| "Coerced" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 5.06 | → |
| Production number: E4409 First aired: 28 October 2003 | ||
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| Written By Jonathan Greene Directed By Jean de Segonzac | ||
Summary[]
A homeless and schizophrenic man, desperate to see his son, kidnaps a different boy from his bed at night. After being attacked by the man, Detective Stabler begins to contemplate the factors that caused him to snap. This investigation exposes further crimes at an adult group home.
Plot[]
Five-year-old Adam Forbes is abducted by a schizophrenic man, Kevin Walker, who believes that Adam is his son Tate, who happens to actually be in the custody of Kevin's ex-wife Julia. During the kidnapping, Kevin stabs and kills a grocer named Lester Hale to prevent losing the boy. Following the arrest of Kevin and the successful rescue of Adam, Stabler gets into hot water when he deliberately pushes Kevin to the point of a psychotic break in the interrogation room, thus forcing Huang to medicate him, which puts Stabler's credibility at risk since, from this point on, any defense attorney for anyone arrested by Stabler can charge that he once coerced a mentally ill man to make a confession, implying that he might coerce a false confession from anyone he arrests.
Without telling her what Stabler did (because, as an officer of the court, she might be forced to enter it onto the record), Captain Cragen convinces Novak to save Stabler's skin by accepting a plea deal for Kevin, so that no one will be forced to testify about what Stabler did during a trial. However, when the judge acquits Kevin and announces that he will be sent to a psychiatric facility, Kevin is frantic, claiming that a woman named Martha Davis was killed there. Novak, having gone out on a limb to help Stabler, is none too pleased, and demands that Stabler find out what Kevin was talking about, threatening to report his action. Having no choice, Stabler digs deeper to prove whether Kevin's claims are true. Huang reveals that a friend of his at the health department helped him find the facility Kevin used to be a resident, Jackson Manor.
Eventually, Huang and Stabler are allowed to interview Kevin at Bellevue, where Stabler apologizes to Kevin for coercing him into giving the confession. Taking light to this, Kevin explains that Jackson Manor is committing fraud, and that it is profiting by neglecting its patients. He elaborates that because of both their actions and the lack thereof, Martha (who had been Kevin's next-door neighbor in the institution) died of a severe heat stroke. The facility fraudulently claims she committed suicide, and moreover, they deliberately cut off Kevin's medication and discharged him, to prevent the possibility of his testifying about what he saw.
Stabler and Benson visit Jackson Manor with a written consent signed by Kevin and his attorney. To their horror, they find the patients being horrendously neglected by the staff, and that a nurse indiscriminately dispensing their medication cannot even speak English. They also find in that the staff has kept Kevin's name in the facility's logs, despite knowing that Kevin has been out of Jackson Manor for a year. Now with proof of the facility's neglectfulness, Randall Haber, the head of the facility, is arrested for fraud. Also, his administrator is willing to testify that Haber ordered her to keep Kevin on the books to get his money from the state. Kevin, back on his medication and perfectly lucid, makes a deal with Novak to tesify against Haber, and Stabler provides an exhumation report stating that Martha Davis did actually die of severe heatstroke, because of the facility denying her air conditioning in her room without paying extra. Stabler also provides another report saying that Haber's deliberate withdrawal of Kevin's medication and Kevin's forced discharge is what led to a schizophrenic episode that Kevin suffered that caused the kidnapping. Thus, Haber is responsible for Kevin's actions, including the murder of Lester Hale. Facing charges of both murders and fraud, on the advice of his attorney, Haber is forced to accept a sentence of 15 years in prison rather than 25 years to life.
