deal out of Josh. Carly is just happy she can now sue him civilly. Barba snarls to Olivia, “If you want to stay commanding officer, don’t bring me any more cases like this.”

Verdict: B+

What they got right:

Comedian Daniel Tosh set off a whirlwind of controversy when he allegedly joked at a comedy show that it would be hilarious if a five guys raped a woman in the audience.

Tosh has made rape jokes in the past, but, according to one blogger, this incident started when an audience member suggested “rape” as a topic, and Tosh said something to the effect that anything can be the launching point for a joke. A woman said, “Actually, rape jokes are never funny.” Tosh allegedly responded, “Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by, like five guys right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her?”

Chilling and repugnant as these words were, they’re not illegal. With narrow exceptions, the First Amendment protects our speech, even horrible and totally-not-funny speech. Tosh didn’t aid or abet anyone in the audience, nor did he conspire with them. ADA Barba was correct not to bring the criminal charges against “Josh” for making a similar statement.

Tonight, SVU used its own free speech rights to take a shot back at Tosh. Good for them. That’s the American way: make your best argument, and let the best words win.

SVU’s showrunner, Warren Leight, called out Tosh directly tonight, tweeting: “Somewhere, I hope @danieltosh is watching. If he… evolves, he could help get the word out that #RapeIsNoJoke. #SVU.” So far, Tosh hasn’t responded.

I was also impressed with how the show portrayed the (separate) issue of the  difficulty of prosecuting acquaintance rapes involving intoxication. When does intoxication vitiate consent? What if the victim seems to be consenting, but is actually blacked out? Does it matter if the perp was drunk too? These are questions that sex-crimes prosecutors deal with regularly. The answers are never black and white. Tonight’s show skillfully captured the many shades of grey, and showed how challenging these cases are to prosecute.

What they got wrong:

This was a Hollywood ending: lots of drama, intrigue and dark-red lipstick, but little authenticity. I’ve never known a civilian to go undercover in a vigilante sort of sting. And the idea that this civilian, Renee, a rape survivor herself, would set herself up to be raped a second time, all so she would have evidence (which would probably be inadmissible) in someone else’s trial, was over the top.

What do you think, SVU fans? Should a comedian be responsible for what his audience does after hearing his show? How does intoxication affect consent – and is that different depending on the gender of the intoxicated? And is Olivia going to break up with Cassidy because he liked “Josh”? Leave your comments.

The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance

What have you been doing with SVU off the air? Watching a lot of hockey?  I’ve been desperately trying to finish writing my next book (the deadline is in  nine days — gulp!) and reading an awesome legal humor book during breaks (while standing at the counter eating peanut-butter bagels).

“The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance” is the first book by lawyer/blogger Kevin Underhill, the man who consistently wins the “Fun” category in the ABA’s legal blog rankings.  If you’ve read his blog, Lowering the Bar, you know he has a hilarious, clever take on the most absurd legal happenings every day.  If you don’t read his blog, go do it now.  I’ll wait.  Funny, right?

” Sasquatch” is the rare combination of making you laugh and making you smarter.  It documents “real laws that human beings have actually dreamed up, enacted, and sometimes even enforced,” from the Code of Hammurabi to modern day Louisiana (guess which are crazier?).  Fans of SVU will be interested to know that ancient Hittites faced the death penalty for sex with a sheep.  Sex with a horse, however, was totally cool.   Seriously.

As a writer, I get a lot of books.  My husband usually glances at them, makes a vaguely approving sound, and tosses them back down.  This one, he hasn’t put down.  I can’t get it out of his hands.  Every time I look over, he’s reading and laughing.  If you like to read about the absurdities of the law throughout history — or just need a good belly laugh, check out this awesome book.

Meanwhile, wish me luck in finishing my own novel.  See you back here for SVU next week (when I’ll be much better about answering the comments section).  Thanks for all your great comments and analysis in the meantime!

SVU Episode #15-13: Wednesday’s Child

Tonight’s SVU did something only this show can: it entertained and riveted, while teaching about a horrific American problem. In this gut-wrenching episode, SVU cast a light on the real-life tragedy of “rehoming”: the practice of giving up adopted kids via Internet chat rooms, and the abuse that flourishes in this blackmarket of thrown-away children.

