Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 20, Episode 1 - Man Up - full transcript
A teenage refuses to name his attacker; Benson and Rollins reveal major life changes.
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.
NYPD, stop!
Stop!
Foot pursuit, west 136
and 12th headed south.
Lieutenant, you okay?
Go, go, go.
Don't make me shoot you.
Fine, I raped that bitch!
Get on the ground right now!
You okay?
I'm fine.
What are you doing, handsome?
You got any more of that Prosecco?
Yeah, whatever you want.
You need protein.
I'll make an omelet. You got eggs?
No eggs. Just Prosecco.
Did someone say eggs?
No eggs.
Oh, thank God.
I'm a vegan.
All right. Sorry, Amanda.
It's all right. You're on call.
As of now, I'm off duty.
Now, you wanted to tell me something?
Wait, no, wait, first,
let me put this out there:
I know that I hurt you,
and that business with the escorts...
- Hookers.
- Right.
On that, I can assure
you that I've changed.
Losing you was a wake-up call.
If you give me a second chance,
there's nothing I won't do to
show you that I deserve that,
that you deserve that.
Mm.
I'll be right back.
♪
Come on, Sam, do it.
- Come on.
- I can't, I can't.
- I can't.
- Yes, you can.
Yes, you can. Come on.
- It's right there.
- I'm trying, okay?
Do it. Shoot.
Just shoot.
You know, you suck. I'll do it myself.
No, I got it. I got it.
Oh, God.
- Come on, hey.
- No, I can...
Finish it, come on.
Do it, pussy.
Do it. Pull the trigger.
I can't.
He can't do it. He choked.
Oh, God, I'm sorry, Dad.
Not me you should be apologizing to.
This animal is suffering.
You're out of your misery now.
I'm sorry, Dad.
I'm really sorry.
It's gonna be okay, son.
You just have to learn, and you will.
♪
Sam Conway, 15.
His gym coach saw blood on
the backside of his shorts.
What did Sam say?
He claims he fell, but the blood?
Seemed like a mandatory
reporting situation.
Hope I'm wrong.
No, no, you did the
right thing calling us.
Where is Sam now?
Waiting for his mother
in the nurse's office.
He's with his brother, Brian.
My brother wants to go home.
We need to wait for your mom.
You're Brian, right?
Okay, I'm Detective Rollins.
This is Detective Carisi.
Cops? He didn't do anything wrong.
No one's saying he did.
Your brother's not in any trouble, okay?
Just why don't you
tell me what you know.
Hey, Sam.
Could you give us a second, please?
Hey. I'm Sonny.
Hi, um... I just, um, want to go home.
You will, you will.
It's just, uh, there's a lot of people
who're worried about you.
Yeah.
I mean, I fell, okay?
I ju... I'm fine.
This is embarrassing for Sam, for you.
I don't care. I'll kick
anybody's ass who looks sideways.
Brian, what's going on?
Mom, Sam got hurt, but he's fine.
Okay, we're not sure
what we're looking at.
Sam?
Hey, Mom. Mom, I'm okay.
I'm okay.
We need to take him to the hospital.
Of course.
I'll call my husband and
have him meet us there.
Okay.
♪
- sync and corrections by Zac -
So we're looking at a sexual assault.
Yeah, the exam indicated
anal penetration,
most likely not by an object.
He was raped.
No semen but bleeding,
tearing, bruising,
occurring within the last 48 hours
consistent with assault or rough sex.
Well, he's 15, so it's not consensual.
Yeah, well, he's... uh,
he's 15 and he's not talking,
so Carisi's in there
giving it another try.
Family any help?
They want to believe he fell.
Okay, so, uh, go back to the school,
see if it was another
student, a teacher, a coach.
On it, Liv.
Mr. and Mrs. Conway,
I'm Lieutenant Benson.
How's my son? I want to see him.
He's speaking with one of
my detectives right now.
I gave them permission, honey.
Of course. What can we do, Lieutenant?
You know, if you could walk
me through his past few days,
where he went, who he's been with.
Just us. Just his family.
Didn't go anywhere weird.
Didn't talk to any strangers.
No, no, and no.
Okay, Sam, well, I
talked to your doctor,
and he told me that those injuries
did not come from a fall.
Now, listen, whatever you tell me,
there's no reason to be embarrassed.
I don't have anything to say.
Just give me a name, Sam.
- Who was he?
- I'm fine with this, okay?
I needed this to happen.
You needed what to happen?
It's my business.
Okay, okay, listen, you're right.
It's your body, it's your business,
but if you ever change your mind
and you decide that you're not fine,
I want you to give me a call
anytime, okay?
Dad.
I'm here. It's all right.
Thanks for taking care of my boy.
Hey, Sam, take care of yourself.
We talked to Sam's friends,
teachers, teammates, and coaches.
Yeah, he's well-liked.
He gets good grades.
He's on the travel baseball team.
He volunteers at an animal shelter.
No history of being bullied,
and his teachers, there's
no red flags there.
Okay, what about the family?
John owns a beverage
distribution company.
Molly is a stay-at-home mom.
They've been married 20 years.
No history of DV.
Neighbors got nothing but
good things to say about them.
- And the brother, Brian.
- He's been in detention
a few times, fights mostly.
But everybody we talk to
say he and Sam are close.
Father said that they
were together all weekend.
Is there any chance
that Sam ventured off
by himself at any point?
I don't know. He was with Brian and John
in Steuben County on a hunting trip.
Everything's by the books:
Licenses, registered rifles.
So what the hell are we looking at?
Something that Sam said
to me in the hospital,
that whatever this was, he said
that he needed it to happen.
So maybe he was experimenting sexually.
It's possible that he had an encounter
with a predator upstate.
I mean, it's not uncommon for
a teenage boy to wander off.
And I kept my eye on the ball and swung.
It was almost a home run.
Well, almost a home run
is pretty spectacular.
Yeah, I wish you were there.
Oh, honey, I wish I was there too.
- But next time.
- Promise?
I promise.
Now, go to sleep. I love you, okay?
Love you too.
Bye, Mom.
Good night.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Carisi said that Sam has a girlfriend.
She's on her way to the station now.
A girlfriend that we didn't know about.
I don't know.
Oh, Tyree's wife made
her banana bread again.
Hey, Rollins, is there,
uh, is there something...
There's the girlfriend now.
I'm not really his
girlfriend girlfriend.
So you're a girl and you're a friend.
You're just not sexually involved.
Oh, God, no.
I mean, we tried once,
but he just... he couldn't.
Is he okay?
You haven't talked to
Sam today, have you?
- No, I'm pissed off at him.
- Why?
