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.
What in the hell were you thinking?
You said to invite people.
I said bring "a friend," not 25 slobs.
You're out of cold beer.
Oh, guess you should go home then.
You've got a phone call.
Whoever it is, I'm busy.
It's your neighbor.
It's something about music and the cops.
Mrs. Grenis.
I'm turning it down.
Believe me, I'd love for these parasites to leave.
Okay.
(glass breaking)
Oh, my God.
What are you doing to my house?
Open the door.
Open the damn door.
What the hell happened?
He, he tried to rape me.
MAN: Rape victim's a Cheryl Avery, 19.
Medic's checking her out on the bus.
She hurt bad?
Got a bloody hand from crowning
her alleged attacker on the head with a vase.
Where is the alleged attacker?
Oh, he's on the way to Cabrini.
His name's a Joe Capilla.
Miss Avery claims he tried to rape her.
Well, sounds like you think she made it up.
Well, her blouse is torn,
and her face was bruised,
but she refuses to go to the ER to get checked out.
She was violated, doesn't want to be poked at.
Detective Benson, SVU.
Where's your patient?
In back.
No, she's not.
She was here a minute ago.
Must have bailed.
Son of a bitch.
Looks like they struggled.
See these black scuff marks?
Perp was wearing sneakers,
so these probably came from Cheryl Avery's heels.
He shoved her backwards into the window, the glass broke,
she grabbed the vase and whacked him with it.
Went down and banged his head on the tub.
Find Cheryl yet?
Nope, neither did the sector car I sent to her house.
The address she gave the uniform was phony.
I wouldn't be surprised if her name is, too.
Well, this is a party. Somebody had to invite her.
I invited five friends over for pizza and beer.
That Joe and Cheryl, they weren't even on the list.
BENSON: Do you know them?
No, I don't hang out with rapists.
And the first time I saw Cheryl
was in my bathroom, bleeding.
So who invited them?
Name's Ricki.
Freaking social director.
Ricki.
What can you tell us about Joe?
Met him at a club, thought he was cute,
till he showed up high
and started hitting on every girl in the room.
Joe hit on Cheryl?
Didn't see it,
but maybe that's why he was fighting with his brother.
Joe's brother was here?
Yeah, name's Eddie.
Cheryl's his girlfriend.
You have any idea where Eddie lives?
With Joe and their mom.
23rd and 9th.
Hospital.
Cheryl going to be okay?
No, Joe's dead.
BOY: My mom called from the hospital
and told me everything, so...
We're so sorry for your loss.
Eddie, we need to find out
what happened at that party.
Um, my brother tried to rape my girlfriend.
That's what the hospital told my mom.
What did you see?
I left early.
BENSON: How come?
I started having my, uh, palpitations.
From fighting with your brother?
Yeah...
Got a heart condition,
so I came home, to, uh, take my medicine.
You didn't take Cheryl with you?
I told her to stay.
She's dancing, having a good time...
Bum leg keep you from dancing with her?
Yeah, I sprained my ankle playing hoops.
I know, with a heart condition,
it's stupid.
Eddie, why were you and your brother fighting?
He's a punk.
He treated women like dirt.
He ever get rough?
Yeah, when he got high,
which was all the time.
That's what we were fighting about.
Cheryl is the nicest girl I ever met.
She wouldn't hit Joe unless...
he provoked her.
I mean, she says it was self-defense,
then it was.
She ran away.
That looks real bad.
You want to help her?
Tell us where she is.
I wanted to tell Eddie what happened,
but I didn't think he'd understand.
BENSON: We're having a hard time ourselves, Cheryl.
Why did you leave the ambulance?
I thought you wouldn't believe me.
It'd be Joe's word against mine.
All we've got is your word. Joe's dead.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God... I...
I didn't...
I didn't mean to kill him.
Cheryl, tell us what happened.
Will I go to jail?
Not if he attacked you, it's self-defense.
Okay.
I, uh...
I went to the bathroom, and Joe followed me in.
I try to be nice to him for Eddie's sake, but...
