Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–…): Season 24, Episode 16 - The Presence of Absence - full transcript
An internet dating site becomes the source of terror for a young widow; Muncy struggles with Velasco's absence.
- 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.
Mm.
Oh, hey, Zoe, check
out those two guys.
Mr. Wellness and his sidekick.
- The King of Kale.
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, underneath their
hemp shirts lurk the abs
of two very
well-practiced yoginis.
- Mm, I don't want my pillows
to smell like
patchouli tomorrow.
-Okay.
Okay, uh...
ooh, how about Baron Von
Broker sitting by himself?
- Jenna, he has a
ring on his finger.
- Don't sabotage yourself
with morality, Zoe.
I'm trying to get you laid.
- What?
What if somebody tried
to pick up your husband?
- Oh, I'd be
flattered for Richard.
Ever since the kid was
born, his testosterone
has dropped like the Dow.
- Maybe I just start
seeing my shrink again.
- No, she has had
two years to fix you.
You are my project now.
Oh, what about him?
- The sad dad?
- Yeah.
- No. He's probably divorced.
No ring.
- He's normal.
The male equivalent
of a Nissan Altima.
Just your type.
- I hate this.
This isn't what I want.
- Look, I get it.
You miss Brian.
- I loved him.
- We all loved him.
Okay?
Okay, look, listen.
Soho on a Thursday
night is like the ocean.
What you need is an aquarium.
- A dating app?
- Yeah.
- Oh, I don't know. I
haven't done that before.
- Neither have I.
- You are married.
- Yeah, but I would
walk through the valley
of the shadow of Seth with you.
Well, this guy owns
his own helicopter.
- Really? Jeez.
- Oh, isn't this that chef from
that cooking show you watch?
You should reply.
- On your profile?
I'm pretty sure that's
not how this works.
- It's time you were
touched by something
that doesn't require batteries.
- Jenna, he matched with you,
a blonde with nonexistent pores.
What do you think's gonna
happen when I show up?
- What I need is more wine.
- No.
I'm tired.
I just wanna go to bed.
This all just reminds
me of college,
always buying three tickets
to every movie, one for you,
one for Richard...
- And poor Zoe.
- Mm-hmm.
- It just takes time.
- I already had mine with Brian.
Maybe that's all the
happiness I deserve.
- He's cute. You matched?
- He's smart, well read.
- Klaus Darcy,
educated in Sweden.
- I can almost hear his
accent through the texts.
- Oh, Zoe, all
these DMs already?
- What?
We've been texting a whole week.
- Girl, you're
being love bombed.
- Better than being bombed,
like when I was
living at your place.
You should calm down
with the Sancerre.
- "Klaus: where
are you right now?
"You: doing laundry.
Stop what you're
doing and touch yourself"?
Zoe!
- What?
Brian and I used to
get a little freaky
from time to time.
It's nobody's business.
- Everything is my business.
- Are you telling
me you and Richard
never get a little freaky?
- Okay, you stayed at
our place for a year
after Brian passed.
How many times did you
hear the bed creak?
What if he's married?
- I'm okay with that.
- You're not actually planning
on meeting this guy, are you?
- If I can goad him into it.
Can't you just be happy for me?
- I am. I am.
I'm just... I'm a little...
- Jealous?
- Mind if I read one more?
"The satisfaction for
me comes from knowing
you do exactly what I ask."
Lucky for you, I like
having my boundaries pushed.
Done.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
- Captain. Captain.
- Yeah?
- Velasco's motorcycle
wasn't downstairs
for the third day in a row.
- That's good
detective work, Muncy,
but I told you that I gave
him a couple of days off.
- Well, can I call him?
- No.
- Just to check in?
- No.
- Come on. How is that fair?
- Muncy, most of
life is not fair.
Velasco is still above ground,
unlike the father and son
whose murders he witnessed.
Now, I know that Velasco
wasn't a cop at the time,
but he is now.
So it falls on him to bring
his friend to justice.
- Captain.
Sorry for the intrusion.
- Oh, you don't have to stand.
No need for fanfare.
- I got a message last night?
Said I'm temporarily transferred
to Manhattan Special Victims.
Authority, Chief McGrath?
- And?
- I didn't even think
he knew who I was.
- Well, he does now.
How do you feel about that?
One thing that inspires me,
that has driven me all
my life, is excellence.
- This isn't the
Bronx, you are aware?
- Your metrics
speak for themself.
Only squad with a
90% closure rate.
But why not aim for 100?
Am I right?
- I will take that as a yes.
- She didn't shake my
hand when I first started.
- No offense, but you were
brought here by way of Duarte.
Lucky she didn't
throw up a gang sign.