We were supposed to study last night,
but he called me. He sounded drunk.
I think he was at some bar.
What did he say?
He was laughing or
crying, I couldn't tell.
He said, "I became a man tonight. "
Whatever that means.
♪
I don't recognize him.
Yeah, we know he was
here on Sunday night.
We traced a call from his cell.
You didn't check his ID.
All right, we don't care.
But this kid might have been assaulted.
- Wow, uh...
- Was he with anybody?
I think he was with his father.
His father?
Yeah, an older guy. 50s?
He had his arm around
this kid's shoulder.
Is that him?
No, this guy had glasses, white hair.
Did you get a name?
Did he pay with a credit card?
No, cash.
But I'm pretty sure
they left in an Uber.
Gus Haverford, he's 55,
he's a senior VP at Morgan Stanley.
His office says he does
noon hot yoga every day.
Nice life, long lunches, working out.
He probably gets a massage after.
Massages, I don't know.
Seems like a waste of time to me.
You obviously never had a good one.
You never had one at all.
- Here's our guy.
- Gus Haverford, NYPD.
We need to talk to you about Sam Conway.
I swear to God, I didn't
know he was 15 years old.
Kid was messed up.
I had the Uber take him home.
Ask the driver.
Yeah, well, the driver says
that you had your hands all over him.
I was trying
to comfort the kid.
He was crying.
Well, what was he crying about?
How he didn't want to go home.
I thought he was afraid he'd get
busted by his parents for being drunk.
But?
He... seemed more
worried about his brother.
He was hysterical, rambling.
Something about a rabbit.
A rabbit?
Something did happen
on that hunting trip.
White people and rifles. Don't ask me.
He didn't want to shoot it.
The rabbit?
What else did he say about his brother?
That was it.
And if you have any more questions,
I'm calling my lawyer.
Is the brother involved?
It's not unheard of.
Talk to him
away from his parents.
Hey, Brian, can I talk
to you for a minute?
I have baseball practice
at Riverside Park.
The bus is leaving.
This won't take long.
I already told you guys everything.
I answered all your questions.
Can't you just leave my family alone?
No, we can't do that.
Why don't you just tell me what
happened on your hunting trip?
Nothing.
Yeah? That's not what I heard.
Sam seemed to be upset, okay,
to the point where he went
to a bar and got drunk.
You can't tell our parents about that.
I don't want him to get in trouble.
So you know he left
the apartment Sunday?
I... I was worried sick.
He came home, threw up
all over the bathroom.
I cleaned it up and put him to bed.
What happened to him, Brian?
Nothing, that's it.
Look, look, look, Brian, Brian,
man-to-man.
Come on, man. His
injuries, the bleeding.
That didn't happen from a fall
and that wasn't sex gone wrong.
Your brother was raped.
Do you know what that means?
My brother's not gay.
Are you?
What are you saying, that I...
that I raped my own little brother?
Did you?
You-you people are sick.
I did not... no.
What about the rabbit?
How'd you know about that?
Your brother didn't want to shoot.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Look, I can't miss practice.
I got to go, okay?
Fin talked to Brian.
- Now, he didn't admit anything.
- But he knows what happened.
Fin says yes.
So we call Child Protective Services,
open up an investigation.
Without Sam's cooperation, that's...
that's gonna be a very
difficult case, guys.
- I'm sorry.
- I'll make some calls.
There's got to be something.
Amanda, look,
whatever is... is going on with you,
you're either gonna tell me
or you're not gonna tell me,
and I don't want to invade your privacy
or ask you questions that,
you know, as your boss,
I shouldn't even be asking you, so...
I'm pregnant.
Wow.
Oh, congratulations.
- Or...
- Hey, the school just called.
Sam and Brian got into
some kind of fight.
What happened?
Brian went after Sam.
We tried to stop it.
Don't say a word, okay? Not a word!
Parents weren't answering. I
didn't know who else to call.
- Brian!
- Get away from him!
Get off of him!
Hey, Sam, you okay?
- You need to calm down.
- I didn't do it.
- He's being a baby.
- Calm down...
Hey!
♪
Ah...
I got him, Lieu!
Ow!
Oh, my God, I'm so sorry.
I didn't touch him.
- It's over! Stop it!
- I didn't touch him... please!
SVU portable, I need a
bus at 120th and Madison.
I'm so sorry. Try not to move.
Help is on the way right now.
Hang in there.
Help is on the way right now.
You're really gonna talk
to him without his parents?
He's 17, and he hasn't
asked for a lawyer.
You really think he's going to confess
to assaulting his younger brother?
I think that whatever is
going on in that family,
I think that Brian is drowning too.
Maybe he's looking for a lifeline.
Maybe I should call my dad.
You don't really want your dad
to hear what you're
about to say, do you?
I didn't think so.
Brian, we want to help you.
Yeah? He doesn't.
I do.
I know there's things you
don't want to talk about, right?
Things you can't talk about,
so let's start with the
things you can talk about.
Okay?
Look, I love Sam.
I would never really hurt him.
I see that.
He's your brother.
I'm gonna ask you about this
hunting trip this past weekend.
You and your dad go
hunting together a lot?
My dad, he shot a boar once.
It was charging him. He
could have been killed.
Wow.
Yeah, how about that rabbit?
He had a clear shot. He could have...
You're his big brother,
so you had to teach him a lesson, right?
Is that why you did to Sam what you did
and why you were beating up
on him, to keep him quiet?
My boys love each other.
Whatever they were fighting
about, brothers fight.
So I hear. I only have sisters.
Brian didn't do anything, okay?
Why was he attacking you, Sam?
Because to me, it looked
like he was either trying
to kill you or he was trying
to shut you up about something.
Sam's father is gonna join.
Is that okay with you, Sam?
Um, y-yeah, that's... that's fine.
Molly, you want to take a break?
I'm fine.
Okay, then. Let's...
I have something to tell you.
We have something to tell you.
My son came out to me this morning.
- What?
- He's gay.
He met a young man on the trip.
One thing led to another.
But we talked it out, me and Sam.
I'm good. He's good.
We're just going to keep talking,
maybe go to counseling
as a family, right, Sam?
Right.
But, Sam, there was bruising.
You were bleeding, so
whatever happened, it...
You told me you were drunk, son?
Um, yeah, um, I was drunk,
and, I mean, things got a little rough.
But I... I... I wasn't hurt or anything.
Who was this guy?
Um, I didn't get a name.
What'd he look like?
How old was he?
Where did this happen exactly?
My son doesn't need to be interrogated,
unless being homosexual is a crime.
I'm sure that's not what you're saying.
No, that's not, but what we
are saying is that your son
is too young to consent.