God, he's so disgusting.
He's constantly putting Eddie down.
And I told him to get out, but he wouldn't leave.
Did he touch you?
He put his hands on my, on my breasts.
I tried to yell for help,
but the music was too loud.
He ripped my shirt,
and he punched me in the face,
and I grabbed something and I hit him, but he fought back.
So I...
I pushed him off me,
and that's when he fell and hit the tub.
CRAGEN: So, are you going to indict Cheryl,
or give her a pass?
No, I'm in no hurry to convene a grand jury.
If the crime lab confirms Cheryl's account,
it's justifiable homicide.
What else have we got?
Tox screen on Joe positive for crystal meth.
That explains his pugnacious personality.
Yeah, still here.
Those bruises are real, Alex. He definitely hit her.
Does Cheryl have any priors?
She's clean.
But Joe isn't.
2-6 has a sexual assault complaint
filed by a Paige Salinsky.
Was Joe arrested?
Miss Salinsky dropped the charges.
So Joe has a habit of getting high,
abusing women, and his own brother thinks he's a hump.
Well, don't forget his brother just happens to be
the victim's boyfriend.
Joe's the only one who can't speak.
Maybe his wounds still can.
If Joe did attack Cheryl,
he may have injuries to show for it.
Check with EMS and the Medical Examiner.
MAN: Yeah, I remember.
Got him stabilized halfway to the hospital
when he seized, went into cardiac arrest, DOA.
Doc told us later that the blows to the head
caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage.
Well, did you notice any other injuries?
Scratches, swelling?
Three knuckles on his right hand were cut up.
Bruise on Cheryl's face was on the left side.
So he punches her with his right,
he cuts his hand on her teeth.
Hey, you remember anything else?
Before the seizure,
the guy was rambling.
Any of it make sense?
You tell me.
"Get Eddie. Get Eddie. He did it. He did it."
Are you sure that he said, "Eddie?"
Anything the patient says, I write down.
Sounds like Cheryl didn't tell us everything.
WOMAN: May I help you?
BENSON: We're looking for Cheryl.
In back.
She's got company.
BENSON: Looks like we're interrupting.
STABLER: Guess they had to get their story straight.
What do you mean?
Stop screwing us around, the both of you.
I told you what happened.
Yeah, you left out a few details.
Like what?
That bathroom window was broken out.
It's a 15-foot drop to the ground.
How'd you really sprain your ankle?
Wait, Eddie, Eddie had nothing to do with this.
That's not what Joe said.
What are you talking about?
In the ambulance, before he died,
he said he did it. "Get Eddie."
Joe tried to rape me.
I hit him, he fell, and he banged his head.
Cheryl, you're hindering a murder investigation.
Now Joe said that Eddie did it,
and I understand that you're trying to protect him.
Eddie went home.
We know that, but we have witnesses
that saw Eddie and Joe fighting, and then Eddie left.
But he came back, didn't he?
No. No.
If Joe was attacking you, and Eddie walked in
and came to your defense, then Joe's death is an accident.
You tried to stop him. It got out of hand.
You didn't mean to kill anybody.
That's not what happened.
Eddie, no one's going to put you away
for protecting your girlfriend.
I swear, I never touched Joe.
Ah, Eddie...
Okay, Eddie.
Okay, so, I've got this all wrong.
Maybe Joe didn't try to rape Cheryl, huh?
Of course he did.
No, you know what I'm thinking?
You caught Joe and Cheryl getting it on
behind your back in that bathroom. No...
The betrayal. No! No!
The blind rage.
Cheryl loves me.
Were you making out with Joe?
Oh, my God, I would...
No, I would never do that to Eddie.
Of course you didn't mean to,
but Eddie left you alone at a party with Joe,
so he starts making the moves on you.
You got caught up in the moment.
Wait, wait, no, no, no, you're wrong.
So you didn't want Eddie to know.
So when he walked in,
you said that Joe was raping you.
And he responded like any good boyfriend would.
STABLER: You hit Joe.
No, I didn't.
