Law & Order: Special Victims Unit · Season 1
I'm a survivor of sexual assault. I felt broken. I was sad, angry, but then what came after, the bullying, I felt like I was underwater, drowning. And I want you to know, what you say, what you say to each other, it hurts. It has consequences.
Noah's all right?
Yeah, he just has a cold. But today, of all days.
I know that this is stressful, but you have got nothing to worry about.
Then why are we here?
My best guess? Judge Linden agreed to a courtesy hearing to cover her bases. She's the one who suggested you take Noah, and the circumstances were a little bit unorthodox.
Just promise me I'm not going to lose my son.
The loss of my daughter is a regret I will carry for the rest of my life. I spent years searching for her. I hired a private investigator. I was too late. But thank God I found Noah. I want to be there for him in a way that I wasn't for Ellie.
He's a child. My child. Not a way for you to alleviate your guilt.
Lieutenant Benson, please...
I don't know what her intentions are. She's a stranger to me, to Noah.
I granted this hearing because my concern is what's best for Noah. I would like to hear what his grandmother has to say. Mrs. Porter?
I have no intention of ripping a little boy from the only home he has ever known, but I have serious reservations about Ms. Benson's fitness to parent.
How so?
My PI became aware of Noah's existence from an ACS investigation for suspected child abuse.
That investigation is closed!
Your Honor, and it has absolutely no bearing on the validity of the adoption.
There was no findings of wrongdoing.
I understand that there were bruises.
There were bruises on Noah because I saved him from almost being hit by a cab. I love my son. I would never, ever, do anything to hurt that boy. I want what's best for him. I always have.
If you really cared about what's best for him, you wouldn't deny him a relationship with his grandmother, his only living blood relative. I may not be able to overturn the adoption, Your Honor, but I am determined to be a part of this little boy's life, for his sake.
My daughter used to ask me who I loved more, her or her brother. I would tell her, "How do you choose which of your own two feet you like best?" I loved my Emma. When I lost her, I lost a part of myself. i would have rather lost all of myself than to discover her lifeless body. I breathed into her mouth, I pressed down on her chest, I felt her wrist for a pulse, but there was nothing. And then I saw my son's life disappear before my eyes, before his own eyes. The guilt. No one should have to go through what he went through. No father should have to see his son like that. He loved his sister. I did what any father would do. I couldn't lose him, too. I wish to God every day that it did not happen, but it did. I don't regret helping my son, not for one second. I did not think twice then, nor have I ever regretted that decision. I accepted the plea to avoid putting my wife through a painful trial, and, Karen... [crying] I miss Emma, and I forgive Glen. I just hope you can forgive him, too, and that you forgive me.
You got the wrong bro. And that little bit you got me with? Man, I'll be ordering lunch from my favorite gyro cart tomorrow.
Yeah? Well, unless they change the penalty for rape, you'll have to tell them you'll pick it up in about twenty-five years, all right?
There's no way I raped that ho.
Okay, so tell them it'll only be about three to fifteen. Because whatever was in that crap you gave her, it killed her.
Look, I never sold to the bitch.
The bitch? Are-are you trying to go to jail?
[sneers] Alright, I never sold to the "young lady".
But you knew her.
She was with a dude I did business with. Some white dude. Had a weird white boy 'stache. So what now?
[Benson comes in and shows Hackapulco a picture of the suspect]
Yeah, that's the dude. You see? I'm a good citizen, helping you out and all. So I can go now.
While we appreciate how devastated you are that your drugs are killing people... no. No, you can't go.
Who's she?
I'm the bitch that's gonna smack your pretty face next time I hear you say "ho".
Sometimes on its way to "fair", the law misses "right". You wanna do something? Figure out another way in.
Paternity's back. Congratulations. You're a winner.
Of what?
Of a dead teenager and her two-month-old fetus.
You knocked up Natalie Curtis when she was released to Altbrook.
And then you raped her the night she died.
I-I never raped anybody.
What do you call it when you trade an addict drugs for sex?
It's not rape when she's begging for it.
You're preying on vulnerable kids. But what the hell, you made a lot of money, right? You got rich. You're a venal predator, and we're gonna prove it in court.
Is that right? What's that trial going to look like? Call your first witness, counselor; oh, you can't put her on the stand, she's mentally unstable. Your second witness? She's no good either - she's a junkie. Next, a liar. After that, a thief. And for the big finale, drumroll, please: a 15-year-old slut who trades her body for drugs. No jury is gonna believe anything that comes out of their mouths.
You know what I remember? When he... That stupid National Geographic special. The antelope going after the cheetah, sinking his teeth into their warm flesh... I was thinking about the animals that got away. You'd think they'd learn, right? But there they are the next day, running right across the plains...
Laurel, I want you to know that this is a very common first reaction, to blame yourself. But it's wrong.
Not to the cheetah, it's not.
You can wear a badge and you can carry a gun, Lieutenant, but there's going to come a moment of weakness. The big fish eat the little fish and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.
Why do you do this? It's pity, right? You pity the pitiful.
You couldn't be more wrong.
And you're not Jesus! You can't save me! You can't make it go away. No matter what you say, the pain, the humiliation. It's never gonna go away.
Laurel, I have been doing this a long time and I'm pretty sure that you feel alone.
I feel pure and utter hatred. You can't know.
Laurel, I know all about hate.
Really? Did someone force your legs open? Did they lie on top of you like you're nothing more than a mattress and then force themselves into you like a knife? Stabbing your soul over and over and over again? Pity isn't going to bring my soul back nor is false sympathy or whatever it is you're doing right here.
But your soul's not dead, Laurel, and I think that I'm here to help you understand that. This I know. Your soul is not dead.
Well, if it's the same Katy Miller, then she's a social media celebrity; Instagram, YouTube, Snap. She's got a couple of hundred thousand followers.
Thank you, Kim Kardashian.
Yeah, sure, make mock, but these influencers are the voice of Gen Z.
And they're getting rich doing it. Don't people know porn's free these days?
Why would a guy who gets punched with bare knuckles for a living take a plea deal?
Because we're going to hit him with something much harder.
You know I'm human, right? And human people have sex. Sometimes with people they love and sometimes with people they don't even know.
[Andy has been convicted of rape]
That's the end of his career. No one's ever gonna touch him again.
How's he ever gonna make it with a mere 50 million in the bank?
Imagine walking around, everybody thinking you're a rapist.
He can just move to Hollywood.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