We've answered enough questions.
I'm taking my family home.
We can both agree that
that was a load of crap.
Sam was drunk, met
some guy in the woods?
The father's protecting his older son.
I already put a call into
Child Protective Services.
We got to get Sam out of that apartment.
We got to get him away from Brian.
I'll ask Family Court
about an emergency order.
I'll keep you posted.
Okay, but so now what?
We canvass friends, relatives?
See if anybody knows anything?
Something like this,
people don't want to know.
The mother knows,
Molly.
I can't talk to you.
My family will be home soon!
Where exactly is your family
right now, Mrs. Conway?
John took them out for pizza.
Like we have something to celebrate.
And you didn't go.
That's... that's a lot
of dinners to get through.
I mean, your boys won't
be out of the house
for, what, three, three
or four more years?
Pretending that everything's okay.
We'll get through this.
Yeah, well, your
husband, maybe, and Brian,
but... what about Sam?
I'm just curious how you're going to
get through looking into your son's eyes
at the dinner table
or when you're saying good night to him
knowing that he knows that
his mother didn't protect him,
his mother didn't keep him safe.
Please.
What can I do?
Tell us what happened.
That night... I heard
sounds from Sam's room.
I was listening at the
door. I could hear Sam.
He was...
whimpering like an animal.
It broke my heart.
Okay.
So, okay, what did you do?
I called Sam's name,
but there was no answer,
so I opened the door
and Sam, he was just... on the bed
and he...
was standing there zipping his pants.
Brian was.
My husband!
John just walked out
like nothing happened.
I asked Sam if he was okay,
and... he just yelled at me.
"Just leave me alone. Go!"
Later, in bed, John
said, "Don't say a word.
"Not a word.
Sam's fine. "
The next day, the boys went to school.
John left for work like
everything was fine.
I... I searched Sam's room.
I found underwear in his closet.
It was wet, and there was blood.
Where are those underwear?
John told me to throw
them into the washer.
I closed my eyes.
I shut my mouth.
I pretended I didn't see what I saw.
He's always... been tough on the boys.
He's strict, but this...
Molly, honey, we missed you!
We got pizza to go instead.
We can all eat together.
The hell is going on?
Mr. Conway, turn around.
- What's going on?
- You're under arrest.
- For what?
- The rape of your son.
♪
Let me tell you something
about my wife, pal.
She tends to agree with the
last person she spoke to.
You're saying that your wife
doesn't have a mind of her own.
I'm saying one of you bastards
put this garbage in her head.
The truth is, pal,
we never considered this.
Because it's sick!
- Calm down.
- Calm!
No one's saying you're...
Damn it, I can't even say the words!
Do you hunt, Mr. Stone?
That's irrelevant.
That's where you're wrong.
There's a moment when
you're hiding in the brush,
that deer picking berries off
a tree not 50 yards from you.
It's like... the world stops.
All that exists are two souls:
The hunter and the hunted.
You try not to breathe, but the deer,
he hears your heart beating,
the blood running through the fingers
folded around the trigger.
He looks up.
An instant of silence and slow time.
The first to flinch loses.
I have served in the military.
I've built a business up
from nothing by myself.
- That's enough, John.
- My point is,
I don't flinch.
They're Sam's.
They're the ones that he was wearing
the night you raped him.
And you should know
that they have your DNA on them.
Without corroboration,
they're meaningless.
And unlike my wife,
my boy has a mind of his own.
Let's go.
Toughest thing in all the
sports, hitting that curve.
When are you people
going to leave me alone?
Huh?
I need to concentrate.
You know, I used to play.
A long time ago, Little League.
Still a huge fan, though.
I love the perfection of this game.
Nice, double off the wall.
Look, you're wasting your time, okay?
My dad didn't do anything to me.
Sam, your mom said that...
I don't... she gets confused.
You know, hoops was my game.
In high school, I played the point.
Wasn't much of a shooter,
but, man, I could dish.
That wasn't good enough
for my old man, though.
He used to bust my balls
about passing up shots.
Wide open in the paint,
and I'd still pass to this pimply kid
at the top of the key who...
This kid could not hit
the ocean from a boat.
Truth is, half the time I did
it just to piss off my dad.
So your old man didn't
know squat about basketball.
More like he didn't
know anything about me.
And I knew even less about him.
Neither one of us had the guts to ask.
Well, me and my dad aren't like that.
What are you like?
We talk and stuff. I...
What do you talk about?
We...
Yeah, see, I figure that's
why they invented sports,
so dads would have something
to talk about with their sons.
But when they don't talk, Sam...
Let it go.
- Let it go.
- I can't.
I can't do that, Sam.
Your mother saw your
father in your room.
She told us.
♪
We were just talking!
I... I told you that.
Something you obviously
wouldn't know anything about.
Just because you had a screwed-up life
doesn't mean everyone did.
Hey, hey, Sam, Sam.
Look, my dad would never hurt me, okay?
And I'll never say that he did.
You know, the kid is...
is clearly traumatized.
Carisi says that he wants
to tell us what happened,
but he's just too afraid.
What kind of a world is this, Olivia?
I guess there has to be a hell
so we can recognize heaven.
"Suffer the little
children to come unto me. "
See, that always baffled me.
If children have to be
suffered to approach God,
what kind of a world has He created?
If they have to suffer
to be close to Him,
what sort of a heaven does He reside in?
Peter, if you ever want
or need to talk about Pam,
I'm here.
She's dead. What's to say?
We're going to trial
against John Conway.
Without a complaining witness.
The war you can't win is
the only one worth fighting.
A diphenylamine indicator
confirmed the presence
of two distinct DNA samples
on the victim's undergarment.
Can I assume that one of
the DNA samples was Sam's?
Yes, it was extracted from a blood cell.
And the other sample?
It was extracted from a semen sample.
We matched it to the
defendant, John Conway.
Are you aware, Mr. Fitzsimmons,
that that particular undergarment
was washed before you tested it?
Yes, but it's settled science
that under normal conditions,
a washing machine does not
destroy pre-existing DNA.
Do you know if any other clothing
was in the washing machine
along with people's exhibit number one?
Yes, I believe it contained garments
belonging to each of the family members.
In your professional
opinion, Mr. Fitzsimmons,
is it possible that the defendant's DNA
could have been transferred
during a wash cycle
to his son's underwear?
Yes, tests have shown that's possible.
Possible.
How about likely?
Under certain conditions.
Thank you.
The people call Molly Conway.
Objection, spousal privilege.
We'll take a recess.
Counsel, join me in my chambers.
It's textbook law.
You cannot compel the wife
- to testify against her husband.
- Nobody's compelling her.
