.
- In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives
who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad
known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
[lively techno music]
♪
- Where are you ladies headed?
- To the Bishop Formal Dinner.
- Not at their club?
- They're taking us on a party bus to Grade A Steakhouse.
But only nine girls made that cut. [chuckles]
- Wow.
Okay, well, have fun.
But be careful, okay?
- Okay.
- Oh, and Sarah?
If you're gonna hide a bottle behind your back,
do it before I come in the room?
- [scoffs]
- There it is, Saint Paul's.
- Is that your church or your school?
- Both--K through eighth for me and my sisters.
Mass every Sunday. - Hmm.
- I got my first home run right there.
- Are we talking girls or baseball?
- An altar boy never tells. - [laughs]
- [exhales deeply]
- You're more nervous than I am.
- Look, just don't take anything personally, okay?
My mother can be...
- She's not tougher than my mom.
- She's different, all right?
Remember, you go to her first.
- I know, Sonny.
Kiss the ring. I know.
- Hey, Ma, we're here!
- Finally, you made it.
- Oh, come on, Ma, don't start.
The BQE was a mess. Hi.
- Mrs. Carisi, hi. So nice to meet you.
- Here, let me take that. - Oh, um...
Amanda.
You've got a lovely home. - Eh, it's falling apart.
Not that I can get Dominick's father to help.
- Come on, Ma, be nice. Where is Dad?
- Your sister's bathroom's flooded again.
For her, he drives to Connecticut.
[Rollins chuckles] - Ow.
- So. Girlfriend.
She needs to eat.
- [chuckles] - Oh.
Well, that's why I'm here, Mrs. Carisi.
You know, all Sonny does is rave about your cooking.
- I tried to teach him. He never learned.
- Sorry, Nonna. Traffic.
Hi, hi.
Hi, Uncle Dom. - Hey, Mia, how you doing?
Amanda! - Hey.
- So glad you're here. - Hi, Mia.
- Finally.
So...how's it going?
- Could we talk over dinner, please?
The lasagna's going to get all mushad.
- All right. - I'll take this.
- Thank you, thank you.
[lively techno music]
[indistinct chatter]
- Let's play the game. - Goldstein?
- Let's just try-- let's just try it.
- All right, once again, the game is called
Zoom Schwartz-Parlato-Goldstein.
- Annabel--zoom.
- Zoom?
[laughter]
- No, you can't zoom the Zoomer.
You can only Schwartz the Zoomer.
Drink.
[all cheering]
[techno thumping from bus]
- We're here, folks.
- Ladies!
Leave your phones, coats, and bags on the bus.
Sorry, club rules.
- Time to eat, drink, and make merry, huh?
- Hell, yeah. Let's get this party started.
[laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
- I understand you have two girls.
- Oh, yeah.
- So the father's not in the picture?
- Ma. - What?
I-I-I'm just making conversation.
- Yeah. You know, it's complicated.
- Billie and Jesse are amazing kids.
Amanda is doing a great job.
- Like you would know.
The first time Dominick babysat for the Rizzos next door,
he dropped their one year-old on his head.
- Oh, goodness.
- Well, he hasn't done that with my girls--yet.
- [chuckles]
- So Mia, how's school going? You like being the dorm RA?
- [scoffs] Talk about babysitting.
- Yeah, what your uncle tells me that you're doing
some work as a campus advocate?
- Yeah, for sexual assault awareness.
- Not at the table.
All right, who wants dessert? - Oh, I'm--
- Don't you dare say no to my sfingi.
I made a care package for the girls.
[soft orchestral music]
[indistinct chatter]
[glass clinking]
- Attention, ladies? Everyone having a good time?
[cheering]
Good, because we have some exciting news.
President Yates, you have the conch.
- Non-members are almost never asked
to accompany us back to the Bishop Club.
But tonight, you are invited past the doors
of one of the oldest, most prestigious,
still operating finals club at Hudson University,
for after-dinner brandy and sweets.
Now we have one condition: you are sworn to secrecy.