Recap:

The SVU detectives are called into a home when it appears that a child has been abducted. In fact, the 7-year-old boy was given up by his mother, without the father’s knowledge. The couple had adopted him from former Soviet state of Georgia, only to learn that he had serious developmental and social problems.

Mom couldn’t take it, so she went to a chat room and met a well-meaning but ditzy middleman who took the child, then promptly gave him to a couple with a false address and a forged home-study. The new family turns out to be pornographers who took the boy to use in their child porn videos.

Olivia and her team eventually track them down to a cheap motel, where they save the boy and three little girls. In the motel room, they also find an infant baby. The infant is unclaimed and sent into the foster care system.

Olivia, who spent a large part of this episode in an exciting but ultimately anticlimactic pregnancy head-fake, looks longingly at the baby as her biological clock ticks ominously in the background.

Verdict: A

What they got right:

Last September, Reuters ran a five-part story about the practice of rehoming in America. Read this story. It will chill you to the bone.

Some of tonight’s episode was hard to watch, especially the scenes with the kids on video. Even worse are the things that happen to kids like this in real life.

Americans who adopt foreign children with psychological problems can feel overwhelmed. One woman infamously sent her adopted son back to Russia on a plane.

More recently, some have used the Internet to abandon these children, in a practice known as “rehoming.” Parents advertise they have a child available; within hours, they can hand the child off to other adults who want them, for reasons ranging from benign to heinous. There are no child welfare agencies involved and no government records. The old family simply signs a power-of-attorney for to the new family, allowing them to care for the children.

The results are horrific. Sexual predators troll the sites, obtaining tiny victims almost effortlessly. Reuters chronicled extensive sexual and physical abuse. One girl was made to dig her own grave.

Support for adoptive parents and a greater system of oversight after international adoptions could help alleviate this. Kudos to SVU for getting people to talk and care about this real problem.

On a happier note, was Olivia thinking of adopting that cute baby herself? It wouldn’t be as implausible as it might seem. As an antidote to the information above, check out this wonderful story of a man who found an abandoned baby in the New York subway … and ended up adopting him into a warm and loving home.

What they got wrong:

When Nick and Ice-T went to execute their arrest warrant, Nick broke down the front door with his shoulder. This only happens on TV. Try breaking down a door with your shoulder. Your shoulder will not appreciate it, and the door won’t give a damn. In warrant cases where a door might need knocking down, police bring a battering ram.

As the squad’s new sergeant, Olivia wouldn’t be out on the street investigating the case, nor would she be executing warrants. She would be behind the desk responding to emails, preparing budgets, and filling out evaluations (those evaluations going to be interesting this year, with Amanda’s gambling, Nick’s marital dysfunction, and Fin’s … being Fin).

Finally, I’ve never met a police officer who would turn down a chance to stand next to the mayor at a press conference after a big bust. Their job is pretty thankless. Officers need to get their attaboys where they can.



What do you think, SVU fans? Was this episode hard for you to watch? Should Olivia try to adopt that adorable baby? And whatever happened to that other foster child she had, a few seasons ago? Leave your comments!

SVU Episode #15- 12: Betrayal’s Climax

If Shakespeare wrote about sex crimes in New York … the result probably wouldn’t look like tonight’s SVU episode. This thug was no Romeo. Nevertheless, “Betrayal’s Climax” was a powerful episode, illuminating the tragic consequences of modern gang violence, misogyny, and misguided codes of honor.

Recap:

Olivia is promoted! During a beautiful ceremony, tears well up in the characters’ collective eyes (mine too). Congratulations, Sgt. Benson. After fifteen years of compassionate and dedicated service, you deserve this.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Avery lives in a posh brownstone on the Upper West Side and paints happy portraits of lovers holding hands. She’s madly in love with her Hispanic boyfriend, Manny, who lives in the projects and is trying to save money to buy his dead brother a tombstone. Avery’s patrician parents, of course, disapprove. This disapproval grows just a tad when a study-date at Avery’s house turns into a gang-rape, where three members of the notorious BX-9 gang hold a gun to Manny’s head while brutalizing Avery on her parents’ 600-threadcount Egyptian cotton sheets.