Well, she wants to testify.
- With bells on.
- Oh, come on.
Reread the hornbook, Counselor.
The public policy behind this privilege
is to promote free
and open communication
between the spouses.
In other words, it goes both ways.
Doesn't matter what she wants.
He can compel her to
sit down and shut up.
Not when it involves a
crime against a child.
What crime? I don't see a crime.
Even the so-called
victim doesn't see one.
What, the child isn't going to testify?
He's scared of his father, Judge.
Or this entire thing is a crock.
Either way, allowing
Mrs. Conway to testify
is more prejudicial
than it is probative.
I'm sorry, Mr. Stone.
Without a complaining witness,
I'm forced to sustain
Mr. Karey's objection.
Mrs. Conway cannot testify
against her husband.
Glad we had this talk.
I just heard from the hospital.
The woman on the bike, the
one that Brian knocked over,
she's being released.
She okay?
Aside from being in a cast
for the next three months?
You know, Fin, I'm a mom and a cop.
That's it. That's who I am.
That's more than most.
And what happens when
I wake up in the morning
and I can't do one of those things?
Does that make me
half the person that
I was the night before?
Well, excuse me for being redundant,
but you're still more than most.
That's very nice of you to say.
But the fact of the
matter is, the truth is,
I got winded.
I was chasing that Conway kid and I...
I had to stop.
And now an innocent woman
who was riding her bike
has a broken leg because
of... because of me.
And no matter how much
you sucked for air,
you couldn't fill your lungs.
That's right.
And your legs felt like lead.
Bingo.
Welcome to the club.
Liv, no one expects
you to be Wonder Woman.
I do.
Yeah, well, and I used
to think I was Superman.
So what happened?
Life.
Time.
I mean, what you gonna do?
♪
Hey, you want some company?
- Help yourself.
- I thought you only drank beer
- during a trial.
- Well, this one's
basically over. You had to know
that judge wasn't going to let a wife
testify against her husband.
I never underestimate the
bias or ignorance of judges.
And we had to get an
honest and intelligent one.
How bad does that suck?
Want to tell me about Sam?
Well, he's terrified of his old man
and he's embarrassed by him.
It's par for the course.
Tell me about it.
You know, if I can get Sam on the stand
and talk to him man-to-man...
Yeah, but without his
mother's testimony,
Karey's got no reason to call him.
That ship has sailed.
Maybe I can grab the line
before it's too far from shore.
Nah, I got this one. Go home.
How much is this gonna hurt me?
How long has he been here?
The people call Molly Conway.
What?
Did someone hit the replay
button when I wasn't looking?
I'm too young for a senior moment.
I know I ruled on this
yesterday, Mr. Stone.
Circumstances have changed, Your Honor.
What, they got a quickie divorce?
Not that it would matter.
Because Mrs. Conway
tampered with evidence
and misled the police,
she was acting so as to advance
a mutual criminal conspiracy.
You would have to charge her.
I've charged her with being
an unindicted co-conspirator.
Their communications
are no longer protected.
Very clever.
Mrs. Conway can testify.
Your Honor.
And what did you see, Mrs. Conway?
Sam rushing to sit up in his bed.
His face was white as a ghost.
There were tears
running down his cheeks.
Anything else?
My husband... was standing over the bed.
It looked like he was
fastening his belt.
Did he say anything to you?
Later, in bed, he told me
not to tell anyone what I saw.
Hmm.
That's a story, Mrs. Conway.
It's true.
Did you tell it to the nurse
when you were called to school?
No.
- To the principal?
- No.
To the police, the first
time you spoke with them?
It all happened so
quickly. I needed time.
To formulate such a convincing tale.
- Object...
- Withdrawn.
Did you tell this story to the police
the first time that you spoke to them?
No.
Second time?
I just wanted it to go away.
Did you tell them the
second time you saw them,
Mrs. Conway?
No.
In fact, you never told the
police that John raped Sam,
right?
I just told them what I saw.
So you don't know what
actually happened in that room?
No.
Thank you.
I love her, I... I do,
but sometimes, my mom, she just...
she doesn't know what she's saying.
Me and Dad, we were just talking.
About what?
He was... I don't know.
He was just trying to console me.
You know, I was feeling bad
'cause I couldn't shoot this rabbit,
and, um, and he was just
telling me that it's okay,
that some guys just
aren't cut out for hunting.
Hmm.
Did he assault you, Sam?
No, no, that's... that's ridiculous.
So how did you get the injuries
that Mr. Stone has repeatedly called
indications of rape?
Do I have to?
Yeah, you do.
Um, so I met a man.
And... it was the first time.
I wanted him to, you know.
It wasn't rape or anything like that.
Thank you.
What was that guy's name?
Um, I don't remember.
That's odd.
Your first time, I think
you'd remember everything.
Well, nobody cares what
you think, Counselor.
That's an objection?
Sustained.
Tell me about the hunting trip.
Okay, what about it?
Whatever you remember.
Well, I remember it all.
Right, because it was your first time.
The first time you went out
in the woods with your dad,
your brother, and a rifle.
It was a big deal,
kind of like the first time you had sex.
- Objection.
- My point is...
the witness remembers everything
about his first hunting trip
and nothing about the
first time he had sex,
and they happened on the same weekend.
It's no big deal, okay?
Everyone's making it out to
be something that it's not.
It's just sex. Everyone does it.
Not with their father, they don't.
Objection!
That's not just sex, Sam. It's rape.
- Your Honor.
- That's enough.
Mr. Stone.
Was going hunting with
your dad a big deal?
To Dad, it was.
But not to you.
Well... Dad killed a
moose when he was 12.
Brian killed a deer when he was 15.
In your family, it's a rite of passage.
Yeah, it's how you become a man.
How did you feel before you
tried to shoot the rabbit?
In that moment when time stands still
and it was just you, the
rabbit, and your rifle?
Um...
I... I don't... I don't know.
Were you scared?
Yeah, maybe, a little.
Of a tiny rabbit?
No, no, of course not.
What were you scared of?
Were you scared of Brian?
There was only one
other person there, Sam.
Were you scared of your dad?
He put that rifle in
your hand, didn't he?
You wanted to make him proud.
Isn't that right?
There's no need to be embarrassed.
That's all any son wants.
I just wanted to be a man.
Like him?
I guess.
But you were scared.
A man who gets scared is
hardly a man, isn't that right?
A man who gets scared,
a boy who gets scared,
he's a fraud.
He needs to be punished, be humiliated.
And that's why your
father raped you, right?
- Objection.
- Overruled.
No, no, no!
My father would never do...
my father would never do that.
He would never.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
How do you find?