You are not allowed to tell another soul
what you've seen or heard.
No photos, no social media.
The only thing you'll take home with you tonight
are memories of the most exciting night of your life.
Who is ready to swear that oath?
[laughter]
- Got dinner for two weeks now.
- Oh, please, you got off easy.
- I think that went well.
- Eh... - What?
[cell phone ringing] Did it--?
- Oh. Hey, Pops.
No, we missed you tonight.
Mom said that she liked Amanda?
- [quietly] She likes me, she likes me...
- [chuckles] Wait, hold on, I got another call coming in.
- She likes me.
- Hey, Mia, what's up?
- Uncle Dom, I need your help.
[tense music]
- Uh, okay.
Take her to Mercy emergency room. I'll meet you there.
Tell them that your uncle is on the job.
Pops, I'll gotta call you back.
No, no, no, everything's fine.
Yeah. I love you too.
- What's going on?
- Mia just said that one of the girls
in her dorm was raped tonight.
- I'm coming with you.
- [sighs]
[dramatic music]
♪
- I called campus police right after you,
and they said go to the student clinic.
- That's good.
It's on the record, but it's better you came here.
- And Annabel is getting a rape kit?
- Yes, but she showered before she told me.
I told her to save her dress in a paper shopping bag.
- Hey, Captain, you didn't have to come to the hospital.
- Of course I did. - Thank you, Olivia.
- Yeah, so this girl, Annabel.
How old is she? - 18, a freshman.
I called her dad in Kansas.
He said he's gonna try to get here.
- Good. - She's, um, kind of alone.
- Well, we'll talk to her.
- I'm gonna get you antibiotics, Annabel.
Are you on birth control? - What? No.
- We'll get you something to take.
- Thanks, Jen.
- So Annabel, how are you feeling?
- I don't know. I just feel so stupid.
- You're not stupid.
You got yourself back to your dorm room, you told Mia.
- We both know that you probably
don't feel like talking right now,
but if there's anything that you remember,
it can be really helpful.
- I was pretty drunk. - That's okay.
So Mia told us that you went to a dinner party?
- The Bishop Club Formal Dinner.
They invited some of the girls back to their club after.
I was looking for my purse.
I left it on the bus. They told me to do that.
- Who told you? - I don't know his name.
Tall, dark hair?
After dinner, he said that I...
had to get my purse back at the club.
- Okay, so, what happened after you got to the club?
- Another guy said that maybe it was upstairs.
[soft solemn music]
He insisted on giving me a piggyback ride.
- You know his name?
- Austin.
- And once you got upstairs?
- Austin brought me to a room that had these old paintings.
I was looking for my purse.
And..
That's when I must have passed out.
I woke up, Austin was on top of me,
inside of me.
And two other guys, maybe more, were there...
holding me down.
- I'm so sorry.
Do you remember the boys, um, saying anything,
or calling each other by name, or--
- I remember Austin called them Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
My roommate Sarah talked to them at dinner.
- Okay, good. That's really helpful.
♪
- I should have looked out for Annabel.
She doesn't really drink.
Is she okay?
- She'll be at the hospital for a few hours.
They're giving her fluids.
- Those Bishop douchebags.
It was like lambs to slaughter.
All the booze, everyone being cheesy-nice.
- So you went to the club with Annabel?
- For a while.
I left early to meet my boyfriend.
I should've--
- Did you see her go upstairs with anybody?
- Could have been Austin.
He was the one leading the scavenger hunt
for some of the girls' purses, coats.
- Right, the stuff they told you to leave on the bus?
- They claimed it was club rules.
I didn't buy that.
- Annabel said that there were two other guys
in the room when she was assaulted.
Tweedledee and Tweedledum?
- Those two? Ugh.
Jacob and Brad. I sat with them at dinner.
They kept subtly refilling my wine glass.
- Mm, she mentioned a room upstairs with old paintings?
- I didn't get past the front room.
I guess those guys could tell I wasn't wasted enough.
- Okay. Thank you, Sarah.
- And just--if you don't even like these boys,
why go back to their club?
