| "Presumed Guilty" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 14.10 | → |
| Production number: 14011 First aired (US): 2 January 2013 First aired (UK): 19 February 2013 First aired (CAN): 2 January 2013 First aired (AUS): 7 March 2013 | ||
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| Written By Kevin Fox Directed By Courtney Hunt | ||
Detective Tutuola gets entangled in a church scandal when his ex-brother-in-law is arrested for the brutal attack of a priest, just days before Christmas.
Summary[]
The SVU's holiday celebrations are disrupted when Detective Tutuola's ex-brother-in-law is arrested for assaulting a priest. Convinced of his innocence despite his criminal record, Fin asks the detectives to find evidence that exonerates him, and in the process, a buried church scandal begins to unravel.
Plot[]
It's Christmas time in New York and it is shown that there is a Christmas party at a church.
Outside the church, a little girl named Sofia meets with her priest Father Chris Shea to give him a Christmas card. Sofia gets in Father Shea's car to give him the card, but someone smashes his car window. Shea quickly orders Sofia to run, as he is pulled out. While Sofia is able to get away, she witnesses Father Shea being assaulted by an unknown person. As this occurs, a voice is heard asking the assailant what they think they are doing.
When the police arrive, they find Father Shea being taken to the hospital and spot a beaten & bloody man who claims that he was trying to rescue Father Shea but he is not believed. As the man is arrested by the police, he tells the officers that his brother-in-law is a cop as well.
Back at the station during the SVU Christmas party, Fin's ex-wife, Teresa interrupts to tell him that her brother Sam has been arrested. Initially, Fin is not surprised due to his history of criminal activity, but Teresa assures him that her brother has changed & Fin agrees to check it out.
Fin and Rollins meet with Fin's ex-brother-in-law, Sam, who claims that he was rescuing the priest from attackers before the bystanders found them. He also brings up a young girl from the scene. It is then announced Father Shea is still unconscious, so Fin and Rollins decide to track down the only witness: the little girl, Sofia.
Fin, Rollins, Benson, and Amaro head to the scene of the crime. Inside of Father Shea's car, they find Sofia's Christmas card. Rollins believes Sam might be truthful but Fin is still reluctant to believe Sam's story, due to his past but Olivia spots a CCTV camera nearby that may provide some clues.
The camera didn't catch the assault, but the detectives see Father Shea, Sofia, and two unidentified men approaching the car. They soon see Sam come up. Benson and Rollins try to get Sam out of jail before Christmas while Fin and Amaro head to the hospital to speak to the priest, who has just woken up.
Father Shea describes as a robbery and he does not want to press charges against his attackers. However, the detectives show him a picture of Sam and Shea says he remembers Sam and is asked if he was the assaulter. Shea then tells Fin and Amaro that Sam really saved him from two unidentified muggers by pulling them off him, confirming Sam was telling the truth, surprising Fin. He provides information about Sofia. The detectives head out to find Sofia, but unfortunately, Sam's judge decides to keep him in jail over Christmas.
Benson and Amaro head to Father Shea's old church to speak with Margarita, a church employee and Sofia's mother. Amaro explains that Father Shea's attackers thought he was being inappropriate with Sofia, but Margarita defends Father Shea.
The detectives speak to Sofia who tells them that Shea did not do anything inappropriate and when the attack happened he had her run. Sofia also says she saw two hooded Spanish-speaking men attacking Father Shea. When asked if there were any good people around, she describes Sam and revealed that she saw Sam trying to save Shea. Meanwhile, Fin and Amaro meet with M.E. Warner, who found fingerprints on Father Shea's car.
Fin and Rollins track down Adam Benitez, who is working as a Salvation Army Santa. Adam tries to run away, but Rollins is able to tackle him on the street. In the interrogation room, Adam says that he and a friend saw Father Shea hugging a girl in his car, but the assault was his friend's idea. Eventually, Adam gives up his friend's name: Enrique Rodriguez.
When Fin and Rollins make an arrest, Enrique expresses resentment at the police for arresting him instead of a pedophile priest. Benson and Amaro return to the hospital to find Father Shea speaking with his superior, who has just given him a plane ticket out of the country which raises suspicion.