You went back to the party to bring Cheryl home.
You find her in the bathroom... Don't do this! What?!
...with your brother's hands all over her.
Come on, Eddie. Be a man.
Don't let your girlfriend go down for something you did.
Okay!
I was in the room.
I was there.
Just tell me what happened.
He was being a prick to some of the girls
at the party, and I told him, "Stop."
He got pissed, gave me a shove, then... I left.
I know.
To go home and get your pills.
We've been through that!
Why are you telling me that?
I want to know,
why did you come back?
I felt bad 'cause I had left Cheryl there.
Joe was already on the floor
when I walked into that bathroom.
Cheryl locked the door, said Joe tried to rape her,
just like she told you...
So, you didn't see anything?
That's awful convenient.
Why would you jump out the window?
She said that people would think
I did it because they saw Joe and me fighting earlier.
(frustrated groan)
Cheryl was only trying to protect me.
Eddie says he was in the bathroom.
Eddie says he wasn't.
I can't tell who's covering for whom.
Eddie fought with his brother
in front of a dozen witnesses.
His brother winds up dead.
What if the rape itself is the lie?
Do you think Cheryl made the whole thing up?
To cover for Eddie.
He kills Joe in the bathroom.
Cheryl walks in, tells Eddie
to go out the window.
She'll say Joe was trying to rape her.
Well, then they're co-conspirators,
and I can't use anything either one of them says
against the other without independent corroboration.
We canvassed everyone at the party.
Nobody saw anything.
Let's see whose story the physical evidence supports.
We're not done with the reconstruction yet,
but I can tell you that everyone's prints are in that bathroom.
Eddie admits he was there. There's no surprise.
This will be. This is Joe's shirt.
Blood on it only belongs to him.
This is Cheryl's.
Two different blood types, both male.
One matches Joe.
The other's unknown.
So it's got to be Eddie's. It's not.
Y chromosomes from the DNA say
the samples come from two unrelated males.
So now we got another guy
in that bathroom with Joe, Eddie, and Cheryl?
That's what I thought
until I tested this.
You get that out of the bathroom?
No. From EMS.
Medics used it to wrap Cheryl's bloody hand.
Then we collected it for evidence.
It's called a control sample
because the only blood on it is Cheryl's.
Well, what's that going to tell us?
I compared the blood
on the bandage to our unknown male.
It was a match.
Cheryl's a man?
What in the hell are we dealing with?
Probably a pre-op transsexual.
STABLER: If she's still got her package,
it explains why she didn't go to the hospital to be examined.
I've seen plenty of trannies, but she is amazing.
She's got to be taking hormones.
Boys with breasts get more money on the street.
Ah, I don't make her for a pro.
She's got a straight job.
Probably saving up enough money for the surgery.
Well, none of this changes the fact
that Joe still tried to rape her.
She's got the bruises to show for it.
Maybe he got violent when he discovered her secret.
Or Joe threatened to tell Eddie,
giving Cheryl motive to kill him.
STABLER: Eddie's got to know.
He and Cheryl have been going out for a couple months now.
They were all over each other when we picked them up.
So they're both covering up Cheryl's secret.
Who do you think we should try to break first?
Cheryl's pulling all the strings
telling Eddie what to say.
My guess is he's the weaker link.
Eddie...
I know you've been through a lot.
I don't want to make things worse.
What do you mean?
I'm not here to judge you.
You know that, right?
I just want to find out what happened in that bathroom.
I already told you. Mm.
I walked into the bathroom.
Joe was on the floor.
Cheryl, uh, was beat up.
You didn't tell us about Cheryl, though.
What about her?
(sighs)
What you do in your private life is your business.
You got to start being honest with me.
I am being honest.
What?
I-I don't understand what you're talking about.
I'm talking about Cheryl being... a man.
(scoffs)
What kind of sick joke is this?
I'm sorry you had to f... find out this way.
Uh... you're crazy.
(laughs)
I have... I've seen her... I've seen her breasts.
Female hormones.
They can do that.
Look, Eddie, she had us all fooled.
