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.
Can you take our order?
We've been waiting forever.
MAN: Excuse me, miss?
Uh, I'll send your server right over.
You said that 15 minutes ago.
I'll be right back.
Tanya? Yeah.
Where's Vanessa?
She was at the bar with some guy--
a real hottie.
She's got six tables waiting,
and she's taking a booty break?
Jake, where's Vanessa?
With her boyfriend.
I thought she kicked him to the curb.
He didn't get the message.
They got so loud, I told them to take it outside.
Vanessa? I need you.
(bottle clinking)
Girl, what are you doing back there?
(cat yowling)
Oh, damn, cat.
You scared me half to death.
(mewing)
You have blood on you.
(mewing)
Oh, my God!
Oh, my God! Jake! Jake!
GEORGIE: Victim is Vanessa Bevins, 19.
Waitress here at Dominique's.
Also has an ID from Hudson University.
Hudson-- that's... Maureen's school.
Cause of death?
Shot once, close range, after being raped and sodomized.
BENSON: How'd you get that?
Panties torn.
LumaLite showed semen on her chin.
Do we have a weapon?
Yeah, right over here.
Smith and Wesson Model 36, snub-nosed . 38.
One round fired.
Anything else?
Gunshot residue on her hands.
Looks like she struggled for the weapon.
Went out fighting.
Who found her?
Another waitress; uh, Kimmie Robinson.
Kimmie. I'm Detective Benson.
This is my partner, Detective Sta...
I already told the officers what happened.
Okay, we'd just like to ask you a few more questions.
How long has Vanessa been working here?
About a month, part-time.
What else do you know about her?
Not much.
She's a college girl.
She's always out there feeding the cats
and arguing with her boyfriend.
Like tonight.
Well, does the boyfriend have a name?
Vanessa calls him Dee.
I-I don't know what his real name is.
STABLER: What do you know about him?
Maybe he's her connection.
Vanessa got high?
I don't know; I never saw her using,
but you know, one night she was in here,
and she'd be flying like a kite, and the next night...
You can't cross the line, buddy.
My daughter works there.
The nightclub called me.
Excuse me; we'll handle it.
Sir? Sir?
How are you?
What's your name?
Ray Bevins; I'm Vanessa's father.
Now, they said there was an accident.
Uh, is she okay?
Mr. Bevins... I'm sorry to have to tell you,
but your daughter...
Oh, my God, not my baby.
Oh, my God.
(siren blaring)
Mr. Bevins, you've been up all night.
We don't have to do this now if you don't want to.
No, I, uh, I want to help.
Well, we're looking for Vanessa's boyfriend.
You know him?
Um...
I didn't know she had one.
Would her mother know who she was dating?
No, Vanessa's mother died when she was three.
It's just been the two of us all these years.
How was she doing in school?
She always used to get straight A's,
and then her grades fell
to C and D's, uh, last semester.
BENSON: Did you talk to anyone about it?
The dean called me.
Said that she was trying to take out
a personal loan for $5,000.
I confronted her
about it yesterday,
and she wouldn't tell me why she needed the money.
Did your daughter ever have a problem with drugs?
(sighing)
She's been having violent outbursts.
She accused me of treating her like a child
when I told her to stop working at that club.
Last thing I said to her...
"Don't come to me for help when you ruin your life."
I didn't mean it.
We know that.
Look, I have three daughters myself.
When I'm angry, I say things I don't mean.
You can take it back; I can't.
Erratic behavior, keeping secrets, grubbing for money--
all classic signs of a drug problem.
If she owed five grand to her dealer,
maybe he decided to make an example of her.
The sexual assault's just an extra humiliation.
We finished canvassing Dominique's.
A lot of people saw her boyfriend
getting loud with her, but nobody knows his full name.
Young guy, 5'10".
The only thing everyone agrees on
is he's cute.
Did you get a timeline together?
Vanessa put her last order in at 1:15.
The bartender said that's about the time Dee showed up.
