Lena Petrovsky is a Judge based in Manhattan.
Petrovsky has a reputation for being tough but fair: while she has frequently shown favor towards the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, she has often sought to curb the DA's power when she felt it was being abused. She is also known overexerting her authority in telling the DA's office how they should prosecute cases.
She is a known participant of Judge Joseph P. Terhune's weekly poker games. (SVU: "Bound")
Petrovsky versus Cabot[]
Petrovsky has a long and deeply adversarial history with Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot. This stems from the Roy Barnett case, where Cabot lied her way into getting a search of the victim Sam Cavanaugh's room, in which detectives found videotapes implicating Barnett in the abuse of several underage boys.
Though Petrovsky had little choice but to allow the tapes to be presented as evidence, she has been very tough on Cabot ever since. (SVU: "Guilt")
Cabot's apparent assassination in 2003 and subsequent years in Witness Protection have healed some of the differences between them, with Petrovsky telling Cabot she's glad she's back, but Petrovsky still refuses to tolerate "stunts" from Cabot. It seems Petrovsky's faith in Cabot is restored when she gives Alex two days to prepare for the State Bar investigation. (SVU: "Turmoil")
Family life[]
Judge Petrovsky has mentioned being a mother. (SVU: "Countdown")
Arraignments[]
- People vs. Lloyd Andrews (SVU: "Asunder")
- Released the defendant on his own recognizance until trial and granted Cabot's motion for an order of protection against Andrews and made him surrender all weapons he had in his possession.
- People vs. Daniel Varney (SVU: "Scourge")
- Remanded the defendant until trial after he attacked his attorney and threatened Petrovsky.
- People vs. Evan Ramsey (SVU: "Repression")
- People vs. Grace Rinato (SVU: "Denial")
- Ordered the DA's office to file charges against Claire Rinato in addition to Grace, and held ADA Alexandra Cabot in contempt of court for questioning her authority.
- People vs. Thomas Mathers (SVU: "Weak")
- Remanded the defendant without bail.
- People vs. Miles Sennet (SVU: "Burned")
- Gave Sennet a $500,000 bail instead of the $100,000 bail suggested by Novak after seeing that a restraining order had done nothing to stop Sennet's behavior towards the victim, which Petrovsky found alarming.
- People vs. Henry Chanoor (SVU: "Outsider")
- People vs. James Grall & Victoria Grall (SVU: "Inconceivable")
- Ordered the removal of Eva Sintzel from the court.
- Adds a lesser charge of petty larceny.
- Arraigned the defendants on $10,000 each.
- People vs. Merritt Rook (SVU: "Authority")
- Ruled that Rook could serve as his own attorney.
- Arraigned the defendant on $250,000 bail.
- Dismissed the case due to lack of evidence.
- People vs. Sarah Hoyt (SVU: "Rescue")
- Arraigned the defendant on $300,000 on murder two charges.
Cases tried[]
- People vs. Denny Corea (SVU: "Legacy")
- People vs. Philip Montrose (SVU: "Secrets")
- Granted defense's motion for the defendant to testify at the grand jury.
- Ordered Mrs. Douglas to produce her daughter Sophie for a second round of questioning by the SVU in order to try and identify her kidnapper.
- People vs. Pam Adler & Amelia Chase (SVU: "Ridicule")
- Denied a motion for dismissal filed by defense attorney Carolyn Maddox.
- Ruled that defendant Pam Adler could cross-examine plaintiff Peter Smith, but warned Adler that any attempts to intimidate the plaintiff would result in disbarment.
- People vs. Joe Poletti (SVU: "Prodigy")
- Ruled that Poletti's obscene writings warranted a criminal trial.
- People vs. Roy Barnett (SVU: "Guilt")
- Ruled (reluctantly) that evidence found during an illegal search of Linda Cavanaugh's residence was admissible, but refused to forgive A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot as a result.
- People vs. Danny Ryan (SVU: "Greed")
- Granted defense's motion to suppress jewelry found in Ryan's toolbox on the grounds that the police needed Ryan's permission to search, not his boss.
- People vs. Arthur Esterman (SVU: "Lust")
- Granted prosecution's motion to test Esterman's blood, but limits the scope to only things the hospitals and blood banks would test for.
- People vs. Joey Field & Missy Kurtz (SVU: "Damaged")
- Granted a motion nullifying Kurtz's legal immunity after it was revealed that she had initiated the sexual abuse of her little sister. However she knew Cabot manipulated Joey’s father into getting that and was angered she wasn't yet ready for trial.