We did a blood test.
(yells)
Oh! What are you saying to me?!
I held her!
I... kissed her! I wa...
I-I wanted to spend my life with her.
What are you...?
Oh.
She wouldn't have sex.
She said... she wanted to wait.
She would just...
push my hands away.
Oh, God.
I need to see her.
Eddie... I need to see her.
I got to talk to her.
(panting)
Eddie.
Don't. Mm.
(moaning)
What's wrong with you?
Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?
Say something.
Come here.
(moans)
Ah... (gagging)
Mm-hmm.
You are a freak!
CHERYL: No!
STABLER: Eddie... Eddie.
Eddie. Eddie!
Okay?
Look, I was going to tell you.
When?
After I had the surgery.
Oh, you make me sick!
Oh, God!
(sobbing): Why did you do this?
Why?
Cheryl, stand up. Come on.
It's okay. Come on. Come on.
We thought that Eddie knew.
We thought that
he was protecting you.
How long did you think
that you could keep this a secret?
I just thought if I could make him love me enough,
he'd understand.
Okay, well, let's sit down. Come on.
Come on. Sit down.
But you were also afraid that he wouldn't understand.
For the first time in my life, I've had someone who loves me.
And if Joe was to tell Eddie, that would be over.
My life would be over.
So what happened?
Joe was walking out of the bathroom,
so I... I picked up the vase, and I hit him.
And then Eddie walked in.
I never meant
to kill Joe.
I just didn't want him to talk.
You'll have to tell Eddie that I didn't mean to do it.
I mean, please, make him understand that.
(water running)
You okay?
Ugh... I'll never be okay.
(sniffles)
This wasn't your fault.
Yeah, it was.
My brother's dead because my girlfriend's a... guy.
(stammers)
No one knew.
What if, um, I did know... deep down?
You were in love with a woman.
That's what you knew.
You sure you're okay?
Yeah.
Huh?
I need some air.
I need some help in here!
What happened?
He just collapsed.
He's got a heart condition.
Call an ambulance.
Hardly has any pulse.
This is empty.
Digoxin-- it's stopping his heart.
We got a drug overdose.
I'm losing his pulse. You better start CPR.
Eddie!
Come on, Eddie!
He was pulseless for ten minutes.
I pronounced him at 18:15.
Got the pill bottle?
Yeah, it's right here.
I'll do the autopsy.
I'll get you the results as quick as I can,
but it don't look to me like anything other than a suicide.
It's a death in custody,
suicide or not.
You guys from Internal Affairs
are like sharks smelling blood a mile away.
Save it, Captain.
I got an investigation to conduct.
You think we forced the pills down his throat?
No, but you left a lethal dose of pharmaceuticals
in the possession of a distraught suspect.
Talk to me through my delegate.
That "distraught" suspect
needed those pills for a heart condition.
That still doesn't mitigate your failure
to supervise Detective Stabler and Agent Huang.
IAB doesn't have jurisdiction over Dr.Huang.
We'll refer his conduct
to the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility.
I hope your med-mal insurance is paid up... Doc.
MAN: All rise.
The honorable Judge Seligman presiding.
Now in session, docket ending 5971,
People v. Cheryl Avery,
one count, murder in the second degree.
Morton Berger for the defense, Your Honor.
JUDGE SELIGMAN: We all know
who you are, Mr. Berger.
How does your client plead?
Not guilty.
Miss Cabot?
Uh, remand.
My client is not a threat to the community.
She has no prior criminal record, Your Honor.
And you can't hold a press conference in a lockup.
She's out of line, Your Honor.
Oh, come on, Morty. You wouldn't have
taken this case if you didn't smell the publicity.
Bail is set at $200,000.
(bangs gavel)
WOMAN: Mr. Berger,
are you going with an insanity defense?
Absolutely not.
This case is entirely
about society's prejudice...
WOMAN: Miss Cabot?
...towards the trans... Ms. Cabot?
A few questions, please.
Miss Cabot, hold on.