About 2:00 A. M., Kimmie finds her body.
That doesn't allow a lot of time
for another player to walk onto the set.
So, the boyfriend's looking good for this.
Well, then, let's find out who he is.
Munch, Fin, see if Ballistics got any prints off that gun.
Elliot, you and Olivia follow up with Vanessa's roommate.
Maybe Dee is supplying more than romance.
His real name's Donovan Alvarez.
He go to school here?
Yeah, he's a pre-law like me.
But Vanessa dumped him last semester.
Why?
I don't know.
Donovan's a great catch.
All the girls were after him.
After him, or his drugs?
Drugs? Mm-hmm.
Donovan's
a total straight arrow.
Like Vanessa used to be.
So, what changed?
She started blowing off class,
acting wild.
Short skirts, tight tops.
She flirted with everyone.
Must have pissed Donovan off.
He was cool about it.
Said he liked that Vanessa was a free spirit.
One day, she dumped him.
Is this Donovan?
Yeah.
Where can we find him?
Uh... when he's not in class,
he's in the park playing speed chess.
You think you can take me, you patzer?
Shut up and move.
Oh, aren't we tense today?
Hey, we're in the middle of a game.
Not anymore. Move.
You're here about Vanessa.
Yeah, I can see you're upset about it.
What, you grieve by hustling some fish at $5 blitz?
Chess takes my mind off her.
I loved Vanessa.
So, why were you arguing with her
last night?
If you're trying to say
that I killed her, you're wrong.
When I left Dominique's last night,
Vanessa was fine.
What happened to your neck?
Oh, I see where this is going.
I'm not answering any more questions without a lawyer.
So, give us a DNA swab,
and you won't need one.
I'm not going to give you a sample
so you can frame me with my own cells.
Why would we do that?
I don't know.
Why would you stick a plunger up Abner Louima's ass?
If you want anything from me,
come back with a warrant.
I believe that's check
and mate.
It sure is, smartass.
Couldn't get a DNA sample from our suspect,
but I think we got prints.
Index finger and thumb.
I'll see if I can lift a print off the body.
Meanwhile, I've got lots to work with.
There's evidence of vaginal trauma,
I've got the perp's fluids, and I got skin cells
from underneath her acrylic nails.
Great for trapping evidence.
Could explain
the Band-Aid on Donovan's neck.
Vanessa clawed the son of a bitch.
She wasn't the only one.
The blood on the cat's fur was Vanessa's,
but the blood on its claws was a match to the perp.
We got to get Donovan's DNA.
I'll get the prints off the chess piece
and send them over to Ballistics to compare with the gun.
I dusted the gun.
Wooden grip's too textured to raise prints,
and only your victim's are on the barrel.
Like Vanessa tried to grab it.
Also found a greasy substance on the weapon.
Gun cleaning fluid?
No, I'd recognize that in my sleep.
I'll run some tests on it.
So, that's it?
Would I waste your time?
I got the gun owner.
You mean we have a legal, registered piece?
Mm-hmm. Carry permit comes back to Marvin Kligman,
address on Park Avenue.
Sure, Marvin
had a gun.
My late husband, may he rest in peace,
was in the diamond trade.
Dangerous business.
Where's the gun now, Mrs. Kligman?
In my lock box.
May we see it?
Of course.
Does anyone else have access to the gun?
Only my son.
He lives in the dorms
at Hudson University.
It's gone.
I didn't take
my father's gun.
How did it get used to kill your classmate?
I don't know anything about Vanessa's murder.
But you do know her.
Yeah.
You sleeping with her?
Yeah, I wish.
BENSON: Where were you last night?
Uh, at an all-night cram session with my study group.
You can go check.
Oh, we will.
But right now, you're the one
who's looking good for this murder.
Okay.
I got a little overextended on the Super Bowl.
I was going to sell the gun, but someone stole it.
You know Donovan Alvarez? Yeah, sure.
He lives down my hall.