Turns out, Manny was a recent BX-9 recruit. Immediately before the assault, his friends called to say they were coming over to Avery’s house to “party,” and he knew what that meant. Raping Avery was the gang’s way of punishing Manny for botching the robbery of a pharmacy a few weeks back.

But guess who feels worse than Manny? Poor bruised Avery, who experienced orgasms during the rape, while Manny watched. She never came with Manny – and now apologizes to him, swearing that she loves him despite her body’s involuntary response. He’s cold and angry. If she loves him, he says, she should drop the charges against his friends. She’s so filled with self-loathing, Amanda can’t stop her from throwing herself off an eight-story building! (Really, Olivia? Your first official move as boss is to have your sex-crime detective doing suicide negotiation?) Luckily, firefighters catch Avery on the world’s sturdiest moonbounce.

Barba has a case stronger than, like, 90% of real sex-crime cases, but insists that he can’t win without Manny’s cooperation.

Nick uses his sexy Spanish language skills (Sí, sí, Detective Amaro!) to learn that Manny’s older brother was not killed by a rival gang, as everyone thought, but by BX-9 itself. And, in a cruel twist, the gang gave Manny the same gun that killed his brother, to use in the botched pharmacy robbery. Manny is so upset, he finally testifies against his gang. He is promptly murdered and his tongue is cut out.

Fortunately, Barba can still use Manny’s grand jury testimony, because the gang leader unwisely tells his girlfriend that he ordered the murder – while chatting on a recorded call from jail. Unfortunately, the leader also threatens Olivia. She threatens him right back, then declines any police protection. (Yikes. Between BX-9 and Louis, I am seriously nervous for Liv.)

Avery, meanwhile, moves on to painting exploded, bloody hearts, which were frankly an improvement on the hand-holding pictures. I guess you do have to suffer for your art.

Verdict: A-

What They Got Right:

Yes, orgasms can happen to rape victims. This is such an important point for the public to know. Arousal is involuntary response – and it doesn’t mean the victim consented. Prosecutors often have to call expert witnesses to teach the jury that arousal does not mean that the rape was enjoyable or that the victim was asking for it. Roughly 4-5% of rape victims describe experiencing orgasm, while more experience general arousal.

This reaction makes it even more difficult for the victim to recover emotionally.

As Popular Science noted:

Unsurprisingly, rape survivors who experience arousal and rape report confusion and shame thanks to this conflation of the physical response of arousal and its usual association with enjoyment. A survivor may ask, “Was this something I subconsciously wanted? Am I in some way guilty? If my body responded this way, does it mean I’m mentally disturbed?” The reality is that the body’s arousal response is no more an indication of guilt or mental illness than an elevated heart rate or adrenaline flood would be under the same circumstances.

Tonight’s episode was also an authentic look at how real-life gangs work. In my novel, Speak of the Devil, I explore the real-life gang MS-13, which seems to be the basis for the fictional BX-9. Tattoos and gang colors mark the members; initiation rituals include gang-rape and assault; and a community gun is often passed around. For members who want to leave the gang or testify against it, the punishment is death. Gang treatment of women is particularly horrible.

The way the squad arrested the gangbangers tonight was authentic. One was leaving his probation officer. Another was doing community-service garbage trash pickup. In real life, these thugs are often repeat offenders with no fixed home, and the best place to find them is when they’re doing their court-ordered activities.

Finally, most jails do record the phone calls of their inmates. The inmates are informed of this – in fact some are warned by a message before every single call. Nevertheless, the amount of incriminating statements captured on these phone calls is astounding. From my perspective as a prosecutor, the hardest thing was just keeping up with their sheer volume, especially if the conversation is in a foreign language and has to be translated.

What They Got Wrong:

Barba didn’t need Manny’s testimony at all. So what if he kinda sorta invited his friends over to “party”? A boyfriend cannot consent to his girlfriend getting raped.