The DA's office will try this case
in the courtroom, not the press. Thank you.
MAN: Miss Cabot, give us a break.
WOMAN: Help us out here.
MAN: Just something, huh? Come on.
Don't want your 15 minutes of fame, Alex?
I heard you paid Cheryl's bail.
That's a nice touch.
I can't take the full credit.
That was the generosity of my firm.
Cheryl makes a lovely poster child,
so I'm guessing you're doing this pro bono.
And you work for a pittance,
so we're even.
You're wasting your time.
Judge is never going to suppress Cheryl's confession.
Good.
I need it to support my argument
that she acted in self-defense.
Joe Capilla
was leaving the bathroom.
The threat had abated.
Her life was no longer in danger.
Yeah, until Joe told a waiting lynch mob
she was transsexual.
Predictions of violence are
notoriously unreliable.
Nobody can say what Joe might have done.
Come on.
We both know what people do
when they find out the truth about the transgendered.
They kill them.
STABLER: Now Cheryl's
not responsible for beating Joe to death
because she's transgendered.
Well, that's an excuse?
It is, and it works.
You mean she's going to walk?
I doubt it. The irony is
Berger's argument may actually work for our case.
People are generally hostile towards the transgendered.
So a jury will be, too.
Berger's going to put witnesses up there for Cheryl,
or whatever his name is, to tell us all about
how he grew up tormented, brutalized,
and-and treated like a freak.
You know, it sounds like you have a problem with Cheryl.
My problem is
this he/she and her lies are the reason
we got two dead bodies on our hands,
and I'm the one who's all jammed up?
Look, I need background on Cheryl now.
Look, all we know so far is that
she changed her name when she was 18 years old.
She used to be called Charles Avery.
Her parents still live
in Alphabet City.
CABOT: Why don't you go talk to them?
Maybe they can undercut Cheryl's abuse story.
I don't know, Alex.
Italked to her.
And unless she's a damn good actress,
she was completely in love with Eddie,
and was afraid of losing him.
So she kills Eddie's brother?
True love doesn't mitigate murder.
I don't think she's a violent person.
That's fine.
Prove it.
MAN: Charlie was 16
when he started growing breasts.
Stole the hormones
his mother was taking for menopause.
We couldn't take it anymore.
Is that when she left?
We threwhim out.
You think we're cruel, Detective,
but we'd already lost our son.
There was nothing else we could do.
What about therapy?
Charlie refused to go.
He insisted that inside he felt like a woman
and nothing was going to change that.
God doesn't make mistakes.
We got two younger sons and a daughter.
Now how could we explain
Charlie waxing his legs and wearing makeup?
Mom?
Sarah, honey, go to the kitchen.
We'll be done soon.
Okay.
How did Cheryl get along with her siblings?
They stopped hanging around with him because...
they were getting teased at school.
Oh, how did Cheryl do in school?
Did she have any fights or...?
Charlie!
His name is Charlie.
Was he ever violent, Mr. Avery?
He beat a kid with a baseball bat,
put him in the hospital.
That violent enough?
Detective?
Sarah, right?
My parents are wrong.
You still talk to Cheryl?
Yes, but if my parents knew, they'd kick me out, too.
Your parents said
that Cheryl once beat somebody with a baseball bat.
She cut through the field one day after school.
The baseball team saw her and chased her.
She had to grab a bat
to defend herself.
This kind of thing happen a lot? All the time.
I mean, kids made fun of her like she was a big joke.
Anybody ever hurt her physically?
They beat the hell out of her
whenever they could.
I mean, she had to go
to the hospital three times for stitches.
I don't care what anybody says.
She's the bravest person I know.
BENSON: I talked to her teachers.
The sympathetic ones suggested
that she transfer to Harvey Milk,
an alternative public school for gay and transgendered kids.
So why didn't she go?
Because her parents wouldn't let her.
Where are you going with this?
All I need to know
is whether or not Cheryl's been violent.
Only in self-defense.
One time, two boys held her up against a wall
and pulled her pants down.
Alex, this girl has been through hell.