Could he have stolen it?
I don't know. I... (phone ringing)
Stabler.
Did Donovan ever see the gun?
Yeah. I was looking for a buyer.
I showed it to a lot of people, including Donovan.
Did he see where you kept it?
Yeah, yeah, in my desk.
Warner. She wants to talk to us.
You fumed her.
WARNER: It's amazing what you can do with Crazy Glue.
Vaporize it, and when it hardens,
you can dust a print on skin.
Where's the print?
On the inside of her right wrist
where there's deep bruising.
STABLER: Like someone grabbed her hard.
WARNER: With the glue, it's as clear as day.
Donovan Alvarez?
Ten-point match.
...the M.E. ruled that the death
was due to undetermined homicidal violence.
How did the District Attorney get a conviction?
Donovan Alvarez, you're under arrest
for the murder of Vanessa Bevins.
You can't do this.
Sure we can.
What do you think you're doing?!
Donovan, what's going on?
You have the right to remain silent.
If you give up that right, anything you say...
This is your last chance, Donovan.
Just tell us the truth.
Once there's a DNA match,
no one will care what you say.
I am telling the truth, all right?
I didn't kill Vanessa.
I only went to the club to talk to her.
'Cause you were pissed off that she broke up with you?
No. I was pissed because she stole my credit card
and spent thousands of dollars on crazy stuff.
That sounds like a good motive
to drag her out to the alley and kill her.
We were arguing because Vanessa said
she had bigger problems than paying me back.
So then you pulled the gun
to make her take you seriously.
No. I didn't have a gun.
Come on, Donovan.
Vanessa was killed
with a gun stolen from your dorm.
I don't know anything
about that.
Why don't you believe me?
I could never hurt Vanessa.
You grabbed her so hard,
your prints were bruised into her flesh.
She was walking away.
I grabbed her arm so I could stop her.
Is that when she scratched your neck?
I cut myself
shaving.
See for yourself?
Does this look like a scratch?
Do you believe his story?
I don't know.
Vanessa was on drugs, desperate for money.
She steals from her ex-boyfriend.
Sounds like motive to me.
Donovan can't explain how Vanessa was shot
with the gun that he had access to...
Something wrong?
Ray. Ray Bevins.
He called five times.
CRAGEN: DNA's back.
The semen, fingernail scrapings,
and the blood on the cat's claw all come from the same person.
And it's not Donovan Alvarez.
STABLER: So Vanessa had sex with someone else
earlier that night,
and then Donovan shoots her in the alley.
Possible, but not enough to hold the kid you arrested
in front of a criminal law class.
BENSON: You can't cut him lose.
And we can't talk to him anymore.
Why is that?
Professor called and lawyered up for him.
Ray. Detective.
It's the middle of the night.
What are you doing here?
I called...
I know.
I haven't had a chance
to get back to you. I'm sorry.
I... just wanted to know if you had any leads.
Yeah, we're making progress.
Um... can't you...
tell me anything?
No. Ray, go home, get some sleep.
I can't.
I mean, I can't sleep.
I just keep seeing Vanessa's face.
Ray...
In the morgue, I mean...
Ray? Ray? If I have any news, I'll call you.
I promise you. You have my word.
Now go home.
Go home.
Hey.
How's he doing?
He's a mess.
LUDS on Vanessa's phone.
Check out this number.
Dozens of calls to it.
It's the Rape Crisis Center.
Why was Vanessa calling them two weeks before she was raped?
WOMAN: Vanessa must have called me
20 times, but she never gave a last name.
I was afraid if I pushed too hard,
she'd stop calling.
I know what she said is confidential, but...
And any father would wave confidentiality
to catch his child's killer.
Let's cut the red tape.
Good. Why was Vanessa calling you?
She was in a sexual relationship she couldn't handle.
So she was raped?
Uh, she wasn't sure.
She needed help understanding what had happened to her,
but it was rape all right.
She had gotten involved
with this man that she met...