On the sole count
of the indictment of
rape in the first degree,
we find the defendant not guilty.
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.
NYPD, stop!
Stop!
Foot pursuit, west 136
and 12th headed south.
Lieutenant, you okay?
Go, go, go.
Don't make me shoot you.
Fine, I raped that bitch!
Get on the ground right now!
You okay?
I'm fine.
What are you doing, handsome?
You got any more of that Prosecco?
Yeah, whatever you want.
You need protein.
I'll make an omelet. You got eggs?
No eggs. Just Prosecco.
Did someone say eggs?
No eggs.
Oh, thank God.
I'm a vegan.
All right. Sorry, Amanda.
It's all right. You're on call.
As of now, I'm off duty.
Now, you wanted to tell me something?
Wait, no, wait, first,
let me put this out there:
I know that I hurt you,
and that business with the escorts...
- Hookers.
- Right.
On that, I can assure
you that I've changed.
Losing you was a wake-up call.
If you give me a second chance,
there's nothing I won't do to
show you that I deserve that,
that you deserve that.
Mm.
I'll be right back.
♪
Come on, Sam, do it.
- Come on.
- I can't, I can't.
- I can't.
- Yes, you can.
Yes, you can. Come on.
- It's right there.
- I'm trying, okay?
Do it. Shoot.
Just shoot.
You know, you suck. I'll do it myself.
No, I got it. I got it.
Oh, God.
- Come on, hey.
- No, I can...
Finish it, come on.
Do it, pussy.
Do it. Pull the trigger.
I can't.
He can't do it. He choked.
Oh, God, I'm sorry, Dad.
Not me you should be apologizing to.
This animal is suffering.
You're out of your misery now.
I'm sorry, Dad.
I'm really sorry.
It's gonna be okay, son.
You just have to learn, and you will.
♪
Sam Conway, 15.
His gym coach saw blood on
the backside of his shorts.
What did Sam say?
He claims he fell, but the blood?
Seemed like a mandatory
reporting situation.
Hope I'm wrong.
No, no, you did the
right thing calling us.
Where is Sam now?
Waiting for his mother
in the nurse's office.
He's with his brother, Brian.
My brother wants to go home.
We need to wait for your mom.
You're Brian, right?
Okay, I'm Detective Rollins.
This is Detective Carisi.
Cops? He didn't do anything wrong.
No one's saying he did.
Your brother's not in any trouble, okay?
Just why don't you
tell me what you know.
Hey, Sam.
Could you give us a second, please?
Hey. I'm Sonny.
Hi, um... I just, um, want to go home.
You will, you will.
It's just, uh, there's a lot of people
who're worried about you.
Yeah.
I mean, I fell, okay?
I ju... I'm fine.
This is embarrassing for Sam, for you.
I don't care. I'll kick
anybody's ass who looks sideways.
Brian, what's going on?
Mom, Sam got hurt, but he's fine.
Okay, we're not sure
what we're looking at.
Sam?
Hey, Mom. Mom, I'm okay.
I'm okay.
We need to take him to the hospital.
Of course.
I'll call my husband and
have him meet us there.
Okay.
♪
- sync and corrections by Zac -
So we're looking at a sexual assault.
Yeah, the exam indicated
anal penetration,
most likely not by an object.
He was raped.
No semen but bleeding,
tearing, bruising,
occurring within the last 48 hours
consistent with assault or rough sex.
Well, he's 15, so it's not consensual.
Yeah, well, he's... uh,
he's 15 and he's not talking,
so Carisi's in there
giving it another try.
Family any help?
They want to believe he fell.
Okay, so, uh, go back to the school,
see if it was another
student, a teacher, a coach.
On it, Liv.
Mr. and Mrs. Conway,
I'm Lieutenant Benson.
How's my son? I want to see him.
He's speaking with one of
my detectives right now.
I gave them permission, honey.
Of course. What can we do, Lieutenant?
You know, if you could walk
me through his past few days,
where he went, who he's been with.
Just us. Just his family.
Didn't go anywhere weird.
Didn't talk to any strangers.
No, no, and no.
Okay, Sam, well, I
talked to your doctor,
and he told me that those injuries
did not come from a fall.
Now, listen, whatever you tell me,
there's no reason to be embarrassed.
I don't have anything to say.
Just give me a name, Sam.
- Who was he?
- I'm fine with this, okay?
I needed this to happen.
You needed what to happen?
It's my business.
Okay, okay, listen, you're right.
It's your body, it's your business,
but if you ever change your mind
and you decide that you're not fine,
I want you to give me a call
anytime, okay?
Dad.
I'm here. It's all right.
Thanks for taking care of my boy.
Hey, Sam, take care of yourself.
We talked to Sam's friends,
teachers, teammates, and coaches.
Yeah, he's well-liked.
He gets good grades.
He's on the travel baseball team.
He volunteers at an animal shelter.
No history of being bullied,
and his teachers, there's
no red flags there.
Okay, what about the family?
John owns a beverage
distribution company.
Molly is a stay-at-home mom.
They've been married 20 years.
No history of DV.
Neighbors got nothing but
good things to say about them.
- And the brother, Brian.
- He's been in detention
a few times, fights mostly.
But everybody we talk to
say he and Sam are close.
Father said that they
were together all weekend.
Is there any chance
that Sam ventured off
by himself at any point?
I don't know. He was with Brian and John
in Steuben County on a hunting trip.
Everything's by the books:
Licenses, registered rifles.
So what the hell are we looking at?
Something that Sam said
to me in the hospital,
that whatever this was, he said
that he needed it to happen.
So maybe he was experimenting sexually.
It's possible that he had an encounter
with a predator upstate.
I mean, it's not uncommon for
a teenage boy to wander off.
And I kept my eye on the ball and swung.
It was almost a home run.
Well, almost a home run
is pretty spectacular.
Yeah, I wish you were there.
Oh, honey, I wish I was there too.
- But next time.
- Promise?
I promise.
Now, go to sleep. I love you, okay?
Love you too.
Bye, Mom.
Good night.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Carisi said that Sam has a girlfriend.
She's on her way to the station now.
A girlfriend that we didn't know about.
I don't know.
Oh, Tyree's wife made
her banana bread again.
Hey, Rollins, is there,
uh, is there something...
There's the girlfriend now.
I'm not really his
girlfriend girlfriend.
So you're a girl and you're a friend.
You're just not sexually involved.
Oh, God, no.
I mean, we tried once,
but he just... he couldn't.
Is he okay?
You haven't talked to
Sam today, have you?
- No, I'm pissed off at him.
- Why?
We were supposed to study last night,
but he called me. He sounded drunk.
I think he was at some bar.