And this was a strong strong case. The victim was credible, an excellent student with no criminal history, saying three strangers raped her. She had extensive injuries. Their semen was inside her. Her parents’ house was trashed. There was blood on her parents’ sheets. What more could Manny add? Let the defendants try to claim this was consensual. A jury would just hate them even more.

And leaving Manny to his own devices would have avoided all those illegal heart-to-hearts that Ice and Nick had with him. Manny’s lawyer had to be there. After a defendant is represented by counsel, the police may not talk to him again without his lawyer present. Especially if they’re trying to get him to cooperate in their investigation. That is a delicate and important subject that must be hammered out with an agreement, on paper. Maybe if he’d had his constitutionally-guaranteed lawyer on his side, Manny could have gotten a better deal, and not ended up with his throat slit.



What do you think, SVU fans? Was that a pregnancy kit in the preview for next week? Should Olivia have gotten protection, either in the bodyguard or family-planning sense? And is Amanda the worst suicide negotiator ever? Leave your comments!

SVU Episode #15- : Betrayal’s Climax

If Shakespeare wrote about sex crimes in New York … the result probably wouldn’t look like tonight’s SVU episode. This thug was no Romeo. Nevertheless, “Betrayal’s Climax” was a powerful episode, illuminating the tragic consequences of modern gang violence, misogyny, and misguided codes of honor.

Recap:

Olivia is promoted! During a beautiful ceremony, tears well up in the characters’ collective eyes (mine too). Congratulations, Sgt. Benson. After fifteen years of compassionate and dedicated service, you deserve this.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Avery lives in a posh brownstone on the Upper West Side and paints happy portraits of lovers holding hands. She’s madly in love with her Hispanic boyfriend, Manny, who lives in the projects and is trying to save money to buy his dead brother a tombstone. Avery’s patrician parents, of course, disapprove. This disapproval grows just a tad when a study-date at Avery’s house turns into a gang-rape, where three members of the notorious BX-9 gang hold a gun to Manny’s head while brutalizing Avery on her parents’ 600-threadcount Egyptian cotton sheets.

Turns out, Manny was a recent BX-9 recruit. Immediately before the assault, his friends called to say they were coming over to Avery’s house to “party,” and he knew what that meant. Raping Avery was the gang’s way of punishing Manny for botching the robbery of a pharmacy a few weeks back.

But guess who feels worse than Manny? Poor bruised Avery, who experienced orgasms during the rape, while Manny watched. She never came with Manny – and now apologizes to him, swearing that she loves him despite her body’s involuntary response. He’s cold and angry. If she loves him, he says, she should drop the charges against his friends. She’s so filled with self-loathing, Amanda can’t stop her from throwing herself off an eight-story building! (Really, Olivia? Your first official move as boss is to have your sex-crime detective doing suicide negotiation?) Luckily, firefighters catch Avery on the world’s sturdiest moonbounce.

Barba has a case stronger than, like, 90% of real sex-crime cases, but insists that he can’t win without Manny’s cooperation.

Nick uses his sexy Spanish language skills (Sí, sí, Detective Amaro!) to learn that Manny’s older brother was not killed by a rival gang, as everyone thought, but by BX-9 itself. And, in a cruel twist, the gang gave Manny the same gun that killed his brother, to use in the botched pharmacy robbery. Manny is so upset, he finally testifies against his gang. He is promptly murdered and his tongue is cut out.

Fortunately, Barba can still use Manny’s grand jury testimony, because the gang leader unwisely tells his girlfriend that he ordered the murder – while chatting on a recorded call from jail. Unfortunately, the leader also threatens Olivia. She threatens him right back, then declines any police protection. (Yikes. Between BX-9 and Louis, I am seriously nervous for Liv.)

Avery, meanwhile, moves on to painting exploded, bloody hearts, which were frankly an improvement on the hand-holding pictures. I guess you do have to suffer for your art.