Donovan Alvarez?
Uh, she never gave his name.
He was a sadist.
He liked to degrade her.
Make her have sex in public places.
Get rough.
When she refused, he beat her up.
After that, she was too scared to say no again.
Why didn't she call the police?
I gave her your number.
Vanessa just wasn't ready.
She was very depressed.
She kept blaming herself instead of her boss.
Her boss?
Yeah.
That's who was raping her.
MAN: Look, I understand the need for investigation.
I, uh, just don't see how I can help you.
Well, you were at the club, weren't you?
I was in the VIP room.
Told that to the officers who interviewed me.
You didn't tell them
you were sleeping with the victim.
(sighs)
Well, now I see.
Someone's been talking about me behind me back.
BENSON: Then let's talk
openly...
in our squad room.
WOMAN: Baby, I'm going now.
You'll call me later?
You know I will.
Give me a moment to call my lawyer.
I'll have him meet me there.
There's no need to.
You're not under arrest.
And I'd like to keep it that way.
MAN: My client is more than happy
to assist in the investigation.
He'll answer your questions.
Well, why don't we let his DNA sample do the talking?
Oh, hey, hey, take a swab.
It'll match.
I'm sure you'll find my blood in the alleyway, too.
Damn cat clawed the hell out of my ass.
Listen, I had sex with Vanessa that night.
That's not a crime.
Rape and sodomy are.
(laughs)
Rape?
Detective...
I don't need to force women to have sex with me.
BENSON: Oh. So you expect us to believe
that Vanessa liked being half naked down on her knees
in a dirty alley?
Yeah, she grew to like it.
Once you stripped away that schoolgirl exterior,
underneath lay a very... adventurous woman.
Why did you go out back?
I don't like to share my girls.
I saw Vanessa go outside with her friend.
I wanted to make sure they weren't having a quickie.
Were they?
No. No. Her tastes have changed.
She told him to get the hell out.
BENSON: So, did you see him leave?
Yeah, he got into a cab.
Vanessa and I had a little fun,
and then I went back inside.
So she fought with her boyfriend,
had sex with you, and then,
a third guy came along, and he killed her.
Is that what you're telling me?
Truth is stranger than fiction.
But you're the only one
with a history of abusing Vanessa.
Oh, more gossip?
BENSON: No.
We have witnesses.
Vanessa told people
about your repeated sexual assault.
I don't recall anyone watching us
having sex,
so unless you guys communicate with ghosts... you got nothing.
All right, my client has answered all of your questions,
so unless you're arresting him, we're leaving.
(clears throat)
You'll notify me if you want to speak
to my client any further...
Oh, we'll be speaking to him again, yeah.
Come on.
Detective Stabler. Hi.
Any news about Vanessa?
PERRY: Are you her father?
Yeah.
Hey, I'm really sorry.
Thanks.
Who are you?
Oh, I'm sorry.
Uh, Perry Williams.
How did you know my daughter?
I was her boss.
Let's talk.
She was really sweet. What? What?
Why are you here?
Just to answer a few questions.
About what?
My relationship with your daughter.
Bastard. You murdered and raped my daughter.
Hey, hey, hey.
Hey, I didn't have to rape her.
And I sure didn't kill her.
Let him go. He's not worth it.
Let him go. All right.
Come on.
Ray, you've got to stop coming here.
I've got nothing else to do.
What about your job?
I don't give a damn about my work anymore.
You're never going to make an arrest.
It's been three days.
Ray, you got to give me time.
That filth killed my daughter,
and you're just going to let him walk out the door.
We don't have enough evidence to arrest him for murder yet.
You could at least arrest him for rape.
He's claiming their relationship was consensual.
That's crazy.
We need proof.
What do you think?
It doesn't matter what I think, Ray.
In your heart, what do you think?
We may never know.
Please...
just tell me.
Did he rape her?
We're looking at him for it.
Did he do it?
(sighs)
We're going to get the guy.
