| "Forgiveness" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 3.03 | → |
| Production number: 68005 First aired: 7 October 1992 | ||
 | ||
| Teleplay By Ed Zuckerman Story By Ed Zuckerman & Robert Nathan Directed By Bill D'Elia | ||
Plot[]
The investigation of a college junior's murder involves the victim's boyfriend and her hot-tempered father.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Paul Sorvino as Sergeant Phil Cerreta
- Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen
- Michael Moriarty as Executive A.D.A. Benjamin Stone
- Richard Brooks as A.D.A. Paul Robinette
- Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff
- Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
Recurring cast[]
- Donald Corren as Forensic Technician Medill
- Francine Beers as Judge Janis Silver
- William Jay Marshall as Judge Hollis Burton
- Nicholas B. Daddazio as Court Clerk
Guest cast[]
- Laurence Luckinbill as Defense Attorney Cyrus Weaver
- Luis Antonio Ramos as Tommy Beltran
- Luke Reilly as Father Gregory
- Cynthia Hayden as Claudia Milgram
- David Leary as Curtis Milgram
- Laura Sametz as Legal Aid Attorney Janice Watt
- Janet Sarno as Dr. Goldman
- Richard Holmes as Bill Lynch
- Frederikke Borge as Annette Hagadus
- Chris Bauer as Homeless David
- Herbert Rubens as Homeless Ralph
- Chelsea Altman as Celeste Adams
- Suzanne Cryer as Sandy
- Mara Hobel as Ellen
- Sarah Litzsinger as Liza
- Clea Montville as Beth Milgram
- David Little as Jack Haviland
- Shelly Gibson as Eleanor
- Boris McGiver as Alan
- Michael A. Fella as McDonald
- Sid Winter as Jury Foreman
References[]
- Brazil
- California
- London, England
- Italy
- Texas
- Vietnam
Quotes[]
- Phil Cerreta: Did you save your high school prizes?
- Mike Logan: Yeah. First prize, multiple dress code violations.
- Cyrus Weaver: You feel no sympathy for this boy? He did what we told him to do. He went for the American Dream. He got good grades, played by the rules.
- Benjamin Stone: He beat a girl's head in, that's not in my rule book.
| “ | I don't think we're going to trace it. They're still working on gun control. Pipe control's a ways off. | ” |
–Phil Cerreta | ||
- Elizabeth Olivet: It was not a crisis of identity. Mr. Beltran thought that violence was an acceptable response to rejection.
- Cyrus Weaver: Isn't that mental illness?
- Elizabeth Olivet: No, it's a character flaw.
- Cyrus Weaver: If anything, you should understand where he's coming from.
- Paul Robinette: Yeah, I do. I also know where he's going.
- Adam Schiff: Hired Cyrus Weaver as council.
- Benjamin Stone: Cy Weaver. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.
- Benjamin Stone: The boy climbs a mountain, he falls off. Any decent attorney is going to make it look like a Greek tragedy.
- Adam Schiff: Or a daytime soap. She rejects him, he's heartbroken. That and a bucketful of remorse adds up to man one, not murder two.
- Paul Robinette: His only remorse is that Beth prevented him from entering her world. He didn't fall off the mountain, he jumped.
- Mike Logan: Who you gonna get?
- Phil Cerreta: Judge Morris.
- Mike Logan: Him? You kidding? You'll get a warrant after the Second Coming. Who's easier? Judge Fadem. Dial-a-Warrant.
- Curtis Milgram: I behaved badly. The Beltran boy gave her a ring for their engagement. He's a nice young man. Whether he loved Beth, marriage would have not been the best thing for him. He would have had difficulty fitting in.
- Mike Logan: Especially if you didn't want him to.
Background information and notes[]
McCormick in the opening theme.
- Actress Carolyn McCormick is credited for the first time in the opening theme. She also receives this credit in the third season episode "Helpless", and starting with the episode "Point of View" she is credited in the entire third and fourth season.
- This episode is based on the Bonnie Garland murder case. In the early morning hours of July 7, 1977, Yale graduate student Richard Herrin bludgeoned Yale college senior Bonnie Garland to death with a hammer as she lay sleeping in her parent's Scarsdale, New York, home. Herrin was arrested. A group led by members of the clergy of Yale's Catholic church campaigned to have Herrin released on bail. They raised bail money and wrote letters attesting to Herrin's "good character" to the trial judge. Impressed by the campaign, the judge released Herrin into the care of the Christian Brothers in Albany. The tactics used by Herrin's lawyer, Jack T. Litman, have become known as 'blame the victim' defense. Richard Herrin was convicted of manslaughter, rather than first degree murder. He served 17 years in prison, and was released on January 12, 1995. (Bonnie Garland murder case at Wikipedia)
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Manhattan College |
Executive Assistant |
Supreme Court |
| 4 |
|---|
|
Courthouse Rotunda |
| Previous episode: "Conspiracy" |
"Forgiveness" Law & Order Season 3 |
Next episode: "The Corporate Veil" |