| "American Tragedy" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 15.03 | → |
| Production number: 15003 First aired (US): 2 October 2013 First aired (UK): 3 November 2013 First aired (CAN): 2 October 2013 First aired (AUS): 17 October 2013 | ||
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| Teleplay By Julie Martin & Warren Leight Story By Jill Abbinanti Directed By Fred Berner | ||
A celebrity restaurateur claims self-defense in a racially-charged murder case.
Summary[]
A string of rapes on the Upper West Side raises concerns across the city, and while Detectives Tutuola and Rollins question everyone who fits the suspect's description, celebrity chef Jolene Castille fears she's the next victim when someone follows her home. The SVU arrests her for shooting and killing the unarmed teen, and her attorney faces off against ADA Barba in a trial that tests the limits of the jury’s moral and legal responsibilities. Meanwhile, Detective Benson continues to struggle with the aftermath of her traumatic ordeal.
Plot[]
plot
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Danny Pino as Detective Nick Amaro
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Richard Belzer as Sergeant John Munch
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Raúl Esparza as A.D.A. Rafael Barba
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen (credit only)
Recurring Cast[]
- Jeffrey Tambor as Attorney Lester Cohen
- Pablo Schreiber as William Lewis
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- Bill Irwin as Dr. Peter Lindstrom
- Leslie Odom, Jr. as Reverend Curtis Scott
Guest Cast[]
- Cybill Shepherd as Jolene Castille
- Kevin Carroll as Cory Carter
- Cindy Katz as Chloe Lesedi
- Allison Mackie as Bethenny Dunstan
- Sonja Sohn as Mrs. Carter
- Alice Barrett Mitchell as Aubrey Trisler
- Francis Jue as Judge Steven Ong
- Joshua Boone as Willie Smith
- Albert M. Chan as Lloyd Chang
- Gregory Konow as Craig
- Patrick Byas as Shawn
- Joshua Rivera as Darryl
- De'on Ragin as Tyrone
- Kal Parekh as Doctor
- Moise Morancy as Mehcad Carter
- Andrew Rein as Reporter #1
- Sope Aluko as Reporter #2
- Bill Kocis as Reporter #3
- Rhonda Ayers as Jury Foreperson
References[]
Quotes[]
- Rollins: Their attacker is young, black, male, 6 foot, wears a hoodie and a baseball cap.
- Munch: Well, that narrows it down.
- Benson: [while in her therapy session] Guys say stuff like that to me all the time and I just I went off on him? I'm a New York City cop. I can't go around beating people up.
- Dr. Lindstrom: Remember what we talked about last session?
- Benson: Yes, how I was upset that Lewis got the drop on me, how I should've reached for my gun, but this is different. This wasn't Lewis.
- Dr. Lindstrom: No, I hear you beating yourself up: first for under-reacting to Lewis, now for overreacting to this guy.
- Benson: I can't get anything right. I'm all over the place.
- Dr. Lindstrom: All over the place. If a crime victim said that to detective Olivia Benson, less than three months after an assault, what would you say to her?
- Benson: I'd say that survivors can experience a wide range of reactions, from stress to fear to numbness.
- Dr. Lindstrom: Depression, anger, flashbacks?
- Benson: All of the above.
- Dr. Lindstrom: Have you ever known someone to take a self-defense course or to obtain a gun or resolve never to be a victim again?
- Benson: Of course.
- Dr. Lindstrom: So you might see this kind of overreaction to be emotionally triggered and you might tell her that over time, she'll recognize those triggers and temper her responses.
- Benson: [after having flashbacks of William Lewis] And what if she doesn't believe me?
- Dr. Lindstrom: Well, then you might ask her to forgive herself and remember she's going through a process and that healing takes time.
- Amaro: [holds a bagged gun up to Willie's head] What do we got here, Willie? You use this gun to rape anyone else?
- Willie: I didn't rape nobody. They wanted it. [turns to Olivia] Yeah. You do too. [chuckles] Don't you, bitch?
- Benson: Shut up. [knees Willie in the groin]
- Willie: Oh! [groans]
- Benson: Let's go.
- Dr. Warner: [during Mehcad Carter's autopsy] Kids can survive incredible trauma, but when they crump, they crump quick.
- Barba: Crump?
- Rollins: All the vitals go south all at once.
- Tutuola: So we're looking at a homicide?
- Dr. Warner: If getting shot what killed him? Yeah.
- Benson: Jolene said that she fired in self-defense.
- Dr. Warner: I can't speak to that, but there was no fouling or stippling on his body. He wasn't that close to her.
- Barba: Is it possible the stippling disappeared during surgery?
- Dr. Warner: It can't. Stippling burns into skin.
- Rollins: What about on the clothing?
- Dr. Warner: You mean after EMS, the evidence mangling service cut his clothes off through the bullet hole? I will hunt them down and kill them.
- Tutuola: Melinda.
- Dr. Warner: Sorry.
- Jolene Castille: Where are you from, honey? Georgia? How'd they put you up to this charade?
- Rollins: Excuse me?
- Jolene Castille: We both know if we were down home, I'd be getting a medal.
- Barba: [to Jolene Castille] On the night you saw Mehcad Carter, did you see a field hand, a jungle animal or just a boy trying to make his way home?
- Lester Cohen: Objection.
- Jolene Castille: No, I want to answer that. I saw a hooded man following me. I told him to back off, and he came through my gate.
- Barba: So if it had been a white man who was walking behind you, would you have told him to get back? Would you have pulled your gun?
- Lester Cohen: Objection.
- Jolene Castille: If it was a white boy, I wouldn't have been afraid.
- Barba: So, let's be clear. Mehcad Carter didn't have to do anything. He didn't have to say anything. He just had to be a black boy standing on your sidewalk and that gave you the right to shoot him?
- Jolene Castille: That's not what I said.
- Barba: Isn't it? Nothing further.
- Barba: [to the jury] Mehcad Carter was a 16-year-old honor student enjoying his summer. Singing in the church choir, watching cooking shows on tv, playing basketball with his friends. And then he forgot his MetroCard and was embarrassed to tell his parents. So he chose to walk home. That's what Mehcad was doing on the night he was killed. He was heading home to his parents, but he never made it. Because Jolene Castille didn't like the way he walked, she didn't like the way he dressed, she didn't like the way he looked. The defendant claims that Mehcad was stalking her, that he was going to rape her, but how can we believe her when she has lied about every other detail on this case? About his having a gun, about what he said to her. She even claimed that Mehcad lunged at her, but you heard the M.E. testify that Mehcad had to have been at least five feet away from her when she murdered him. In a system where it is all of our rights to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, Jolene presumed Mehcad guilty And became his judge, his jury, and his executioner. She got to go home to her brownstone that night. Mehcad will never go home again.
Background information and notes[]
- The events of this episode are mentioned seven seasons later in the season 22 episode "Guardians and Gladiators".
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
St. Michael's Hospital |
Office of |
Chez Jolene |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Imprisoned Lives" |
"American Tragedy" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 15 |
Next episode: "Internal Affairs" |