- People vs. Dr. Garret Lang (SVU: "Perfect")
- Ordered Dr. Lang's removal from the court after repeated outbursts during the testimony of Paula Haggerty.
- People vs. Rafael Zapata (SVU: "Loss")
- People vs. Juliet Barclay (SVU: "Control")
- Declined to grant A.D.A. Casey Novak a mistrial after defense witness Hilary Barclay claimed under oath that she had committed the crime for which her mother was standing trial. Novak instead dropped all charges against Juliet Barclay and arrested her daughter.
- People vs. Andrea Kent & Paige Summerbee (SVU: "Mean")
- People vs. Javier Vega (SVU: "Criminal")
- People vs. Thomas Mathers (SVU: "Weak")
- People vs. Carrie Lynn Eldridge (SVU: "Intoxicated")
- Ordered that Justin Sharp be held in contempt for refusing to answer questions that might have incriminated Eldridge.
- Accepted a plea deal for manslaughter and sentenced the defendant to five years. Casey Novak later stated that she would ensure Eldridge would serve her sentence in a juvenile facility.
- People vs. Kevin Rogers (SVU: "Blood")
- Granted defense's motion for dismissal after prosecutorial witness Jenny Rogers perjured herself on the stand.
- People vs. Gabriel Thomason (SVU: "Strain")
- People vs. Lauren Westley & Wayne Mortens (SVU: "Rockabye")
- People vs. Linus McKellen & Tessa McKellen (SVU: "Manipulated")
- Reviewed evidence against Linus McKellen, and threw it out, because T.A.R.U. Ruben Morales had used an untested method of identification.
- Presided over Tessa's competency hearing, where Tessa suffered a self-induced seizure. Called an ambulance for Tessa and sent her to a private mental hospital over Novak's concerns that Tessa was manipulating Petrovsky.
- Presumably reversed her decision after Tessa was revealed to be faking her paralysis.
- People vs. Adam Halder (SVU: "Class")
- People vs. Martin Trenway (SVU: "Recall")
- Oversaw an evidentiary hearing on the case to see whether or not Lorraine Delmas' testimony of a prior rape could be used as evidence against Trenway.
- Expressed deep personal sympathy for Delmas' ordeal and the fact that he could never be tried for her rape, but was initially prepared to disallow her testimony due to there being no proof until Delmas revealed that she had kept her clothes from the rape with the evidence still on them.
- People vs. Shane Mills (SVU: "Impulsive")
- People vs. Alex Parven (SVU: "Savant")
- Ruled that Katie Nicholson could be sworn in as a witness for the prosecution. Also displayed a bit of a softer side when Katie asked for a hug (she liked to hug people) and promised that she might give the girl one later.
- People vs. Cole Roderick (SVU: "Streetwise")
- Ordered Roderick to be removed from the court after he threatened "Cassidy Cornell" with violence during her testimony.
- People vs. Helen Braidwell (SVU: "Streetwise")
- People vs. Thomas Crane (SVU: "Cold")
- Dismissed case after ADA Casey Novak is caught violating Brady Rules on disclosing evidence.
- People vs. Mark Ocurro (SVU: "Baggage")
- Rules that defense's motion is credible and if the alibi is verified she will dismiss the charges.
- Denied the motion after it is proven Ocurro faked the alibi and is caught raping another woman.
- People vs. Callum Donovan (SVU: "Solitary")
- People vs. Sam Baylor (SVU: "Turmoil")
- People vs. Dwight Talcott (SVU: "Reparations")
Appearances[]
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (11 seasons, 43 episodes):
- Season 2: "Legacy" • "Asunder" • "Secrets" • "Countdown" • "Scourge"
- Season 3: "Repression" • "Ridicule" • "Prodigy" • "Guilt" • "Greed" • Denial"
- Season 4: "Lust" • "Damaged" • "Perfect"
- Season 5: "Loss" • "Control" • "Mean" • "Criminal" • "Bound"
- Season 6: "Weak" • "Quarry" • "Intoxicated" • "Blood"
- Season 7: "Strain" • "Rockabye" • "Manipulated" • "Class"
- Season 8: "Recall" • "Burned" • "Outsider"
- Season 9: "Impulsive" • "Savant" • "Streetwise" • "Inconceivable" • "Authority" • "Cold"
- Season 10: "PTSD" • "Lead" • "Baggage"
- Season 11: "Solitary" • "Turmoil"
- Season 12: "Rescue" • "Reparations"