Verdict: A-

What They Got Right:

Yes, orgasms can happen to rape victims. This is such an important point for the public to know. Arousal is involuntary response – and it doesn’t mean the victim consented. Prosecutors often have to call expert witnesses to teach the jury that arousal does not mean that the rape was enjoyable or that the victim was asking for it. Roughly 4-5% of rape victims describe experiencing orgasm, while more experience general arousal.

This reaction makes it even more difficult for the victim to recover emotionally.

As Popular Science noted:

Unsurprisingly, rape survivors who experience arousal and rape report confusion and shame thanks to this conflation of the physical response of arousal and its usual association with enjoyment. A survivor may ask, “Was this something I subconsciously wanted? Am I in some way guilty? If my body responded this way, does it mean I’m mentally disturbed?” The reality is that the body’s arousal response is no more an indication of guilt or mental illness than an elevated heart rate or adrenaline flood would be under the same circumstances.

Tonight’s episode was also an authentic look at how real-life gangs work. In my novel, Speak of the Devil, I explore the real-life gang MS-13, which seems to be the basis for the fictional BX-9. Tattoos and gang colors mark the members; initiation rituals include gang-rape and assault; and a community gun is often passed around. For members who want to leave the gang or testify against it, the punishment is death. Gang treatment of women is particularly horrible.

The way the squad arrested the gangbangers tonight was authentic. One was leaving his probation officer. Another was doing community-service garbage trash pickup. In real life, these thugs are often repeat offenders with no fixed home, and the best place to find them is when they’re doing their court-ordered activities.

Finally, most jails do record the phone calls of their inmates. The inmates are informed of this – in fact some are warned by a message before every single call. Nevertheless, the amount of incriminating statements captured on these phone calls is astounding. From my perspective as a prosecutor, the hardest thing was just keeping up with their sheer volume, especially if the conversation is in a foreign language and has to be translated.

What They Got Wrong:

Barba didn’t need Manny’s testimony at all. So what if he kinda sorta invited his friends over to “party”? A boyfriend cannot consent to his girlfriend getting raped.

And this was a strong strong case. The victim was credible, an excellent student with no criminal history, saying three strangers raped her. She had extensive injuries. Their semen was inside her. Her parents’ house was trashed. There was blood on her parents’ sheets. What more could Manny add? Let the defendants try to claim this was consensual. A jury would just hate them even more.

And leaving Manny to his own devices would have avoided all those illegal heart-to-hearts that Ice and Nick had with him. Manny’s lawyer had to be there. After a defendant is represented by counsel, the police may not talk to him again without his lawyer present. Especially if they’re trying to get him to cooperate in their investigation. That is a delicate and important subject that must be hammered out with an agreement, on paper. Maybe if he’d had his constitutionally-guaranteed lawyer on his side, Manny could have gotten a better deal, and not ended up with his throat slit.



What do you think, SVU fans? Was that a pregnancy kit in the preview for next week? Should Olivia have gotten protection, either in the bodyguard or family-planning sense? And is Amanda the worst suicide negotiator ever? Leave your comments!

SVU Episode #15-11: “Jersey Breakdown”

Olivia’s drinking! Amanda’s gambling! Nick’s possibly stalking his wife! The SVU is in serious trouble when Finn is the most functional detective in the squad.

Recap:

In tonight’s dizzying episode, every law-enforcement character needed either a therapist, a twelve-step program, or a defense attorney.

The episode started in the usual fashion: a drunken girl in an alley is fondled by some shady passers-by. But that’s just the end of an extremely bad night for 16-year-old Erin.

See, Erin is a waitress at a strip club, and the owner (played by the ever-slick Chazz Palminteri) allowed one of his VIP patrons to rape her in a private room, before dumping her in that alley. Chazz won’t give up the name of the VIP – and he tries to stop Erin, too. Turns out, Chazz has some seriously powerful friends. Erin is arrested by New Jersey police and charged with credit-card fraud in Hudson County, where a mustachioed DA named Musconi and his sour ADA wife fight hard to keep Erin in Jersey custody. A Jersey judge with a samurai-sword fetish sends Erin to a horrific, privately-run juvenile detention center.