- I wanted to see the inside. This was my only chance.
I'm an anthropology major.
- Oh.
- Officers, I'm Whitaker Yates, Bishop Club President.
I'm told you needed to speak to someone.
- We do, Whitaker.
We heard you had a party here last night.
- Every night.
If this is a noise complaint, I'll talk to the guys--
- It's a sexual assault complaint.
A girl was raped.
- That's horrible.
But it wasn't at the club. I was here all night.
- In every room?
The complainant gave us a description,
so we're gonna need to look around.
- I'm sorry, that's-- that's just not possible.
You do know that this is a private club?
- We appreciate that.
- But either you let us in,
or because this house is a crime scene,
we're gonna have to clear everyone out
while we wait for a warrant.
- And once this goes to the DA's office,
it takes on a life of its own.
You don't want that. - No.
- [softly] Okay.
- Okay, looks like you did have a party.
We're gonna need to confiscate all those glasses.
- You can leave that, Oscar. - Sure thing, Mr. Yates.
- The room the complainant described was upstairs.
- Ah, okay, um...
I think you'd really have to get a warrant for that.
- Okay, so while we're waiting on that warrant,
we need to talk to Austin Drake.
- And Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Jacob Hoffman and Brad Calloway.
Actually, we're gonna need to talk
to every member who was here last night.
- I-I can't just hand over names.
It's a privacy issue. We don't even keep a list.
Roosevelts, Kennedys,
rumor has it they slept here
whenever they visited the campus.
- Yeah, well, luckily, we don't need to talk
to any dead presidents.
Just Austin, Jacob, and Brad. - [chuckles]
Look, I don't even think those guys are here.
Most likely they're at the library, studying.
- Well, they have two choices.
Either meet us at the precinct,
or we can drag them out of the library in handcuffs.
[soft tense music]
♪
- Annabel, yeah. She was there last night.
Whatever she's saying, it's not true.
- What do you think she was saying?
- Look, there was no rape.
- How do you know? You were in the room?
- Maybe I should call my dad.
- By the way, which one are you,
Tweedledee or Tweedledum?
- It's a nickname. Austin changes it.
- Sometimes Dee, sometimes Dum?
- Depends on his mood.
- What was his mood last night?
- I can tell you what hermood was.
DTF.
- Hmm.
How do you know? Were you watching?
- Come on, man, she was putting on a show.
That's all I'm gonna say.
- Guys, I said goodnight to Annabel when she left.
She had her purse, her coat.
She was a little drunk, but fine.
- We're just trying to figure out
why she told her RA she was sexually assaulted.
- Mia? [scoffs]
More like the other way around.
- What do you mean?
- Mia and her coven? They hate men.
- Well, this is about what we expected.
- Yeah, they more or less put themselves in the room.
They're not denying the sex.
- We have enough for an arrest. - And an indictment.
But a conviction? Three against one.
- This was an orchestrated, coordinated attack.
Look, they have done this before.
- Captain? The boys' parents are here.
- Your sons all came in voluntarily.
- Under threat of arrest.
- It wasn't custodial.
They knew they were free to leave at any time.
- And now they're leaving.
- If you question them again, it's with a lawyer present.
- Oh, when we bring them in to talk to them again,
they'll needa lawyer present.
Look, this is an open investigation,
and we strongly advise that your sons don't leave town.
Thank you.
- We should just arrest these punks.
- They're not going anywhere. They're too entitled.
- And you know what?
It's not just the three of them.
It's like you said. This was coordinated.
They invited specific girls, they pick the compliant ones,
and they got 'em even more drunk.
- Separating out the most vulnerable.
- If this was a group of kids from the housing projects,
we would have locked them all up.
- These guys have already lawyered up.
They're not gonna turn on each other.
- But there are people that work in the club.
People that work at the steakhouse,
people who drive the bus.
These kids don't see the help.
- But the help sees them.
- They can lay out the plan. We start from here.
♪
.
- Bishop Club? They're polite, good tippers.
I have no issues. - Yeah, well, we do, Lloyd.