Thanks.
Go home.
You sound like me talking to Ray.
Elliot, there's nothing we can do tonight.
We'll start fresh in the morning.
I need to get that bastard.
Plenty of other bastards out there, Elliot.
Why this one?
You know why.
I'm going to go catch a few hours of sleep.
See you at 7:00.
Hey, it's Stabler.
I'm sorry to bother you so late.
I need you to do me a big favor.
You got to run the test tonight.
WOMAN: I burned a sample
of the greasy residue in the gas chromatograph.
Tell me it nails Perry Williams.
Hear me out.
The grease on the gun had three component organic substances.
The first two
are lanolin and talc.
Skin care products?
Exactly. Chemical composition's identical
to the lotion and face powder brands Vanessa used.
So the gun touched her skin.
It doesn't explain
the flakes trapped in the lotion.
Cured tobacco.
Same brand as the cigarettes we found
in Vanessa's purse.
Vanessa was carrying the gun.
She tried to defend herself,
perp took it away and shot her.
You'd think so, but...
I decided to take another look
at the residue pattern on Vanessa's hands.
Here it is.
But that residue pattern is not consistent
with any defensive posture.
Not like this.
And so on.
So you've no match.
I think there might be.
Like this.
Fire in the hole!
(gunshot)
It's a match.
Vanessa killed herself.
Perry Williams raped Vanessa
and it drove her to suicide.
She steals the gun,
brings it down to the alley to kill him, loses her nerve.
When Perry rapes her again,
it's the last straw, so, she kills herself.
This bastard is going to skate.
We got nothing on the rape.
You know, maybe Vanessa told someone in person,
other than the rape crisis counselor.
We get an outcry witness, we got ourselves a chance.
Ray didn't know,
none of her friends knew.
Hell, no one even knew she was suicidal.
They all say she was a party girl.
This may explain why.
Vanessa's toxicology report.
It says that her blood was positive for lithium.
What's that used for?
For treating bipolar disorder.
No wonder she was flying high one day and crashing the next.
BENSON: Promiscuous,
going on spending sprees.
Explains why everyone thought she was on drugs.
It also explains her inability to break off from Perry Williams
despite his treatment of her.
So, why didn't the lithium help?
Because the amount found in her blood
wasn't a therapeutic dose.
My guess is she stopped taking her meds a week ago.
So why didn't anybody tell us about her diagnosis?
This is a woman who suffered in silence.
Now we got to tell Ray his only child killed herself.
BEVINS: First you tell me she's on drugs.
Now you tell me that she's crazy.
And I'm telling you, I know my daughter
and she was never suicidal.
If you'd like, you can talk
to our medical examiner.
She can explain how she came to the finding.
Thank you. You know what, I will.
Did you know that she was taking medication
for bipolar disorder?
She was moody.
I mean, she felt things very intensely.
She was a caring sp...
Look, my daughter
was not sick.
Then Vanessa never mentioned
that she was seeing a psychiatrist.
Ray, maybe she was ashamed.
No daughter wants to disappoint her father.
Vanessa's problem was that bastard Perry Williams.
He murdered her even if he didn't pull the trigger.
BENSON: But legally,
Ray...
legally...
he's not responsible for her death.
Can you give us the name of her doctor?
BEVINS: I don't know.
She was using the, uh, college
healthcare service.
Could you all just please leave?
MAN: Vanessa wanted help
controlling her behavior.
The, uh, lithium worked
and in combination with psychotherapy...
well, she was making excellent progress.
Did she ever mention a Perry Williams in therapy?
Yes. He was encouraging her to drink
and stop taking her meds.
STABLER: Why?
To make her more vulnerable, more manic.
He liked being with a hypersexual party girl.
When she began to stabilize, he lost his control over her.
That's when she realized he was abusing her.
Well, why did she keep going out with him?
Well, he's a handsome, successful older man.
She was blinded by his charm.
Our tox screen shows that Vanessa
had stopped taking the lithium.
