| "Bitch" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 13.15 | → |
| Production number: E3320 First aired: 26 February 2003 | ||
| Written By Michael S. Chernuchin & Roz Weinman Directed By Constantine Makris | ||
Summary[]
The death of a stockbroker leads the detectives to his girlfriend whose mother is a cosmetics mogul who has a longstanding friendship with DA Arthur Branch, and will stop at nothing to protect her corporate image by using hormone replacement therapy withdrawal as the basis for her defense.
Plot[]
A guy and a girl enter a house so that the guy can show the girl this dog, and find the dog lying next to a body. The medical examiner determines that though the victim did fall down the stairs, being hit in the head with a golf club is what killed him. Briscoe and Green meet with the woman he was supposed to meet up with the day he was killed, and are led to a store that sells high-priced women's clothing. From there they meet two women; the first has a solid alibi, and the second is Lindsay, a photographer who is also the victim's girlfriend. Lindsay claims she was at a photo shoot with cosmetics mogul Jackie Scott, which is confirmed by Scott.
Upon a review of the victim's client list, A.D.A. Serena discovers that Jackie Scott is Lindsay's mother and that both of them were sleeping with the victim. Briscoe and Green talk to Lindsay's nanny, which leads them to a picture that Lindsay took of a marathon the day the victim was killed proving that she was not at the photoshoot at all. Briscoe and Green confront Scott with this fact, and she confirms that she was having an affair with her daughter's boyfriend when Lindsay appears.
Lindsay then recants her story and said that the only reason she said that was because she knew her mom would be at her office and when Briscoe and Green ask if she killed the victim because he was sleeping with her mother, Lindsay says she didn't know anything about an affair. Briscoe and Green return to Scott's office to ask her where she really was when Scott storms in with cards that had accidently been delivered to her, revealing to Lindsay that her mother was sleeping with the victim/her boyfriend. Lindsay then burst outs saying that she was the one who killed the victim.
Later, Scott meets with D.A. Arthur Branch and asks him to forget the case because they're old friends, but Branch refuses. Back at the DA's office Branch is suspicious of Scott and has Southerlyn look into Scott and why she would have killed the victim. When Serena reviews Scott's stocks, she discovers that Scott sold all of her stock in one company days before the company's stocks fell, revealing that Scott had inside information. Further research into the matter reveals that Scott could only sell certain stocks if the victim allowed her to, i.e. her motive for killing the vicitim.
In order to get condemning evidence on Scott, Branch has Lindsay released but has her phone wiretapped, which provides them with the evidence they need. At arraignment, Scott is put under house arrest, is forced to wear a tracking device and loses her passport. Lindsay enters the DA's office and begs him to help Scott, but Branch refuses.
Scott's lawyer asks that Scott be given an evaluation to see if hormone replacement therapy withdrawal could have caused her to kill the victim, and is evaluated by Dr. Emil Skoda and Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. After the evaluation is over, McCoy decides to use Dr. Olivet as a witness and not Dr. Skoda.
At trial, Jack McCoy asks Dr. Olivet if Scott's hormone problems could trigger her to kill. Scott's lawyer tries to make Dr. Olivet seem unqualifed, and asks if she has the right education to make an evaluation. Then to McCoy's surprise, Dr. Skoda is called by the defense, and discovers that they forgot to take him off their witness list.
The defense asks Dr. Skoda if sleep deprived people are more likely to kill or cause acts of violence, to which Skoda says that the sleep deprived are more likely to attack someone. McCoy then asks Dr. Skoda if being sleep deprived would cause someone to kill, to which Dr. Skoda says no.
Scott is finally put on the stand and says she has no memory of killing the victim. McCoy asks if she remembered how she got there and how she got home, and Scott says she does and that she even remembers tipping the cab driver. McCoy believes that it is ironic that she would remember tipping the cab, but not killing the victim.
Later, Branch offers Scott a deal of manslaughter in the first degree, but she refuses. However, when the DA reveals that he wishes to cross-examine her himself, asking about every little thing in her past, Scott agrees to the deal.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe
- Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
- Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy
- Elisabeth Röhm as A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn
- Fred Dalton Thompson as D.A. Arthur Branch
Recurring cast[]
- Maria Tucci as Defense Attorney Helen Brolin
- Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
- J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda
- Andrea Navedo as Detective Ana Cordova
- Fran Lebowitz as Arraignment Judge Janice Goldberg
- Michael K. Weiss as Defense Attorney Malcolm Sweetzer
- Shaun Powell as C.S.U. Technician Barrett
Guest cast[]
- Lucie Arnaz as Jackie Scott
- Melissa Errico as Lindsay Tucker
- Fred Grandy as Neil Skinner
- Nancy Franklin as Regine
- Nancy Snyder as Cece Vandeveer
- Tom Ligon as Phil Brucker
- Bryan Hanna as David Nunan
- Maura M. Knowles as Perrisue Maxwell
- Martha Millan as Colossa
- Zabryna Guevara as Salma
- Chris Kipiniak as Vlady
- Curt Karibalis as Judge Elmer Mann
- Jason Pugatch as Assistant M.E. Cantor
- Rick Johnson as Court Clerk
References[]
References
Quotes[]
Briscoe: Being rich ain't for sissies.
Scott: Do you always have to be such a lawyer?
Branch: I think it's genetic.
Green: Jackie Scott's office won't tell us where she was until they check with her. Apparently she's a very private person.
Van Buren: Then she needs to keep her face off all those magazine covers.
(Referring to the golf club the victim was killed with.)
Briscoe: So that's what a one iron is for.
Scott: Do you have any idea how much I pay in city taxes?
Briscoe: I do; I want to thank you for these new shoes.
Scott: You can't cut me off, Arthur. Nobody can.
Branch: I didn't have to.
Background information and notes[]
- This is the third episode to feature both Dr. Elizabeth Olivet and Dr. Emil Skoda. This episode has Olivet testifying for the prosecution and Skoda for the defense, which was the opposite of their last episode together "Killerz".
- This is the final appearance of Defense Attorney Helen Brolin.
- Goof: This episode aired February 26, 2003. However, the episode scene cards correspond to a 2002 calendar.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lysandra Bridal |
Burkhart James |
Apartment of |
Jackie Scott Enterprises |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Burkhart James |
Manhattan Terrace Hotel |
Office of |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Star Crossed" |
"Bitch" Law & Order Season 13 |
Next episode: "Suicide Box" |