I know she's been a victim, and I know she's suffered,
but that doesn't give Cheryl the right to kill Joe Capilla
for threatening to expose her.
Then at least offer her a plea.
Not until I know her intent.
If Berger will agree to a psych evaluation,
I'll have Huang talk to Cheryl.
CHERYL: Yeah, when I was seven,
I knew I was different.
Every night I'd go to bed dreaming about being a girl.
Well, how did you handle that?
Forced myself to be a boy.
That must have been difficult.
Yeah.
I'd play with G.I. Joes
when I wanted to dress up Barbies.
When was the first time
that you tried to become a woman?
Can you remember?
Yeah, I was ten.
And my father caught me putting on my mother's makeup.
And what did he do?
Well, he beat the crap out of me,
and he called me a pervert.
Did that change your feelings any?
It's not something you can change.
I mean, it's-it's me.
It's how I feel.
And I can't be anything else.
But I wanted to be a whole woman.
Sure.
And I needed
the surgery, especially after I met Eddie.
Eddie?
Had you ever considered telling him?
No.
I... I figured I'd lose him.
I mean, Eddie was the...
was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I mean, he was the first man that loved me as a woman.
And I figured if I had the surgery,
I wouldn't have
to tell him.
But Joe was going to tell him, right?
How did that make you feel?
(sighs)
I saw fists punching me like all those other times before.
HUANG: Anytime Cheryl's been violent,
it's been in response to a perceived threat.
Joe had stopped the attack and was leaving the bathroom.
The threat was over.
Not in her mind.
She feared what those drunken partygoers
would do to her when she left that bathroom.
Boy, you'd make a great witness for the defense.
I'm just calling it like I see it, Alex.
I don't think she intended to kill Joe.
All right.
If you're convinced, I'll drop it to Man One.
BERGER: I told Cheryl about your offer.
But she, uh... she wants to go to trial.
She does, or you do?
Do you know why I became a lawyer, Alex?
Uh... to see your face on TV?
To change society's misconceptions
about what's normal.
I'm here for the underdog.
You're here
for yourself.
No. I'm here for a cause.
Gender is not always binary.
People are afraid of what they don't know.
Cheryl's case can change that.
Are you so sure
of this that you're willing
to serve up your client
as a sacrificial lamb?
She could spend the rest of her life in prison.
Not after this is tried
in the court of public opinion.
Joe Capilla sexually assaulted Cheryl Avery
and threatened to out her.
She fought back to save her life.
She's not going to prison.
Hello.
CABOT: Thanks for meeting me.
Well, I shouldn't be speaking to you without my attorney.
I shouldn't be asking
you to, but I'm very concerned
about how Mr. Berger is handling your case.
You're the one prosecuting me.
Why would you care?
Because I think you're getting bad advice.
No, he's...
No, he's the only one who's been on my side.
No. He knows what I've been through.
Then he should the first one to tell you
that your chances of acquittal are slim to none.
I was attacked and almost raped.
Okay?
He says the jury will take my side.
I think a jury is going
to have some trouble
separating the facts of the case from who you are.
Well, if you're so sure I'm going to lose,
then why are you here?
Because I want to know why
you won't take the deal.
What deal?
I told Berger I would plead down to first degree manslaughter.
He never told me.
You had no right to speak to my client without me.
I'm taking this to Judge Larsen and the disciplinary committee.
Go ahead. They'll love the part
where you ignored your obligation to bring my deal
to your client, and then lied to me
and told me you had.
I've done hundreds of trials and made new case law.
I think I know what's best for my client.
Doesn't Cheryl have a right to decide?
Fine.
Cheryl, I have your best interests at heart.
Go ahead, take the deal,
and you go to prison for at least five years.
And if you don't take the deal, and you get convicted,
you'll go for a minimum of 15 to life.
Well, do you think we'll lose?
You're not guilty, Cheryl.
CABOT: Answer her question.
Look, she's trying to scare you.
Yeah, there's a chance you'll lose,
but think of everything you're going to gain.
He's trying to make you a martyr for the cause.