One of the girls who was at that party
was sexually assaulted that night.
- I'm sorry, but that's not on us.
- No?
This girl's 18 years old. Did you card her?
- [sighs] Come on, man. They all had IDs.
- None of them were legal.
How does multiple counts
of serving alcohol to a minor sound?
- Not to mention this place losing its liquor license.
You're out of a job.
- What do you want?
- How'd you get that big tip?
- Instructions were "no empty glasses."
No matter what the girls asked, keep pouring the wine.
- And who gave you those instructions?
- They all did.
They wanted those girls to stagger out of this place.
[tense music]
Look, nobody was driving.
They had a bus waiting to take 'em home.
- It's all fun and games with these guys.
They got the life. Young, rich--
- White. - That, too.
Anyway, it's none of my business.
- You recognize this girl?
- They all kind of look alike.
- She left her purse on the bus.
- Okay, yeah.
She was pretty upset when it wasn't here after dinner.
- Tell us about that. - [chuckles] Just a prank.
Guys call it club rules.
Not all the girls go along. Some leave coats, phones.
They all get it back at the club.
- How does that happen?
- While they're at dinner, they have me drive over
to the Bishop Club, leave the purses with Oscar.
He takes it from there.
- I don't really know anything.
- How long have you worked here, Oscar?
- Over thirty years. Close to my pension.
It's changed.
The old days, the boys were more respectful.
- Oscar, what happened Saturday night?
- You know about that girl, don't you?
- I saw them taking her upstairs.
I don't know what happened after that.
I gave her her purse when she left.
She was crying.
- Has this happened before? - I don't know.
Sometimes these girls, they have too much to drink.
- Or they give them too much to drink.
- Well, for parties, they put in a special order.
Lots of sweet stuff. Peach schnapps, brandy...
- Stuff that'll knock 'em out?
- They don't want the girls to get sick, just...
- Like a rag doll?
- I'm sorry for what happened.
I asked Austin about her the next day.
He said she was fine, that she had a good time.
[phone ringing]
I have to answer that.
♪
- You think these guys were any better back in the day?
- Some of them.
Fin, look at this. Isn't that Parlato-Goldstein?
- The detective from Hate Crimes.
- Yeah.
- How'd they let him in this club?
- Detective.
Thank you for coming in. - Of course.
Going after these guys for rape?
I assume the vic is credible, the guys claim consensual?
- Yes, she is, and they are.
- Dominick Carisi, ADA.
You were a member, weren't you?
You're not saying this doesn't sound like the boys you knew?
- 20 years ago, when I was there,
it was still the vestige of a gentlemen's club.
We drank, we had girls over, but nothing like this.
- Uh-huh.
- Counselor, he's here to help.
- So we have corroboration that this girl was targeted,
and they got her drunk,
and then they separated her from her friends,
and they took her upstairs to a room
that she describes as having a lot of old paintings?
- The Boom-Boom Room.
There's so much DNA in there, forensics won't help.
- Ugh. - And these guys, they'll--
they'll never talk to outsiders.
- So what do you suggest?
- You need them to incriminate themselves.
Get someone on the inside they trust.
- Someone like you?
- Back when I drank, I was kind of a legend there.
[rhythmic knocking]
♪
- The Bishop Club knock. Welcome.
- Brother Parlato-Goldstein.
I come bearing gifts.
- No frickin' way. TheParlato-Goldstein?
[chuckling] You're alive?
Yo, guys--yo, you're never gonna believe this.
Yo, somebody get Whitaker! [laughs]
- Oh, hey, what's up, man? - Who called the order in?
- Sup, guys? Yeah, here you go.
- Is it really you?
[laughs] We're not worthy!
- The creator of Zoom Schwartz-Parlato-Goldstein,
in the flesh, wow!
- Zoom Schwartz-Parlato-Goldstein?
A drinking game? I guess he is a legend.
- Apparently, it doesn't take that much.
- So what do you need, Carisi?
- I'll know when I see it.
[chatter and laughter]
- Yep, that was my room.