What did he say?
He was laughing or
crying, I couldn't tell.
He said, "I became a man tonight. "
Whatever that means.
♪
I don't recognize him.
Yeah, we know he was
here on Sunday night.
We traced a call from his cell.
You didn't check his ID.
All right, we don't care.
But this kid might have been assaulted.
- Wow, uh...
- Was he with anybody?
I think he was with his father.
His father?
Yeah, an older guy. 50s?
He had his arm around
this kid's shoulder.
Is that him?
No, this guy had glasses, white hair.
Did you get a name?
Did he pay with a credit card?
No, cash.
But I'm pretty sure
they left in an Uber.
Gus Haverford, he's 55,
he's a senior VP at Morgan Stanley.
His office says he does
noon hot yoga every day.
Nice life, long lunches, working out.
He probably gets a massage after.
Massages, I don't know.
Seems like a waste of time to me.
You obviously never had a good one.
You never had one at all.
- Here's our guy.
- Gus Haverford, NYPD.
We need to talk to you about Sam Conway.
I swear to God, I didn't
know he was 15 years old.
Kid was messed up.
I had the Uber take him home.
Ask the driver.
Yeah, well, the driver says
that you had your hands all over him.
I was trying
to comfort the kid.
He was crying.
Well, what was he crying about?
How he didn't want to go home.
I thought he was afraid he'd get
busted by his parents for being drunk.
But?
He... seemed more
worried about his brother.
He was hysterical, rambling.
Something about a rabbit.
A rabbit?
Something did happen
on that hunting trip.
White people and rifles. Don't ask me.
He didn't want to shoot it.
The rabbit?
What else did he say about his brother?
That was it.
And if you have any more questions,
I'm calling my lawyer.
Is the brother involved?
It's not unheard of.
Talk to him
away from his parents.
Hey, Brian, can I talk
to you for a minute?
I have baseball practice
at Riverside Park.
The bus is leaving.
This won't take long.
I already told you guys everything.
I answered all your questions.
Can't you just leave my family alone?
No, we can't do that.
Why don't you just tell me what
happened on your hunting trip?
Nothing.
Yeah? That's not what I heard.
Sam seemed to be upset, okay,
to the point where he went
to a bar and got drunk.
You can't tell our parents about that.
I don't want him to get in trouble.
So you know he left
the apartment Sunday?
I... I was worried sick.
He came home, threw up
all over the bathroom.
I cleaned it up and put him to bed.
What happened to him, Brian?
Nothing, that's it.
Look, look, look, Brian, Brian,
man-to-man.
Come on, man. His
injuries, the bleeding.
That didn't happen from a fall
and that wasn't sex gone wrong.
Your brother was raped.
Do you know what that means?
My brother's not gay.
Are you?
What are you saying, that I...
that I raped my own little brother?
Did you?
You-you people are sick.
I did not... no.
What about the rabbit?
How'd you know about that?
Your brother didn't want to shoot.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Look, I can't miss practice.
I got to go, okay?
Fin talked to Brian.
- Now, he didn't admit anything.
- But he knows what happened.
Fin says yes.
So we call Child Protective Services,
open up an investigation.
Without Sam's cooperation, that's...
that's gonna be a very
difficult case, guys.
- I'm sorry.
- I'll make some calls.
There's got to be something.
Amanda, look,
whatever is... is going on with you,
you're either gonna tell me
or you're not gonna tell me,
and I don't want to invade your privacy
or ask you questions that,
you know, as your boss,
I shouldn't even be asking you, so...
I'm pregnant.
Wow.
Oh, congratulations.
- Or...
- Hey, the school just called.
Sam and Brian got into
some kind of fight.
What happened?
Brian went after Sam.
We tried to stop it.
Don't say a word, okay? Not a word!
Parents weren't answering. I
didn't know who else to call.
- Brian!
- Get away from him!
Get off of him!
Hey, Sam, you okay?
- You need to calm down.
- I didn't do it.
- He's being a baby.
- Calm down...
Hey!
♪
Ah...
I got him, Lieu!
Ow!
Oh, my God, I'm so sorry.
I didn't touch him.
- It's over! Stop it!
- I didn't touch him... please!
SVU portable, I need a
bus at 120th and Madison.
I'm so sorry. Try not to move.
Help is on the way right now.
Hang in there.
Help is on the way right now.
You're really gonna talk
to him without his parents?
He's 17, and he hasn't
asked for a lawyer.
You really think he's going to confess
to assaulting his younger brother?
I think that whatever is
going on in that family,
I think that Brian is drowning too.
Maybe he's looking for a lifeline.
Maybe I should call my dad.
You don't really want your dad
to hear what you're
about to say, do you?
I didn't think so.
Brian, we want to help you.
Yeah? He doesn't.
I do.
I know there's things you
don't want to talk about, right?
Things you can't talk about,
so let's start with the
things you can talk about.
Okay?
Look, I love Sam.
I would never really hurt him.
I see that.
He's your brother.
I'm gonna ask you about this
hunting trip this past weekend.
You and your dad go
hunting together a lot?
My dad, he shot a boar once.
It was charging him. He
could have been killed.
Wow.
Yeah, how about that rabbit?
He had a clear shot. He could have...
You're his big brother,
so you had to teach him a lesson, right?
Is that why you did to Sam what you did
and why you were beating up
on him, to keep him quiet?
My boys love each other.
Whatever they were fighting
about, brothers fight.
So I hear. I only have sisters.
Brian didn't do anything, okay?
Why was he attacking you, Sam?
Because to me, it looked
like he was either trying
to kill you or he was trying
to shut you up about something.
Sam's father is gonna join.
Is that okay with you, Sam?
Um, y-yeah, that's... that's fine.
Molly, you want to take a break?
I'm fine.
Okay, then. Let's...
I have something to tell you.
We have something to tell you.
My son came out to me this morning.
- What?
- He's gay.
He met a young man on the trip.
One thing led to another.
But we talked it out, me and Sam.
I'm good. He's good.
We're just going to keep talking,
maybe go to counseling
as a family, right, Sam?
Right.
But, Sam, there was bruising.
You were bleeding, so
whatever happened, it...
You told me you were drunk, son?
Um, yeah, um, I was drunk,
and, I mean, things got a little rough.
But I... I... I wasn't hurt or anything.
Who was this guy?
Um, I didn't get a name.
What'd he look like?
How old was he?
Where did this happen exactly?
My son doesn't need to be interrogated,
unless being homosexual is a crime.
I'm sure that's not what you're saying.
No, that's not, but what we
are saying is that your son
is too young to consent.
We've answered enough questions.
I'm taking my family home.