I'll take the deal.
You're making a big mistake.
STABLER: How'd it go in court?
Cheryl pled out.
You know that the only person
that came to support her was her sister.
And you.
Yeah, but I'm not family.
Excuse me.
Detective Benson.
Mr. Berger, how can I help you?
Cheryl wants to talk to you about her plea.
She needs to speak to the ADA about that.
My client's not a big fan of Miss Cabot.
Why not?
Well, Cheryl feels
she was tricked into pleading out.
Well, why does she want to talk to me?
She thinks you'll understand the situation.
What situation?
Her accommodations.
CHERYL: Look, you have to help me.
I cannot stay here.
Cheryl... you pled guilty.
You knew that you were going to prison...
I'm a woman, and they put me in a cell with men.
You didn't tell her?
I told her to go to trial.
Bull.
You set her up for your own career.
What, the murder case wasn't enough for you?
The civil rights issue is more pressing.
You're going to ride it
all the way to the Supreme Court, aren't you?
Why not?
This could be a precedent-setting case.
Yeah, not to mention a juicy story.
A woman in a man's prison?
You'll have the media drooling.
I'm sorry.
Just help me.
CABOT: My hands are tied.
I can't move Cheryl to a woman's prison.
Look, she was going to have surgery.
Unfortunately, she's still anatomically male.
New York State determines a person's gender
based on their genitals, not their feelings.
What, so you're not going to do anything?
There's nothing I can do.
The law says she's not entitled to special treatment,
and I can't put a man in a woman's prison.
But Cheryl is not
a man anymore.
Legally, she still is.
Look, Berger has to fight it out
with the Department of Corrections,
and I have to make an appearance.
I will see what I can do.
BERGER: Cheryl Avery is a woman.
State of New York doesn't see it that way.
The medical community would side with the defendant
in the matter of her gender.
This hearing is not about the politics of gender.
It's about where to house him.
It's extremely derogatory to refer to my client
using male pronouns.
You have my sincere apology.
But biologically, your client is a man.
My client will be singled out for abuse
in a male facility.
What if she stops taking hormones?
Federal prison guidelines state:
"The pre-established hormone levels of transsexuals
must be maintained."
When prescribed by a physician.
Your client was self-medicating
with a friend's birth control pills.
Look, I'd rather die than stop hormone therapy.
What about protective custody?
23 hours a day
without human contact.
That's cruel and unusual.
I'm generously giving your client a choice.
Either stop the hormones,
or go into protective custody.
There's nothing else you can do?
The defendant has not yet been sentenced, Your Honor.
All right.
Ask Judge Larsen to vacate the guilty plea,
take this to trial, hope for an acquittal.
(knocking)
What's this I hear about you wanting off the Avery case?
I just don't think I'm the right person to try it.
That's not what I heard.
You've made several impassioned arguments on her behalf.
Perhaps you'd like to defend her instead.
Well, she could use better representation
than that self-serving snake Berger.
Reptile though he may be,
Morty Berger is a damn good attorney.
He deserves a worthy adversary.
I think I'm more sympathetic to Cheryl
than a prosecutor should be.
A good ADA has to think
on both sides of the fence.
Your empathy is a strength, not a weakness.
You know, if Cheryl had been born a woman,
a jury would have no problem acquitting her.
She killed a man.
What do you care what sex she is?
Because that, and not the evidence,
is what's going to convict her.
No, what's going to convict her
is a jury of her peers,
not, uh, angels, or divine ethical beings.
I suppose it bothers me more than it should.
Well, I'll reassign the case if you like,
but you might want to consider,
who's going to give Cheryl Avery the fairest treatment:
you or some other prosecutor
who will put her gender on trial?
Gender identity dysphoria
occurs when a woman feels trapped in a man's body.
These feelings are centered in the hypothalamus gland
in the brain, specifically, the stria terminalis.
Please describe the exhibits, Doctor.
The first photo is the stria terminalis of a male brain.
The second is that of a female.
The stria terminalis of the male brain
is much larger than the female's.