Now you know what can happen to a manic depressive
when they go off their meds.
What did you do about it?
What could I do?
She's an adult, legally free
to make her own choices.
She was suicidal.
Not last week when I saw her.
You... should've told her father what was going on.
The only way I could've disclosed anything
is if she had been homicidal or suicidal.
And as I said, she wasn't.
Did Vanessa ever mention confiding
in anybody else?
S-She was, um...
keeping a therapy journal.
BENSON: Vanessa's roommate had the diary.
I can see why she kept it hidden from Ray.
It's graphic, sexual stuff.
A catalogue of Perry's perversions.
He's a sexual sadist.
He doesn't want a partner, he wants a victim.
I'm not sure that's enough.
We talked to several of Perry's ex-girlfriends.
He gets off on pain.
They'll all testify to that.
Were they raped?
No, but...
But then it's not enough.
Vanessa's body showed signs of sexual trauma.
Well, Perry will argue
that it was rough but consensual sex.
And we've got her statements
to the psychiatrist and the rape crisis counselor
that she was forced.
All right, those I can get admitted
under the outcry exception to the hearsay rule,
but I would still like a confession from Perry.
Alex, it's all in here.
Everything that he did to her.
"I'm still bleeding from last night.
"I should go to the hospital
"but I'm too embarrassed to tell anyone.
"When I said I couldn't have sex tonight,
he punched me so hard I couldn't breathe."
Let's go after him for the rape.
But just in case,
tell Ray to file a civil suit...
clean Perry out.
STABLER: At least arresting Perry
might give Ray some closure.
Maybe you, too.
Elliot, can I talk to you for a minute?
I'll meet you down at the corner.
What have you got?
Ray Bevins came by to see me.
Asked questions about why we ruled Vanessa's death a suicide.
Mm-hmm. He accept it?
I walked him through the evidence
as gently as I could but I screwed up.
I mentioned the oral sodomy.
I thought you told him.
No, no. No, I didn't want to put that image in his head.
His daughter on her knees in some filthy alley.
I'm sorry but it's in there now.
He really lost it.
He left mumbling something about a club.
(sirens wailing) Sector Charlie to Central.
Sorry, Detectives, it was over when we got here.
Where's Ray Bevins?
The wind.
Dead guy was the only one here when we arrived.
We had him.
We had Perry.
Elliot, Ray's still got the gun.
(sirens wailing)
(siren wailing)(tires screeching)
We boomed the door and swept the place.
No sign of your guy.
DISPATCHER: Requesting backup.
Man with a gun.
Where can he be?
This is all about Vanessa.
He'd want to be with her. 10-4. Copy that.
Detective Stabler.
Sector car in Central Park
has a man with a gun to his head.
Description matches your guy.
Secure the perimeter.
Tell Ray we're on our way.
No one talks to him but me.
Ray.
Put the gun down.
Don't do this, Ray.
I have nothing left.
Let's talk.
Let's just sit here and talk.
Vanessa's gone.
I mean... there's no other way to end the pain.
Vanessa loved you.
She wouldn't want you to do this.
(voice trembling): My daughter needed
help...
and she couldn't come to me.
I can't live with that.
Why here?
This was Vanessa's favorite place
when she was a... (voice cracking)
when she was a little girl.
Those memories are alive in you, Ray.
You keep her alive.
Everything that you and Vanessa had together.
That's what you want.
I want her to know
how much I love her.
(crying)
I want her to know how sorry I am....
...I couldn't be there for her.
She's here, Ray, in your heart.
She's alive, here.
(crying)
She can only die when you die, Ray.
(crying)
(crying hysterically)
Elliot...
I want to hear it from you.
Did you actually lawyer up
for Ray Bevins?
He needed an attorney.
So you called one of the best defense attorneys in town?
Usually you get a confession
instead of throwing up road blocks
to protect the perps.
Ray Bevins is not a perp.
He killed a man
in cold blood.