Following the conviction of Haber, Kevin is given a stay in the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Hospital, where he will continue taking his medication and recover as part of the deal. Stabler pays a visit and reveals that Kevin's picture of Tate, along with everything else, was already thrown out by the Jackson Manor staff. However, Stabler has brought him a camera, and both Julia and Tate are also there to visit him, since Stabler wants to let them see how well Kevin is finally doing. Kevin shares a joyful moment with his son while Elliot watches satisfied.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch
- Diane Neal as A.D.A. Casey Novak
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
Recurring cast[]
- Beverly D'Angelo as Defense Attorney Rebecca Balthus
- Daniel Sunjata as C.S.U. Technician Burt Trevor
- Sheila Tousey as Judge Danielle Larsen
- Emilio Del Pozo as Sergeant Claros
- Joselin Reyes as Paramedic Martinez
Guest cast[]
- James McCaffrey as Peter Forbes
- Kate Hodge as Carolyn Forbes
- Christina Kirk as Julia Walker
- Joseph Siravo as Randall Haber
- Nicholas Wyman as Defense Attorney Michael Kelly
- Marcus Neville as Defense Attorney Ira Rosenman
- Leland Orser as Kevin James Walker
- Adrian Martinez as Emilio Vasquez
- Michael C. Fuchs as Eric Manning
- Michael Danek as Steve Manning
- Dylan Bluestone as Adam Forbes
- Katie McGee as Reporter
- Angelique Doudnikova as Aide
- Spencer List as Tate Walker
- Todd S. Ross as Man in Line
References[]
- Ativan
- Coercion
- Haldol
- Schizophrenia
- Secret police
- Xbox
- Hulk (video game)
- Bellevue Hospital Center
- Jackson Manor
- Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Facility
- "Cascistis"
- Martha Davis (victim)
- Lester Hale (victim)
Quotes[]
- [about Kevin Walker]
- Stabler: The guy is hopeless.
- Dr. Huang: He's a paranoid schizophrenic and these cacistis are his delusion. You're not gonna get anything more out of him.
- Stabler: Well, he's got a 5-year-old kid stashed out there somewhere.
- Dr. Huang: And he's decompensating. Any more stress, he'll go into a psychotic break and he'll never talk. He needs medication.
- Stabler: You've got a medical bag. You got anything in there to make him lucid enough to talk?
- Dr. Huang: Yes, but I can't give it to him just to make him confess.
- Stabler: Why not?
- Dr. Huang: Because he's not my patient. I could lose my license. We need to get him to a psych hospital for treatment.
- Stabler: And lose him in the mental health system? We don't have that kind of time.
- Dr. Huang: Well, we don't have a choice. Without medication, he's never gonna be able to tell you what you need to know.
- Stabler: How fast can you make it happen?
- Dr. Huang: I'll make some calls. Any luck, he'll be able to talk tomorrow morning.
- Rebecca Balthus: Casey Novak?
- Novak: Yes?
- Rebecca Balthus: Rebecca Balthus, Kevin Walker's legal aid attorney. Your, uh, boss order you to try my client?
- Novak: No, that was my decision, but the District Attorney did sign off on it.
- Rebecca Balthus: Waste of time and money - Kevin's a lunatic.
- Novak: Your client kidnapped a 5-year-old boy, murdered a man and almost killed another who tried to stop him.
- Rebecca Balthus: And a jury will institutionalize him quicker than you can say "cacisti."
- Stabler: It wasn't coercion!
- Dr. Huang: You pushed Kevin into a psychotic rage so I would drug him and you could coerce his confession.
- Stabler: I did what I had to do to save that boy.
- Dr. Huang: Great. What are you gonna do next? Bash in people's skulls to make 'em talk?
- Stabler: Your way Adam wouldn't have been found until he starved to death.
- Cragen: All right, that's enough, both of you.
[to Huang] Did the medication hurt Kevin? - Dr. Huang: No.
- Cragen: Then what's the harm?
- Dr. Huang: Unless a court forces him to, it's Kevin's choice whether to take it. We don't have the right to make that decision for him.
- Stabler: Do me a favor. Stop treating this perp like a patient.
- Dr. Huang: He became my patient the second I gave him that injection.
- Stabler: Do me a favor. Start thinking about the victims here: the kid he kidnapped, the two people he stabbed. They're your victims, Doc. Not Kevin.
- Dr. Huang: You made Kevin a victim and I'm gonna testify on his behalf if this goes to trial which Kevin will win since you handed the defense its case.
- Stabler: How did I do that?
- Dr. Huang: They're gonna make you say that he wasn't rational until he was medicated which means he's not responsible for his actions before then. YOU GET IT NOW?!
- Cragen: Kevin goes to trial, you testify what you did to him goes on the record. Every perp you collar from then on, their lawyer's gonna make you tell the jury how you coerced a confession from Kevin Walker.
- Novak: I don't know your detectives and I don't know you.
- Cragen: When you worked felonies, you had a different cop every case, right?