The detectives decide to get recorded statements from all of their suspects and witnesses in order to ensure that Sam will be released before Christmas.
Later, Benson and Amaro interrogate Enrique who wants to tell them about how Father Shea molested his sister ten years ago. Enrique claims that Father Shea impregnated his sister Angelica when she was 13 years old and forced her to have an abortion.
Benson says that they'll need Angelica to corroborate his story. Enrique says that his sister is a mess, but they should ask Father Shea about it.
Meanwhile, the ADA tells Fin that he refuses to release Sam before Christmas. He says he'll need Father Shea to identify the attackers before he can release him.
Reluctantly, Father Shea agrees to participate in a line-up and is able to identify Enrique as his assailant. Olivia questions Father Shea about Angelica, but he denies the allegations.
Fin and Rollins track down Enrique's sister, Angelica to question her about her involvement with Father Shea ten years prior, but Angelica explains that Father Shea didn't molest her. Instead, Father Shea helped her after someone else molested her, but she refuses to tell the detectives who did.
The detectives return to the home of Sofia. They confirm Nick's belief, from Margarita, that Father Shea is Sofia's biological father. Later, Father Shea tells Olivia and Amaro that his fellow priest had been assaulting girls, it is revealed to be Monsignor Menendez.
Angelica visits Enrique in jail to inform him that Father Shea was not the culprit and that he beat up the wrong priest. Enrique feels remorse for his mistake, but he is unable to go free just because he assaulted the wrong priest. Fin rushes to the judge's house to ask for a conditional release for Sam, so that he can spend Christmas with his son. The judge agrees to sign the papers and Fin is able to take Sam home. Amaro convinces Olivia to take off early for vacation while he heads back to the church to arrest Monsignor Menendez.
While Olivia is on a plane to the Bahamas with a mystery man (presumably Brian Cassidy), Amaro calls to inform her that he's arresting Monsignor Menendez, but before he can arrest him, Angelica shoots & kills Monsignor Menendez. Angelica tells Amaro he arrived too late to arrest Menendez.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson
- Danny Pino as Detective Nick Amaro
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Richard Belzer as Sergeant John Munch (credit only)
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen (credit only)
Recurring Cast[]
- Peter Gerety as Judge Peter Harrison
- Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner
- LisaGay Hamilton as Teresa Randall
- Alison Fernandez as Zara Amaro
Guest Cast[]
- Denis O'Hare as Father Chris Shea
- Erik LaRay Harvey as Sam Randall
- Melissa Marsala as Margarita Santiago
- Victor Cruz as Adam Benitez
- Nathan Lee Graham as A.D.A. Franklin
- Daniel Raymont as Mortician
- Theo Rossi as Enrique Rodriguez
- Tony Plana as Monsignor Menendez
- Gizel Jimenez as Angelica Rodriguez
- Nicolette Pierini as Sofia Santiago
- René Ifrah as Officer Bracken
- Jon Freda as Public Defender
- Rene Ojeda as Old Latino Man
- Jaden Harmon as Dante Randall
References[]
Quotes[]
- Tutuola: (to Olivia) Look, Liv, I appreciate the help, but I divorced into this. No need to drag you into it.
- Benson: Screw you, Fin. I'm all yours till Christmas Eve. After that, you're on your own.
Background information and notes[]
- Olivia Benson appears to be dating again. She's going to the Bahamas with an unknown man and they were holding hands on the plane. The identity of the man isn't revealed, but it's likely that it's Brian Cassidy (with whom she had an one-night stand in the first season) because the two were kissing in Season 14's premiere.
- Denis O'Hare reprises his role as his Law & Order: Criminal Intent character Father Chris Shea from the episode "Last Rites".
- Rollins mentions that one of his former jobs was prison chaplain, which was his occupation in that episode.
- This episode was set to air in December 2012 just before Christmas but was pushed forward to January 2013 for unknown reasons, hence the Christmas themed episode premiering after Christmas.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
55th Precinct |
Payson Avenue |
Superior Court |
Arraignment Court |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Horatio's Church |
125th Street & |
St. Horatio's Church |
Home of |
| Previous episode: "Dreams Deferred" |
"Presumed Guilty" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 14 |
Next episode: "Beautiful Frame" |