He killed a sexual predator
that you said we couldn't convict.
I will not condone vigilantism.
I am not going to let my compassion for Ray
prevent me from doing my job.
Well, I did my job.
I arrested him. He's all yours.
(door opening, closing)
I want manslaughter and probation--
Extreme Emotional Disturbance.
Ray snapped when he found out
his daughter's rapist would go unpunished for his crime.
For someone who "snapped,"
your client was thinking clearly enough to obtain a weapon,
locate the defendant and execute him.
That's not temporary insanity.
You know the EED statute was designed to downgrade
murder charges when they are mitigated
by the defendant's severe psychological trauma.
Only when the defendant's
mental state creates a loss of self control.
Ray's actions appear deliberate and rational.
Don't take our word for it.
Have your shrink evaluate Ray.
BEVINS: Perry Williams...
...killed my daughter.
He took her to such a...
a dark place that she couldn't find a way out.
So what did you do?
Guy I know at the work site gave me the gun.
I went to the club,
said I had an appointment with Perry
and waited in his office.
And what happened after that?
Perry walked in.
I confronted him with Vanessa's... rape.
He denied it and then...
...then he said that she liked what he did to her.
Ray, how did Perry end up in the alley?
(sighs)
I took him there.
I forced him to his knees
the way he forced Vanessa to her knees.
He begged for his life.
H-He swore that he would tell the truth to the cops.
I said, enough.
You know, enough lies.
So I put the gun in his mouth...
and I pulled the trigger.
HUANG: Ray's emotional pain is genuine,
and the cause for his mental trauma is legitimate,
but I don't buy his affirmative defense.
Why the hell not? This is a man who's lost his daughter.
Well, despite his emotional distress,
he had the presence of mind to carefully plan this murder.
He knew right from wrong.
He knew nothing!
This is a guy drowning in grief!
HUANG: Ray made clear, logical and deliberate choices.
He forced Perry out into that alley
and symbolically reenacted his daughter's rape and murder.
He didn't shoot Perry in the chest.
He put the gun
in Perry's mouth, imitating the oral sodomy.
CABOT: I'll notify Ray's attorney
that we're going to fight it.
She'll probably try for jury nullification,
get them to acquit
out of sympathy.
They should.
Look... I'm not mourning for Perry Williams,
but I'm not rolling over for Ray, either.
I need that report as soon as you can get it.
I could've stopped him.
I should've known what Ray was going to do.
How?
I would've done the same thing.
No, you wouldn't.
Well, wait till you're a parent.
Don't throw that crap at me, Elliot.
You made a mistake.
What?
You let Ray in.
You're right, I did.
He got to me.
And now I'm responsible.
I-I don't remember leaving the nightclub.
EMMETT: What's the next thing you do remember?
Sitting in the park by the lake.
V-Vanessa and I went there since...
she was a little girl.
I mean, she-she would feed the ducks, um, her sandwiches
when she thought I wasn't looking.
But you still had the gun?
Yes.
What were you going to do next?
Shoot myself so that I could be with my daughter.
Thank you. No further questions.
You blamed Perry Williams for your daughter's death?
Yeah. He raped Vanessa,
and that's why she killed herself.
You sound very certain of that.
But Vanessa was emotionally unstable, wasn't she?
He made her that way.
Mr. Bevins, she was under psychiatric care
and had been prescribed lithium for a bipolar disorder.
Are you suggesting that Perry Williams
was responsible for that?
Yeah. He lowered her self-esteem
and told her not to take her medication.
My daughter was happy and healthy
before she worked at that club.
As far as you knew.
There was quite a bit about her life
that Vanessa did not tell you.
Did she tell you that she had been sexually assaulted?
So her relationship with Perry Williams
could have been consensual as he claimed?
You call the deceased a rapist,
but you have no evidence other than your personal beliefs.
That's not true.
Detective Stabler told me
that Perry Williams raped my daughter.
Thank you. Nothing further.