Barba decides the only way to get Erin back to New York is to take his case federally. He enlists the federal human trafficking task force, led by lovely AUSA Connie Rubirosa, who has far better eyebrows and office space than any real prosecutor could ever hope for.

Thereupon follow many twists and turns, some of which made more sense than others, and which finally lead to this unexpected conclusion: the sword-loving Jersey judge is a pedophile who had sex with girls at Chazz’s strip club. Chazz took pictures. Chazz and DA Musconi are business partners, who used the pics to blackmail the judge, first demanding cash and then demanding that the judge send all his juvenile defendants to the private detention center that Chazz and Musconi owned. The more kids the judge sent, the more money Chazz and Musconi made.

Once his evil plot is exposed, the judge kills himself with one of his swords (obviously). Sour Mrs. Musconi has to watch Erin identify her DA husband as the man who raped her. And Chazz looks good wearing orange in a federal jail.

A happy ending? You’re watching the wrong show. Amanda is so busy gambling she doesn’t have time to comb her hair in half the scenes. Nick is optimistic but clearly delusional about getting back together with his wife. And Olivia, burdened by her own PTSD, absent beau, and new leadership responsibilities, drowns her sorrows in a couple bottles of Merlot.



Verdict: B



What they got wrong:

That federal human trafficking task force’s office was closer to a Calvin Klein showroom than a real government building. I’ve seen many federal human trafficking task force meetings. They generally take place in a windowless conference room at a scuffed government-issue table with a bunch of mismatched chairs. Arrive early, and you might even score one that isn’t broken. The most remarkable thing about these meetings isn’t the wall of glass or supple white (white!) furniture, but the dedication and resilience of the people sitting there.

Barba didn’t need to take this case federally. Getting a witness from another jurisdiction is a simple matter of sending a writ, which is a boilerplate form that can be generated in minutes by Barba’s secretary, who probably pumps out a few dozen a year. Barba would get a NY judge to sign it, and the detention center would be required to release the witness to go testify in New York. The juvenile facility manager may not choose to ignore it, (although there have been cases of a prisoner being “lost” when a writ is sent for execution).

What Barba really wanted was to stop or delay the New Jersey prosecution. But that’s not a good move. It’s not uncommon for a crime victim to be charged with a crime herself. The prosecutor should keep an eye on that other case, but he shouldn’t mess with it – he shouldn’t try to stop it from going forward. That would create an appearance of bias – or even a real bias – of a victim pitting one prosecutor against another.

The credit card fraud charge against Erin was silly. She didn’t profit from that scam – by adding a “0″ to the end of the bill, the club got ten times more money. “Follow the money,” prosecutors often say. By setting her up that way, Chazz pointed a finger right back at himself.

We need to talk about the sushi girl in the strip club. Withholding comment on the wisdom of eating raw fish from a stripper’s g-string: would the hamachi-covered woman really just lay there elegantly balancing her nigiri as the police raided the club? People tend to get pretty excited when dozens of armed agents run screaming into a room. I expect we would see more wasabi on the walls than in her belly button.

What they got right:

There was a horrific real-life case, dubbed the Kids For Cash scandal, where two Pennsylvania judges were charged with taking over $2.6 million in kickbacks to send juvenile defendants to a privately run juvenile detention center. Kids were imprisoned for minor offenses like mocking a principal on a MySpace page and trespassing on a vacant building. One of the kids, an all-star wrestler who spent his senior year incarcerated for a drug paraphernalia charge, later committed suicide. Here’s the heartwrenching real footage of his mother confronting one of the judges on the courthouse steps.

The judge was later sentenced to 28 years in federal prison.

The interaction between Erin and the detectives was realistic. Victims of sex crimes are often runaways or throwaways. Often, they don’t want to cooperate with authorities, for reasons including: allegiance to their abusers, fear of retribution, or getting in trouble themselves. And a nurse might advise a victim that she doesn’t have to talk to the police.

What do you think, SVU fans? Did you see the sword suicide coming? Should we petition Calvin Klein to start designing federal buildings? And can Finn singlehandedly investigate all the sex crimes in New York? Leave your comments!