And this...
this was the Boom-Boom Room.
Tie on the door was the code.
- We upgraded. The Grand Prix Room now.
- Like the chess opening?
Grand Prix Attack? Nice.
[all chuckling]
♪
- Your throne, sir.
- I'm honored.
♪
- I understand that we have an icon in our midst,
a legendary forefather who gave us one of the greatest
drinking games Hudson University has ever seen.
- I'm not worthy.
- Bishop men, I believe it is only right that we serenade
Sir Andrew Parlato-Goldstein with our pledge song.
- "Bishops and Knights and Pawns"?
[all chuckle] - No, we have a new one.
Kind of a remix.
[horn blows]
all: ♪ Oh, we are the Bishop Club ♪
♪ Sluts and bitches and hoes
♪ And in this club we have a code ♪
♪ These bitches are our foes
♪ With a few shots here and edibles there ♪
♪ Jungle juice, get her loose ♪
♪ No more needing to seduce
♪ Oh, we are the Bishop Club
♪ And everybody knows
♪ That when we have a boys' night out ♪
♪ We turn fresh girls to hoes ♪
♪ Take her purse and take her shoes ♪
♪ Take away her right to choose ♪
♪ On her back and on her knees ♪
♪ Crying out, "Please, please, please" ♪
♪ Oh, we are the Bishop Club... ♪
- Seen enough, Carisi?
- Yes, I have.
And I will be charging the entire Bishop Club
with conspiracy to commit rape one.
♪
.
- [sighs] An assault at the Bishop Club?
I have to tell you, Captain Benson, I am so upset.
I had hoped that we were finally making progress.
- Well, I'm sorry to say that we're not.
We have ample evidence that this assault did occur.
- For what it's worth, I did speak with the club,
alumni, and the boys' parents.
They have a different story.
- Don't they always?
- And this is also complicated by the fact
that the alleged assault didn't take place on campus.
[sighs]
I'll reach out to the Bishop Club again,
get the campus adjudication committee to weigh in.
I'll need Annabel to file an official complaint.
- President Freeman, I'm gonna stop you
because we are way past that.
We have arrest warrants. - For which students?
- Every single member of the Bishop Club.
For conspiracy.
- Wait, wait, what are you talking about?
- I came here as a courtesy to let you know
that we are executing a search warrant
and we're making arrests. - When?
I need to speak to the trustees,
the boys' parents.
Can you give me a sense of the timeline?
- It's happening now.
[dramatic music]
[sirens wailing]
- Okay, these four in that first van.
Cell phones are a priority.
Dump texts, emails, photos, videos, ASAP.
- Come on, Judas, you couldn't do this inside?
It's cold.
- We'll preheat your holding cells.
[phone ringing]
- You didn't hand over your cell phone?
- [slurring] I forgot I had it.
It's probably my dad.
He'll bust a gasket if I don't answer.
- Oh, well, you can use your one call
at the station to call him back.
Ah. Thank you.
♪
- Hey, I know this is a lot. How you--how you doing?
- I'm okay.
This is why I came back to Hudson.
To make a difference.
- You have the right to remain silent--
- This is such a joke.
- Hey, hey, boys! No talking over there.
I'm sorry, Sergeant. Continue.
- You have the right to an attorney,
if you cannot afford one--
- We can. - [giggles]
- One will be appointed for you.
- Hey, for the record, none of us will be speaking
to police without our attorneys present.
- Yeah, less you talk, the better.
Get in the van.
♪
- I have an econ presentation later.
- Yeah, right.
[knock at door] - Yeah, come.
- Chief, you wanted to see me.
- A 7:00 a.m shock-and-awe raid
on the most prestigious club at Hudson U?
- Okay.
- Shouldn't I get a call on this?
- Things were moving pretty fast.
- Yeah, a little too fast, according to President Freeman.
So you asked me to loosen the reins,
and then you just gallop off the track into the parking lot?
- We couldn't risk the university
alerting the boys' parents.
- Fair enough, but then you arrested the whole club?
I mean, the DA's office had to know about this,
but you don't tell me?
