Rafael Barba

Rafael Barba is the former Cuban-American ADA assigned to the Sex Crimes Bureau. He replaced Cabot, Novak, Haden, and Cutter in the ADA role for Season 14 in a recurring role before being promoted to the main cast in Season 15.

Barba is a by-the-book, no-nonsense ADA who requested a lateral transfer from Brooklyn to Manhattan shortly after the events of the Bart Ganzel/Delia Wilson case. (SVU: "Rhodium Nights", "Lost Reputation", "Above Suspicion")

Barba will put pressure on whomever he needs to win the case, whether it is the victim or the arresting officers.

It is revealed that Barba grew up in the Bronx, and gained a scholarship to Harvard University, where he studied law.

He resigned from his job in "The Undiscovered Country" after being too traumatized by a case involving an infant with MDDS. He became a defense attorney in 2020 and defended a man who had murdered his daughter's rapist.

Early Life

When visiting Manor Hill Academy in Lessons Learned, it is revealed he went to a Catholic high school.

In Funny Valentine he states that he was madly in love with a girl named Lauren Sullivan in the eleventh grade.

In October Surprise, he reveals to Benson that he grew up with Alex Muñoz, Eddie Garcia (and possibly Yelina Muñoz) in the Bronx and that the three boys called themselves los tres mosqueteros de Jerome Avenue (the three musketeers of Jerome Avenue).

In this episode, the audience learns he gained a full scholarship to Harvard University.

He tells Benson at the end of the episode that growing up his mother told him to "stick close to Alex because he is going to be mayor of New York someday." She never said that about Rafael.

When talking to Nick Amaro in Padre Sandungeuro, he mentions that he had a difficult relationship with his father and that Barba Sr. has been dead for the past 15 years.

In December Solstice, it is mentioned that his mother works as the principal for a charter school. In the same episode his maternal 85-year-old grandmother, Catalina Diaz, dies in her apartment before he could move her to an assisted living facility. He feels responsible for her death.

In The Undiscovered Country, Barba revealed to Jack McCoy that he resented his father, as most people did. Barba's father later entered into a diabetic coma and was eventually declared brain-dead, but Barba refused to remove him from life support even though it prolonged his suffering. Barba was left with lifelong guilt over this afterwards.

Career at SVU

In Barba's first appearance in Twenty-Five Acts, Jocelyn Paley, author of a popular erotic novel of the same name is sexually assaulted twice by a television talk show host named Adam Cain. Captain Steven Harris recommends A.D.A Rafael Barba for the case. When going over the specifics of the case, Barba is meticulous and rational to the point that he upsets Paley. Benson explains to him that more compassion should be shown towards the victims. The case takes a turn for the worst when it is revealed that Paley's professor wrote the novel and the defense uses it to paint Paley as a well-crafted liar. Paley wants to drop the charges to protect her secret, but Barba informs her that the truth will come out anyway and that if she follows through he will charge her with perjury. Barba uses information gathered from one of Cain's other victims to trick Cain during the trial by having him put a belt around Barba's neck. After some taunting from Barba, Cain chokes him with the belt in open court, showing his violent streak in front of the jurors.

In 2018, Barba turns off the life support of an infant boy suffering from MDDS, a disease which left the child brain-dead and would have required machinery to keep him alive for the rest of his life. Charged with second-degree murder despite the sympathies of both Benson and Jack McCoy, Barba hires Randy Dworkin to represent him. On the stand, Barba defends his actions as justifiable since the child was essentially dead already, but he admits that he felt guilty for having done so. Barba is ultimately acquitted of murder and exonerated. However, he is too traumatized by the case and resigns from his career as an A.D.A. after 21 years of working as a prosecutor, despite McCoy saying he didn't have to leave. He later says farewell to Benson, who is both happy and saddened by the outcome. Barba is replaced by Peter Stone, the special prosecutor who tried him.

Barba video-chatted with Benson in Redemption In Her Corner, confirming that they are still in touch with each other. Benson jokes on him growing a beard. He consoles her about the recent death of Tucker before wishing her a happy early birthday. He also promises to take her out to dinner sometime.

Career as a Defense Attorney

In Sightless in a Savage Land, Barba returned as a defense attorney representing a military veteran on trial for the murder of his daughter's rapist. Carisi, now the SVU's ADA, eventually managed to get the man to confess on the stand that he had committed the murder intentionally as revenge for his daughter being raped and that he would do it again if he could. During the closing statement, Barba argued that the victim was a serial rapist active for over a decade who no one had stopped, including the SVU, and that his client was just protecting his daughter. The jury eventually found Barba's client guilty of second-degree manslaughter, and he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, the minimum sentence. After the case, Barba enjoyed a drink with his former colleagues, sans Benson, who discussed the outcome of the case. Barba then got a text and left, as his mother was heading to Florida the next day. Barba asked them to tell Benson that he was sorry that he missed her.

As he left, Barba encountered Benson and wondered if she was mad at him about the outcome of the case. Benson questioned Barba about if the case was about the client or about Barba himself. She then suggested that with the way that Barba had to leave the DA's office, he might have been defending his actions in a way. The two then admitted that they missed Barba's time in the DA's office and wished each other a Happy New Year before going their separate ways again.

Personal Life

It is hinted in October Surprise that Barba was once in a relationship with Yelina Muñoz, who is currently married to his former friend Alex Muñoz.

Interests

It appears that Barba enjoys skiing, as in Presumed Guilty it is mentioned that he goes to a ski resort in Gstaad, Switzerland for the Christmas holiday.
In Her Negotiation, he tells the squad that he spent his weekend on a yacht.
In a deleted scene in Manhattan Transfer, Barba stops watching an interrogation to go to the theater to watch Hamilton.
In Dance, Lies and Video Tape, Benson tells the artistic director of the National Dance Institute that Barba is a fan.

Trivia

In the Season 17 premiere, he is still referred to an A.D.A. by his colleagues but the nameplate in his office lists him as the D.A. This is because the nameplates were changed for all A.D.As.
Though Harry Connick, Jr. briefly preceded him in a recurring role as David Haden, Raúl Esparza is the first man to play an A.D.A. as a member of the main cast of SVU.
He surpassed Casey Novak, as longest-serving A.D.A. in the Law & Order franchise in Season 19.
His surname, Barba, means "beard" in Spanish.
He is called "Uncle Rafa" by Noah Porter-Benson.