We can both agree that
that was a load of crap.
Sam was drunk, met
some guy in the woods?
The father's protecting his older son.
I already put a call into
Child Protective Services.
We got to get Sam out of that apartment.
We got to get him away from Brian.
I'll ask Family Court
about an emergency order.
I'll keep you posted.
Okay, but so now what?
We canvass friends, relatives?
See if anybody knows anything?
Something like this,
people don't want to know.
The mother knows,
Molly.
I can't talk to you.
My family will be home soon!
Where exactly is your family
right now, Mrs. Conway?
John took them out for pizza.
Like we have something to celebrate.
And you didn't go.
That's... that's a lot
of dinners to get through.
I mean, your boys won't
be out of the house
for, what, three, three
or four more years?
Pretending that everything's okay.
We'll get through this.
Yeah, well, your
husband, maybe, and Brian,
but... what about Sam?
I'm just curious how you're going to
get through looking into your son's eyes
at the dinner table
or when you're saying good night to him
knowing that he knows that
his mother didn't protect him,
his mother didn't keep him safe.
Please.
What can I do?
Tell us what happened.
That night... I heard
sounds from Sam's room.
I was listening at the
door. I could hear Sam.
He was...
whimpering like an animal.
It broke my heart.
Okay.
So, okay, what did you do?
I called Sam's name,
but there was no answer,
so I opened the door
and Sam, he was just... on the bed
and he...
was standing there zipping his pants.
Brian was.
My husband!
John just walked out
like nothing happened.
I asked Sam if he was okay,
and... he just yelled at me.
"Just leave me alone. Go!"
Later, in bed, John
said, "Don't say a word.
"Not a word.
Sam's fine. "
The next day, the boys went to school.
John left for work like
everything was fine.
I... I searched Sam's room.
I found underwear in his closet.
It was wet, and there was blood.
Where are those underwear?
John told me to throw
them into the washer.
I closed my eyes.
I shut my mouth.
I pretended I didn't see what I saw.
He's always... been tough on the boys.
He's strict, but this...
Molly, honey, we missed you!
We got pizza to go instead.
We can all eat together.
The hell is going on?
Mr. Conway, turn around.
- What's going on?
- You're under arrest.
- For what?
- The rape of your son.
♪
Let me tell you something
about my wife, pal.
She tends to agree with the
last person she spoke to.
You're saying that your wife
doesn't have a mind of her own.
I'm saying one of you bastards
put this garbage in her head.
The truth is, pal,
we never considered this.
Because it's sick!
- Calm down.
- Calm!
No one's saying you're...
Damn it, I can't even say the words!
Do you hunt, Mr. Stone?
That's irrelevant.
That's where you're wrong.
There's a moment when
you're hiding in the brush,
that deer picking berries off
a tree not 50 yards from you.
It's like... the world stops.
All that exists are two souls:
The hunter and the hunted.
You try not to breathe, but the deer,
he hears your heart beating,
the blood running through the fingers
folded around the trigger.
He looks up.
An instant of silence and slow time.
The first to flinch loses.
I have served in the military.
I've built a business up
from nothing by myself.
- That's enough, John.
- My point is,
I don't flinch.
They're Sam's.
They're the ones that he was wearing
the night you raped him.
And you should know
that they have your DNA on them.
Without corroboration,
they're meaningless.
And unlike my wife,
my boy has a mind of his own.
Let's go.
Toughest thing in all the
sports, hitting that curve.
When are you people
going to leave me alone?
Huh?
I need to concentrate.
You know, I used to play.
A long time ago, Little League.
Still a huge fan, though.
I love the perfection of this game.
Nice, double off the wall.
Look, you're wasting your time, okay?
My dad didn't do anything to me.
Sam, your mom said that...
I don't... she gets confused.
You know, hoops was my game.
In high school, I played the point.
Wasn't much of a shooter,
but, man, I could dish.
That wasn't good enough
for my old man, though.
He used to bust my balls
about passing up shots.
Wide open in the paint,
and I'd still pass to this pimply kid
at the top of the key who...
This kid could not hit
the ocean from a boat.
Truth is, half the time I did
it just to piss off my dad.
So your old man didn't
know squat about basketball.
More like he didn't
know anything about me.
And I knew even less about him.
Neither one of us had the guts to ask.
Well, me and my dad aren't like that.
What are you like?
We talk and stuff. I...
What do you talk about?
We...
Yeah, see, I figure that's
why they invented sports,
so dads would have something
to talk about with their sons.
But when they don't talk, Sam...
Let it go.
- Let it go.
- I can't.
I can't do that, Sam.
Your mother saw your
father in your room.
She told us.
♪
We were just talking!
I... I told you that.
Something you obviously
wouldn't know anything about.
Just because you had a screwed-up life
doesn't mean everyone did.
Hey, hey, Sam, Sam.
Look, my dad would never hurt me, okay?
And I'll never say that he did.
You know, the kid is...
is clearly traumatized.
Carisi says that he wants
to tell us what happened,
but he's just too afraid.
What kind of a world is this, Olivia?
I guess there has to be a hell
so we can recognize heaven.
"Suffer the little
children to come unto me. "
See, that always baffled me.
If children have to be
suffered to approach God,
what kind of a world has He created?
If they have to suffer
to be close to Him,
what sort of a heaven does He reside in?
Peter, if you ever want
or need to talk about Pam,
I'm here.
She's dead. What's to say?
We're going to trial
against John Conway.
Without a complaining witness.
The war you can't win is
the only one worth fighting.
A diphenylamine indicator
confirmed the presence
of two distinct DNA samples
on the victim's undergarment.
Can I assume that one of
the DNA samples was Sam's?
Yes, it was extracted from a blood cell.
And the other sample?
It was extracted from a semen sample.
We matched it to the
defendant, John Conway.
Are you aware, Mr. Fitzsimmons,
that that particular undergarment
was washed before you tested it?
Yes, but it's settled science
that under normal conditions,
a washing machine does not
destroy pre-existing DNA.
Do you know if any other clothing
was in the washing machine
along with people's exhibit number one?
Yes, I believe it contained garments
belonging to each of the family members.
In your professional
opinion, Mr. Fitzsimmons,
is it possible that the defendant's DNA
could have been transferred
during a wash cycle
to his son's underwear?
Yes, tests have shown that's possible.
Possible.
How about likely?
Under certain conditions.
Thank you.
The people call Molly Conway.
Objection, spousal privilege.
We'll take a recess.
Counsel, join me in my chambers.
It's textbook law.
You cannot compel the wife
- to testify against her husband.
- Nobody's compelling her.
Well, she wants to testify.
- With bells on.
- Oh, come on.