- I was giving you plausible deniability.
- Oh, well, thanks for small favors.
So what's the plan?
You're just gonna arrest everybody and their brother
in the hopes that somebody flips?
- Listen, actually, this is a conspiracy.
They were all involved.
Not just the three that we're charging with rape one.
And quite frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing
all of them ending up on the registry.
- Yeah, well, I have no more love
for these spoiled brats than you do.
But these measures, they look punitive.
Like--like cancel culture on steroids.
Look...
pick the cases you can make.
We're here to put bad guys away,
not make political statements.
How was that? - Understood.
- No, no, no, not the content, but the delivery.
I'm trying to manage my affect.
You know, express myself without projecting anger.
I'm on the road to Damascus.
- And you are...
getting there.
- All these yours, Mr. Carisi?
They get a group discount?
What am I looking at?
- 16 defendants charged with conspiracy
to commit rape one, three of them also charged
with rape one and unlawful imprisonment.
- And these 16 defendants are the entire membership
of the Hudson University Bishop Club?
- They are, Your Honor.
They were unjustly rounded up,
and every single one will be pleading not guilty.
- Good to know.
Let's start with Austin Drake on the charges of rape one
and conspiracy to commit rape one; how do you plead?
- Not guilty.
- Whitaker Yates, how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- Jacob Hoffman? - Not guilty.
- Brad Calloway? - Not guilty.
♪
- What happened today is every parent's nightmare.
If you have a son at college, you should know
it's open season on young men right now.
Not only doesn't it seem to matter to law enforcement
or the DA whether or not a rape even occurred in this case,
but their opinion is
merely being in the same house where the complaint was made
rises to the level of conspiracy
to commit this unproven rape.
- We've heard this from Barth before.
I can't listen to it anymore.
- Didn't she use to be a judge?
And she believes thisnow?
- She believes in her payday times 16.
She's just lucky the judge granted bail.
- Carisi.
Okay, we'll meet you there.
- What? - Carisi is at Hudson with Mia.
Her advocacy group staged a march
down to the Bishop Club.
They were attacked.
[tense music]
♪
[indistinct radio chatter]
- What happened here? - Protest march turned ugly.
Some of those Bishop guys were waiting.
- Where are they? Why aren't they being arrested?
- They're all inside.
But the protesters initiated contact,
went onto their property.
- We were marching from campus.
It was peaceful until we got to the Bishop.
- They were waiting for you? - Yeah.
All out on the porch, screaming stuff at us like,
"Hoes go home," and "Ugly bitches,"
blowing rape whistles, they maced us.
- Did they ever leave the yard to come after you?
- No, but when we saw them take out the hoses,
we ran in to grab them away, and they just sprayed us down.
- First, we got soaked,
then people were screaming 'cause their eyes were burning.
- From the pepper spray?
- Annabel, are you okay? - No.
Look what they did.
They put my face on that blow-up doll!
They're mocking me.
- We're gonna get that taken down.
Let's get you out of here.
♪
- So the Bishop Club guys
stayed on their property the whole time.
- And they're gonna argue
that the protesters were trespassing
and they were just protecting themselves,
defending their castle.
- Mace is legal and banners are free speech,
water is water.
- This is like a war on all women.
- I can haul them back into court,
see if the judge will revoke bail.
- And they'll just tell them not to do it again.
- Counselor, let me ask you something.
We talk about this all the time.
How come you never charge rape as a hate crime?
- Rape as a hate crime based on gender?
It's just not something the DA's office does.
- You know what? Maybe it's time.
.
- We appreciate your concern, President Freeman,
but these boys are accused of rape.
SVU had no choice but to arrest.
- They didn't have to arrest every young man
in the Bishop Club.
- Actually, we did.
- They were all in on it. - So you claim.
I need your assurance
that there will be no further arrests
stemming from this incident.
- We have no idea what the fallout is gonna be.
- But we do understand.
Look, it's not NYPD's intent to inflame the situation.
- Thank you, Chief McGrath.