- Novak: Yeah, so?
- Cragen: Special Victims, it's just us. We gotta trust each other.
- Novak: You're asking for a hell of a lot of trust.
- Cragen: Either way, Kevin Walker goes someplace where he can't hurt anybody. You take him to trial, a good detective loses his credibility as a cop. He'll never be able to testify in court again. His only choices will be to quit or finish his career in the property clerk's office.
- Novak: Can you assure me the defendant wasn't hurt and I'm not gonna get my ass kicked in court on a technicality?
- [after Kevin has an outburst in court]
- Novak: What the hell was Kevin talking about?
- Stabler: I have no idea.
- Novak: So it has nothing to do with whatever you got me to cover up?
- Stabler: I'm not covering up anything.
- Novak: I put my ass on the line for you when I pled Kevin out. Now he's lucid, screaming about someone killing Martha...
- Stabler: Well, I'm telling you, I don't know who this Martha is.
- Novak: You better find out. If there's been another murder in this case, I'm holding you responsible, and your dirty little secret's going on the record!
- Dr. Huang: I got a call from Novak. I told her the injection didn't harm Kevin and he's right where he belongs.
- Stabler: I'm sure you didn't come all the way up here at this time of night just to tell me that.
- Dr. Huang: No. Martha Davis, age 45. Lived in the room next to Kevin at Jackson Manor.
- Stabler: And I thought I was going to have to go through every obituary on the Internet. How did you find out about Jackson Manor?
- Dr. Huang: A friend at the Health Department.
- Stabler: This friend of yours know how a place like that could run out of medication?
- Dr. Huang: You know, the good adult homes help schizophrenics lead productive lives, but the bad ones, the flophouses, just provide minimum care while their owners line their pockets with government money.
- Stabler: So instead of drugs for their patients, they use the money to buy themselves Mercedes.
- Dr. Huang: We know you were telling the truth about Martha in court.
- Kevin: Um, I can't talk about that.
- Stabler: Now why can't you talk about that?
- Kevin: Because, they'll get me.
- Stabler: Who, the cascistis?
- Kevin: No, no... no, the people from the home.
- Stabler: Look, Kevin, nobody from Jackson Manor can hurt you now. But if you're right, if they killed Martha, you know they're gonna do it to someone else, some time, unless we stop them. We need your help.
- Kevin: They told me they didn't have any room for me, and I was gonna have to leave.
- Balthus: Kevin, why didn't you tell anyone?
- Kevin: Well, they said, if I did, what happened to Martha would happen to me.
- Dr. Huang: Whoever runs Jackson Manor's as guilty of killing Lester as if he put the knife in himself.
- Benson: You're under arrest for fraud.
- Haber: You're making a mistake! My wife is on the City Council!
- Stabler: Really? That's great! I'll tell you what: we're gonna make a phone call - see if she wants to join you when we parade your sorry ass in front of the TV cameras.
- Stabler: You're now under arrest for the murders of Lester Hale and Martha Davis...
- Haber: Murder?!? Martha Davis committed suicide!
- Stabler: We exhumed her body - she died of severe heatstroke.
- Kevin: Because you told them not to turn on her air conditioning!
- Haber: A jury's gonna believe him?!? He murdered that grocer in cold blood!
- Stabler: Which only happened because you withheld his medication and kicked him out on the street. That makes you responsible for Lester Hale's death!
Background information and notes[]
- Goof: When Benson and Stabler are walking Randall Haber out of Jackson Manor, the circle of the handcuffs can be seen clasped between Benson and Haber's hands. The cuffs are not actually around his wrists.
- Goof: When Stabler takes the duct tape off of Adam's mouth, it is evident that there was a second piece of duct tape on the back so that it was not actually sticky.
- ADA Casey Novak is seen in a batting cage, suggesting that she formerly played softball. This was hinted in the last episode, "Serendipity", when Elliot mentions that he played on the cops team and she jokingly mentioned she didn't recognize him without him being "covered in my dust".
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
NYPD Mobile |
95th Street & |
St. Catherine's Hospital |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Office of |
Trial Part 35 |
Home of Julia Walker |
| 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|
|
Bellevue Prison Ward |
Jackson Manor |
Mid-Hudson |
| Previous episode: "Serendipity" |
"Coerced" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 5 |
Next episode: "Choice" |