Law and Order
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"Choice of Evils"
L&O, Episode 16.15
Production number: 16016
First aired: 1 March 2006
  th of 456 produced in L&O  
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Written By
David Wilcox

Directed By
Michael Pressman

A suburban mother ends up admitting to the detectives that she shot and killed her own teenage son out of fear that the boy would become a menace to society.

Plot[]

After the body of a teenage boy is found dead in a warehouse, detectives use DNA to connect the boy to a convicted rapist and serial killer, then to the boy's mother, Allison Ashburn, the convict's ex-wife. While trying to solve Danny's murder, Fontana and Green learn that he recently got his girlfriend Tina pregnant, and his mother had seen him recently when she had given him money despite having claimed she hadn't seen him for months. Allison finally admits that she murdered her son after the police arrest her new husband John, but claims she did it to save the world from her son, whom she was convinced would become a monster just like his biological father. Borgia and McCoy face an uphill battle trying to convict the perfect soccer mom who refuses to accept a good plea deal that's offered.

Though McCoy sympathizes with her reasons, especially after discovering that Danny murdered a man during a robbery, he still chooses to continue the trial despite the pleas of Allison's new husband and the fact that the judge is letting the video of the murder in. On the stand, McCoy destroys Allison's defense by pointing out that she knew about her son's problems for ten years which she testifies to. He lays out the real reason for the murder: her husband was going to leave her with their kids if she let Danny back into her life so she killed him to take care of the problem and not lose her new happy life. The jury finds Allison guilty of murder. Borgia later points out to McCoy that while Allison was wrong about the jury acquitting her, she was right about her son. Though McCoy is sympathetic, he points out that she turned down a good deal of ten years in prison and there's nothing more he could have done for her. Borgia also reveals that Danny's girlfriend went to see a doctor with the help of Child Services and found out she's having a boy.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Quotes

Background information and notes[]

  • "Choice of evils" is a term for the common defense argument used to elaborate a defendant's criminal action being intended to prevent criminal action in the future.
    • The title also takes from a famous quote by cleric Charles Caleb Colton, which goes "Life often presents us with a choice of evils, rather than of goods".
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"Magnet"
"Choice of Evils"
Law & Order
Season 16
Next episode:
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