Captain Benson, in the future, I hope we can coordinate.
The process works better for all with more transparency.
- I couldn't agree more,
and I know that you're new to your post.
But in the past,
campus security has been where rape allegations go to die.
I believe that your intentions are good,
but you have to understand
there's just a lot of history here.
- I understand.
I look forward to a better relationship
than you've had with Hudson in the past.
- So do I.
- Okay.
Where are we with this girl's rape?
- We're looking to attach a hate crimes charge.
- Based on what? - Based on gender.
I think these boys have made it pretty clear
that they have a bias against women.
This is a perfect case to make that precedent.
- I think we'll let the lawyers handle that one.
- So you're okay with it? - I am.
But my daughter texted me
some social media video from that rally.
The blow up doll, the language? It's just horrible.
I'll fight back. Understood?
- Thank you.
- Just because McGrath's on board
doesn't mean the eighth floor is.
- What did Maxwell say? - She's intrigued.
But she also reminded me about ten times
that there's no precedent for this.
She's afraid that we're gonna lose on the rape case.
- There's never been much appetite,
even with Hate Crimes prosecutors.
- Yeah, because it's a lot of risk for an enhancement
that only adds three years to the sentence.
I mean, juries can be sensitive to piling on charges.
- But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't do it,
because it sends a message
not only to victims, but to the entire community.
- Also, even though these guys are misogynists,
that doesn't necessarily prove
that that is what motivated Annabel's rape.
- Hate Crimes only attaches
if the victim is chosen out of bias.
- Exactly...
[cell phone beeps] So I need evidence that shows
that she was targeted because of her gender.
- So in addition to the action of hate,
you need language that shows their motivation?
- How about this? We just got a text from TARU.
They went through the Bishop Club members' cell phones.
The boys were texting pictures to each other.
[tense music]
♪
They wrote, "Slut," "Whore"...
"Grade A meat" on my body, and took pictures?
- And you don't remember?
- Not them taking pictures.
I remember someone writing. I tried to knock his hand away.
When I got home,
I didn't even look in a mirror.
I just scrubbed myself.
What does this mean?
- What I would like it to mean
is that we go after them for more than the rape.
That we charge them all with a hate crime.
- A hate crime?
- The slurs that they used, the banners, the--
the blow-up doll.
- I don't get it.
What did I do? - You didn't do anything.
- They just...hate women.
- Why?
♪
- Motion to dismiss a hate crimes enhancement.
On 16 defendants?
- Actually, Your Honor, the hate crime will only attach
to the three charges of rape one.
- Your Honor, this is still an overreach.
There's no precedent to attach a hate crime to rape.
The alleged victim was not targeted due to race,
color, or national origin.
- No, but she was targeted because of her gender,
which is also a specific protected class in the statute.
- But there's no precedent for that, either,
is there, Counselor?
- No, Your Honor, but we're arguing that there should be.
- So your claim is that the defendants hate women?
- Your Honor, this is insanity.
All these young men have mothers, sisters, girlfriends.
It is not unusual for those who commit hate crimes
to claim that they have friends or even family members
in the same group they targeted.
It's simply not a legitimate defense.
This assault has all the hallmarks of a hate crime,
no different than if the victim were Black, Muslim, or Jewish.
It includes written and spoken slurs,
evidence that Annabel Nelson was targeted
because she is a woman.
- First of all, she wasn't targeted at all,
she was a willing participant.
- Not what we're arguing here, Your Honor.
We don't need to have already proven
the underlying crime in order to attach the hate crime.
- That is true, Counselor Barth.
- Again, this is a gross misreading
of the hate crimes law.
The prosecution is showboating. He's playing politics.
It's a performance of the politically correct
in the theater of the woke.
- Save that for the trial.
I'll review the evidence and make my ruling shortly.
[gavel bangs]
♪
- Congratulations, Counselor. Oh, you know what?
Keep piling on charges.
It'll just make it easier to show a jury it's a vendetta.
- Always nice to see you, too, Counselor.
- She's a warm and fuzzy.
- Looks like her motion got denied.