The third appears to be the same size
as the female stria terminalis.
It is,
but it is actually the stria terminalis
of a biological male who is transsexual.
Are you saying, Doctor,
that despite being born with male genitals,
a portion of this man's brain is identical to a woman's?
Yes.
And, in your expert opinion,
explain what this means in Cheryl's case.
Cheryl feels like a woman because her brain
is physiologically female.
Thank you, Doctor.
Uh, referring to the defense's exhibit three,
the stria terminalis of a male-to-female transsexual.
Is that a picture
of the defendant's brain?
No, these are photographs of cadaver brains.
Why didn't you photograph Cheryl Avery's brain?
The stria terminalis is only accessible post-mortem.
So, as far as you know,
Cheryl's stria terminalis is the size of a man's
and she's not a transsexual?
Object, Your Honor.
Overruled. Answer the question, Doctor.
I can't respond with certainty either way.
Nothing further.
Let's talk about the first time
you were assaulted for dressing as a woman.
How old were you?
And what happened?
I was in my, um, my room,
wearing my mom's bra and skirt
when my brother's friend walked in.
What did he do?
He laughed.
And he said he would tell everyone.
Did he?
Yeah.
Uh, in fact, the next day at school,
three boys came in the bathroom, and they, uh,
hit me, kicked me, and, uh, spit on me.
BERGER: How many times have you been assaulted?
I had my nose broken,
and my, uh, my shoulder dislocated,
and once someone set fire to my hair.
Cheryl...
how have these repeated attacks affected you?
I was scared to leave the house.
But I, I had no choice when my parents kicked me out.
You know, and every time someone looked at me,
I wondered, are they going to hurt me?
Are they going to...
is this going to be the time that someone kills me?
When Joe Capilla
assaulted you, this is what you were feeling.
Yes.
Your witness, Miss Cabot.
So you thought your life was in danger that night.
Yes.
Did anybody at the party threaten you?
No, no.
Did anyone make derogatory remarks about transsexuals?
No, but why would they?
Nobody knew.
Had anyone at the party
ever hurt you before?
No. The only people I knew there were, um...
were Joe and Eddie.
How long had you been dating Eddie?
(sniffles): Two months.
Were you intimate?
Yeah, we, uh... we kissed and fooled around,
but we never had sex.
Why not?
Because I didn't want Eddie to know
I hadn't had my surgery yet.
So you deceived him.
I had to.
What do you think Eddie would have done
if he'd found out the truth?
I don't know.
Don't you?
You told Detective Benson
that you were afraid Eddie was going to leave you.
In fact, Eddie
committed suicide when he found out.
And I blame myself for that.
Do you blame yourself for Joe's death?
I was protecting myself.
All I wanted to do was hit him over the head.
If you hadn't killed him,
he would have told everyone your secret when he came to.
Well, I wasn't thinking that far ahead.
Weren't you?
Joe was going to tell Eddie,
and you couldn't take that chance.
You were finally happy.
Eddie loved you.
Joe was going to ruin that.
He was going to ruin it, and I, I couldn't let him do it.
I could not let him do it. I had to stop him.
You did.
Nothing further.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
Will the defendant please rise.
On the sole count of murder in the second degree,
how does the jury find?
We find the defendant...
guilty.
Wait, please.
Please don't do this.
Please look, you can't put me in that place!
Please.
Help me, please... somebody!
You can't put me in that place!
Hey. I'm heading out.
You want to grab a drink?
Thank you, but, you know, I'm just not in the mood.
Well, neither am I, but I don't feel much like going home.
Do you think I pushed Cheryl too hard?
You did your job.
Then why do I feel so lousy?
Because you look at Cheryl,
and you can't imagine what it's like
to feel that your own body is a mistake.
(cell phone rings)
Benson.
We'll be right there.
What's up?
I got to go to Bellevue.
You should come with me.
Special Victims Unit. Called about a rape victim?
They're taking him up to surgery now.
CABOT: What happened?
Cheryl Avery was gang-raped at Rikers.