Reread the hornbook, Counselor.
The public policy behind this privilege
is to promote free
and open communication
between the spouses.
In other words, it goes both ways.
Doesn't matter what she wants.
He can compel her to
sit down and shut up.
Not when it involves a
crime against a child.
What crime? I don't see a crime.
Even the so-called
victim doesn't see one.
What, the child isn't going to testify?
He's scared of his father, Judge.
Or this entire thing is a crock.
Either way, allowing
Mrs. Conway to testify
is more prejudicial
than it is probative.
I'm sorry, Mr. Stone.
Without a complaining witness,
I'm forced to sustain
Mr. Karey's objection.
Mrs. Conway cannot testify
against her husband.
Glad we had this talk.
I just heard from the hospital.
The woman on the bike, the
one that Brian knocked over,
she's being released.
She okay?
Aside from being in a cast
for the next three months?
You know, Fin, I'm a mom and a cop.
That's it. That's who I am.
That's more than most.
And what happens when
I wake up in the morning
and I can't do one of those things?
Does that make me
half the person that
I was the night before?
Well, excuse me for being redundant,
but you're still more than most.
That's very nice of you to say.
But the fact of the
matter is, the truth is,
I got winded.
I was chasing that Conway kid and I...
I had to stop.
And now an innocent woman
who was riding her bike
has a broken leg because
of... because of me.
And no matter how much
you sucked for air,
you couldn't fill your lungs.
That's right.
And your legs felt like lead.
Bingo.
Welcome to the club.
Liv, no one expects
you to be Wonder Woman.
I do.
Yeah, well, and I used
to think I was Superman.
So what happened?
Life.
Time.
I mean, what you gonna do?
♪
Hey, you want some company?
- Help yourself.
- I thought you only drank beer
- during a trial.
- Well, this one's
basically over. You had to know
that judge wasn't going to let a wife
testify against her husband.
I never underestimate the
bias or ignorance of judges.
And we had to get an
honest and intelligent one.
How bad does that suck?
Want to tell me about Sam?
Well, he's terrified of his old man
and he's embarrassed by him.
It's par for the course.
Tell me about it.
You know, if I can get Sam on the stand
and talk to him man-to-man...
Yeah, but without his
mother's testimony,
Karey's got no reason to call him.
That ship has sailed.
Maybe I can grab the line
before it's too far from shore.
Nah, I got this one. Go home.
How much is this gonna hurt me?
How long has he been here?
The people call Molly Conway.
What?
Did someone hit the replay
button when I wasn't looking?
I'm too young for a senior moment.
I know I ruled on this
yesterday, Mr. Stone.
Circumstances have changed, Your Honor.
What, they got a quickie divorce?
Not that it would matter.
Because Mrs. Conway
tampered with evidence
and misled the police,
she was acting so as to advance
a mutual criminal conspiracy.
You would have to charge her.
I've charged her with being
an unindicted co-conspirator.
Their communications
are no longer protected.
Very clever.
Mrs. Conway can testify.
Your Honor.
And what did you see, Mrs. Conway?
Sam rushing to sit up in his bed.
His face was white as a ghost.
There were tears
running down his cheeks.
Anything else?
My husband... was standing over the bed.
It looked like he was
fastening his belt.
Did he say anything to you?
Later, in bed, he told me
not to tell anyone what I saw.
Hmm.
That's a story, Mrs. Conway.
It's true.
Did you tell it to the nurse
when you were called to school?
No.
- To the principal?
- No.
To the police, the first
time you spoke with them?
It all happened so
quickly. I needed time.
To formulate such a convincing tale.
- Object...
- Withdrawn.
Did you tell this story to the police
the first time that you spoke to them?
No.
Second time?
I just wanted it to go away.
Did you tell them the
second time you saw them,
Mrs. Conway?
No.
In fact, you never told the
police that John raped Sam,
right?
I just told them what I saw.
So you don't know what
actually happened in that room?
No.
Thank you.
I love her, I... I do,
but sometimes, my mom, she just...
she doesn't know what she's saying.
Me and Dad, we were just talking.
About what?
He was... I don't know.
He was just trying to console me.
You know, I was feeling bad
'cause I couldn't shoot this rabbit,
and, um, and he was just
telling me that it's okay,
that some guys just
aren't cut out for hunting.
Hmm.
Did he assault you, Sam?
No, no, that's... that's ridiculous.
So how did you get the injuries
that Mr. Stone has repeatedly called
indications of rape?
Do I have to?
Yeah, you do.
Um, so I met a man.
And... it was the first time.
I wanted him to, you know.
It wasn't rape or anything like that.
Thank you.
What was that guy's name?
Um, I don't remember.
That's odd.
Your first time, I think
you'd remember everything.
Well, nobody cares what
you think, Counselor.
That's an objection?
Sustained.
Tell me about the hunting trip.
Okay, what about it?
Whatever you remember.
Well, I remember it all.
Right, because it was your first time.
The first time you went out
in the woods with your dad,
your brother, and a rifle.
It was a big deal,
kind of like the first time you had sex.
- Objection.
- My point is...
the witness remembers everything
about his first hunting trip
and nothing about the
first time he had sex,
and they happened on the same weekend.
It's no big deal, okay?
Everyone's making it out to
be something that it's not.
It's just sex. Everyone does it.
Not with their father, they don't.
Objection!
That's not just sex, Sam. It's rape.
- Your Honor.
- That's enough.
Mr. Stone.
Was going hunting with
your dad a big deal?
To Dad, it was.
But not to you.
Well... Dad killed a
moose when he was 12.
Brian killed a deer when he was 15.
In your family, it's a rite of passage.
Yeah, it's how you become a man.
How did you feel before you
tried to shoot the rabbit?
In that moment when time stands still
and it was just you, the
rabbit, and your rifle?
Um...
I... I don't... I don't know.
Were you scared?
Yeah, maybe, a little.
Of a tiny rabbit?
No, no, of course not.
What were you scared of?
Were you scared of Brian?
There was only one
other person there, Sam.
Were you scared of your dad?
He put that rifle in
your hand, didn't he?
You wanted to make him proud.
Isn't that right?
There's no need to be embarrassed.
That's all any son wants.
I just wanted to be a man.
Like him?
I guess.
But you were scared.
A man who gets scared is
hardly a man, isn't that right?
A man who gets scared,
a boy who gets scared,
he's a fraud.
He needs to be punished, be humiliated.
And that's why your
father raped you, right?
- Objection.
- Overruled.
No, no, no!
My father would never do...
my father would never do that.
He would never.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
How do you find?
On the sole count
of the indictment of
rape in the first degree,
we find the defendant not guilty.