- Yeah, she lost this round,
but she could still be right about the trial.
- Carisi, take the win.
- Counselor, Captain?
There's no way I'm letting my son be charged
with a hate crime.
- I'm sorry, Dr. Hoffman?
- Tell them, Jacob.
- I know everything that happened that night.
I'm willing to testify.
- Against your brothers?
.
- Writing "whore"
and "slut"
and "grade A meat,"
that this was because you like her?
- They made me do that. We're trained to obey.
The point of pledging is to drill in
that we're the pawns there to protect and serve the king.
- Protect. [clicks tongue]
And a blow-up doll with Annabel's face on it?
Who is that protecting?
- [sighs] I'm sorry about that, I--
I'm really sorry about all of it.
- Mr. Carisi, my client is only cooperating
if the hate crime charge is off the table.
And he's not pleading guilty to rape one.
- He's in no position to call the shots here.
So Jake, you wanted to talk, so talk.
How did Annabel get up into the Grand Prix Room?
- Um...
Austin gave Annabel a piggyback ride upstairs
to look for her purse.
- All the purses that you guys took
and made them leave on the bus?
- This is Austin Drake? Who else was there?
- Uh...
Brad Calloway, me, Chuck Hammond, Trey Gibson,
and a couple other freshman boys.
They got to watch.
- [quietly] Oh, wow.
And Jacob, what did you do?
[tense music]
- I held her arms while Brad wrote on her breasts.
And then Brad held her legs while Austin...
did the deed.
♪
I didn't rape her, I swear to God.
- But you helped them.
And that's something that you're gonna have to live with,
Jacob, for the rest of your life.
- Jacob's a rat.
- Yep, and he got the cheese.
- In exchange for Jacob's testimony against you, Austin,
and the rest of the club, he'll be doing a year in jail.
That deal is off the table for you.
- What's still on the table?
- The most I can offer is attempted rape one.
- With what recommendation?
- The minimum: three and a half years.
- I'm not turning against my brothers.
- That's fine, Brad.
You stay loyal to your fellow rapists,
and then I get to take you to trial,
where you'll be looking at double digits.
- Let me talk to my client.
- You want my client to plead guilty to rape and conspiracy?
There's nothing on that rape kit.
And anything else that happened in that room was consensual.
- Not according to the victim.
Also, not according to Jacob Hoffman
and Brad Calloway.
- They're lying to save their own asses.
- What about the others who were watching?
And your club president, Whitaker Yates.
- Whitaker wasn't in the room.
- No, but he told us
you gave him a pair of Annabel's underwear
as a trophy of your kill.
It has your DNA on it.
Checkmate, Austin.
- I'm sure there's all kinds of chain of-custody issues.
You know what, Detective?
You've really covered yourself in glory here.
This club has a drinking game named after you.
Are you gonna tell me that none of these mating rituals
went on when you were a member?
- We weren't angels,
but what we didn't do was target women for rape.
- [chuckles]
My father always said the club never should have let Jews in.
What are you getting out of this, Goldstein?
A promotion?
How many pieces of silver are they paying you?
- No, no, no. Let him keep going.
I'll put hate crimes right back on the table.
Do you want to talk to your client?
♪
[protestors chanting]
- Annabel wanted me to thank you for her.
- I'm glad we were able to spare her
this going to trial.
- So is she. - How's she doing?
- She's gonna take the semester off,
go home for a while.
[protestors chanting]
I can't believe this is actually happening.
- Permanently shuttering the club?
Bishop Club alumni and trustees signed off on that?
- In exchange for dropping the conspiracy charges, yeah.
It was a difficult negotiation.
- Yeah, President Freeman made it crystal clear
that if they wanted their kids to have
any chance of getting into Hudson U,
or getting a recommendation upon leaving,
then they'd have to sacrifice the club.
- Thank you for hearing us.
You don't know what it means to all of us to be heard.
- I actually do.
[crowd chanting] - Get them out! Get them out!
Get them out! Get them out!
Get them out!
[dramatic music]
♪
[wolf howls]