| "Phobia" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 11.13 | → |
| Production number: E1313 First aired: 14 February 2001 | ||
 | ||
| Written By Wendy Battles, Lynn Mamet & Kathy McCormick Directed By David Platt | ||
Detectives Briscoe and Green investigate the beating death of a gay man and the kidnapping of his adopted son.
Plot
A couple walking by sees a deady body and they call the cops. Detectives Lennie Briscoe & Ed Green arrive discovering the victim was beaten to death, the victim was gay, & his adopted son was kidnapped. Briscoe & Green soon discover a ransom which they respond to but discover it was an idiot move by a seltzer delivery man trying to cash in.
They find out about the adopted kid's drug-addicted mother who they track down but not after going through a woman who smuggles abused wives out of town with the mother lying about being abused. They find the mother who gives up the killer as the baby's real dad Robert Kelley, who they arrest.
McCoy prosecutes the case trying to show Kelley did it as a hate crime yelling "faggot" during the beating something Kelley claims he didn't do. He just wanted his baby back saying the adoption agency never had his consent. With McCoy's only witness being the mother its tough but soon the jury comes with a "guilty" verdict finally convicting him of the murder as a hate crime.
It ends with the victim's husband/boyfriend being approached by the mother who tells him that she hopes her child knows about her and the victim's husband saying she might tell him herself.
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
- Angie Harmon as A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael
- Dianne Wiest as Interim D.A. Nora Lewin
Recurring cast
- Brian Davies as Judge Warren Busey
- Kathleen Chalfant as Defense Attorney Lisa Cutler
Guest cast
- Catherine Kellner as Celia Goddard
- David Vadim as Robert Kelley
- David Pittu as Donald Albers
- Kaiulani Lee as Mrs. Goddard
- Randy Danson as Susan Powers
- David Leary as Defense Attorney Jerry Vaylor
- Santo Fazio as Deliveryman
- Stephen Peabody as Celia's Defense Attorney
- Brenda Denmark as Rosalie Price
- Eliza Foss as Kay Chappelle
- Rebecca Harris as Terry Kurasik
- Toni Di Buono as Defense Attorney Jerrilyn Essex
- Karen Huie as Nori Kitamachie
- Stephen Berger as Judge David Weintraub
- Jeff Binder as Eric Cross
- Malcolm Barrett as Julian Zalak
- Tony Cucci as Herb Glenmon
- Barbara Bruno as Anita Correa
- Peter Galman as Evan McBride
- Joan Bogden as Mrs. McBride
- Joseph Vincent Gay as Culver
- Stephen Federbusch as Sketch Artist
- Chris McGarry as CSU Tech
- Frank Lombardi as Uniform Policeman
- Amiee Turner as Melinda Cross
- Richard D'Alessandro as Clerk
- Bill Anagnos as McVitty
- Michelle Bernard as Jury Foreperson
References
- Lennox Lewis
- Bradford Mendell (victim)
Quotes
- Anita Van Buren: Well, what kind of idiot arranges to pickup ransom money in a van with vanity plates?
- Lennie Briscoe: An idiot whose vanity plate read "HOSE MONKEY".
- Susan Powers: My dealings with the police have been a joke.
- Anita van Buren: Well, you haven't dealt with me, Miss Powers.
| “ | We were like any couple with a kid. Early to bed, early to rise. The only restaurants we went to had paper placemats on the tables with crayons. | ” |
–Donald Albers | ||
Background information and notes
- The episode title is a reference to the homophobia Celia Goddard and Robert Kelley displayed towards Donald Albers and his partner Bradford Mendell.
Episode scene cards
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Heron Motor Sports |
Department of |
455 West 19th Street |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Office of |
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Teenage Wasteland" |
"Phobia" Law & Order Season 11 |
Next episode: "A Losing Season" |