(knocking)
You're calling me to the stand?
CABOT: No.
The defense is.
You've just become their star witness.
Excuse me?
Elliot, did you tell Ray
that you knew Perry Williams had raped Vanessa?
He says you did.
I told him
Perry was a suspect.
Now they're going
to use you to justify Ray murdering Perry.
Ah, well, the hell with him.
He got what he deserved.
Well, now it's your turn.
You gave premature information to an unstable man.
You sure as hell better be ready
when I cross-examine you.
EMMETT: Detective Stabler, did you have a conversation
with Ray Bevins about Perry Williams?
Yes.
Do you remember the content
of that conversation?
Not word for word, no.
Do you remember
telling Ray Bevins
that you believed Perry Williams raped his daughter?
I said we were looking at him.
Did you say, quote,
"We're gonna get the guy"?
Yes, I said that.
Who did "the guy" refer to?
The killer.
It didn't necessarily mean
that I was looking at Perry Williams.
But it's reasonable to assume
that Ray believed you meant Mr. Williams.
Now, did you tell Ray that you were powerless
to arrest Mr. Williams?
At the time, we didn't have enough evidence...
Yes or no,
Detective?
At the time of the murder,
did my client believe
you would ever be able to arrest Mr. Williams?
Thank you.
"We're gonna get the guy."
Detective Stabler, when you made that remark to the defendant,
was it based on any official determination
from the NYPD?
Official determination? No.
Was it based
on any forensic evidence?
Yes. We had Perry Williams' DNA on Vanessa's body.
DNA proves
that sex took place, not rape.
We had her diary.
A person, Detective, not her writings.
We had the rape crisis counselor...
An eyewitness, Detective?
So, your statement to the defendant
that Perry Williams raped Vanessa
was based purely on your individual opinion.
Yes.
And why did you say that?
Because he needed something to hold onto.
So your sympathy for the defendant
led you to give Ray Bevins unsubstantiated information?
Yes.
Detective Stabler,
do you condone Ray Bevins' murder
of Perry Williams?
Detective?
It was wrong.
Nothing further.
EMMETT: The law is supposed to provide us
with safety and justice,
but the law failed to get justice for Vanessa Bevins.
And in his time of grief,
Ray Bevins learned that the man who had abused, humiliated
and raped his daughter was going to walk free.
Now, if it wereyourdaughter, yourwife, yourmother
who had been raped,
and the police were unable to arrest their attacker,
how would you feel?
Ray Bevins suffered every parent's nightmare.
He did what every parent knows in their heart they would do.
He acted from a place of profound grief,
of overwhelming loss.
He did not have control of his actions.
He tried to get justice for his daughter
in the only way he knew how.
And now you must make justice for Ray Bevins
and return a verdict of not guilty.
Some of you may believe that Perry Williams
raped Vanessa Bevins in that alley,
but Perry Williams is not on trial here.
In fact, he never got his day in court at all.
So in the eyes of the law, he is innocent
until proven guilty.
Even if his guilt had been established
beyond a reasonable doubt,
he could not have been executed for his crime.
Ray Bevins executed Perry Williams.
He shot a man who was on his knees, begging for his life.
Now some of you may think that he deserved to die,
but you have to ask yourselves if you would execute a man
whose guilt had not been proven.
We have all felt the need for revenge
at some point in our lives.
We have all lashed out in pain and anger.
And we have all thought that justice means
an eye for an eye.
But is that justice?
Does Perry Williams' family
now have the right to kill Ray Bevins?
Does Ray Bevins' family then have the right
to retaliate against Perry Williams?
When would it stop?
An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.
JUDGE: Has the jury reached its verdict?
Yes, we have, Your Honor.
Will the defendant please rise.
On the count of murder in the second degree,
how does the jury find?
We find the defendant, Raymond Bevins...
guilty.
JUDGE: Thank you for your service.
You're excused.
Ray...
...I'm sorry.
I'm not.