- Sarge, what do I do?
I'm not supposed to answer.
- Muncy, work is about
overcoming problems,
problems you wouldn't have
if you were unemployed.
So how about we do our
jobs before we lose them.
- Hey, Sarge.
- Hi. I'm Detective Muncy.
This is Sergeant Tutuola.
- Can we help you?
- I have her clothes
here, the lingerie, too,
everything she wore last night.
- I think I was raped.
- Klaus Darcy?
- I met him online.
Started DMing me a month ago.
He was handsome.
To be honest, I
was pretty shocked
he even swiped right on me.
- Why is that?
- Jenna usually gets
all the attention.
- Okay, why don't you
tell us what happened?
- Our chat became kinky.
- Kinky how?
- There's nothing
we haven't heard.
- We did BDSM stuff.
- Any of it ever cross a line?
- Not at first.
It started with him giving me
little fun orders over text,
uh, making me call him sir.
He sent me a belly chain
to wear under my clothes.
We had an agreement that when
I had it on, he owned me.
- Where would you meet?
- We only ever met
at hotels for safety.
- Okay.
Describe an average encounter.
- He got off on me
blindfolding myself
with my dead husband's neckties.
He said grief had robbed me of
my whole way of seeing things.
He wanted to explore
that with me.
It felt therapeutic.
- Was there penetration?
- I was starting to think
he couldn't even get it up,
but he never even tried.
- When did things go wrong?
- Last night.
- Did you say no or stop?
- Some kind of safe word...
- I said both.
But by the time I
said it, he already...
came inside of me.
- Then what?
- And then he left.
In a way, I feel bad for him,
all that build-up.
I think he was embarrassed
for not lasting longer.
And his size... He
wasn't very big.
- We're gonna need
you to get a rape kit.
- And we're gonna need to
talk to this Klaus guy.
- We only ever communicated
through the app.
- It's okay.
It's a start.
- Zoe came over to my
house late last night,
crying, as usual.
And Richard, my husband, just
offered up the guest room.
Out of reflex, I guess.
- Is there some kind
of past history?
- The past two years have
been crazy on all of us.
- Okay, what happened
two years ago?
- Zoe lost her husband the same
month I gave birth to my son.
- Wow.
- Richard and I had no
choice but to take her in.
- Oh.
- In some ways, it was like
we suddenly had two newborns.
- What did Zoe say
happened last night?
- Some rando she'd
been seeing...
She met him on an app
about a month ago...
Raped her.
I warned her not to
get involved with him.
- Why, what did you
think was off about it?
- If your best
friend of 14 years
was trying to goad some S&M
guy to meet her at a hotel,
wouldn't you try to stop her?
- So when did she tell
you that she'd been raped?
- A few hours ago, after
Richard left for work.
I guess she wanted
to keep it secret.
- That's normal.
I feel awful.
You know, I'm the
one who pushed her
to get back out on the market.
And it's a sad thought,
but my marriage
is pretty boring.
I think I just wanted to
live vicariously through her.
- Well, you know, life
is such an odd mix
of beauty and pain, right?
We can't control
how that unfolds
for the people that we
love, much less ourselves.
- Hmm.
- Take care.
- Thank you.
SANE nurse put a
rush on Zoe's kit.
Found signs of bruising, trauma.
- But the hot shower she took
must've washed away any DNA.
- What about the clothes
that Jenna brought in?
- Lab was able to recover
semen from the lingerie.
- That confirms this
story. That's good news.
- M.E.'s running
it through CODIS.
- All right, and what do
we know about Klaus Darcy?
- Hotel room was
paid for by Zoe.
- That's a bit odd for
some stud, isn't it?
- Well, maybe the wife
sees his credit card bills.
- Seems to be a lot of history
between Jenna's husband and Zoe.
Another woman lives in
their house for a year,
Richard starts to fantasize.
- So he what?
Raped her to knock it
off his bucket list?
- You can't underestimate
the power of sexual fantasy.
Sometimes it adds to
the initial momentum
of sex crimes.
- Yeah, I got a fantasy.
It involves you going
back up to the Bronx.
- Whoa, Muncy. Take it easy.
- You're pissed
about your friend.
- Yeah, I am, 'cause
you recorded him
without his knowledge.
- I get it. You're
loyal to him.
- Wanna give them
both a time out?
- No. I have a better idea.
Churlish, go talk
to Jenna's husband
and find out if he had an alibi.
- Copy that, Captain.
- Muncy, what about
the dating website?
- Burner cell phone,
fake email address.
The guy never graduated
from the free trial period
of the dating app, so I can't
check it with a credit card.
Zoe was his only match.
I did do a reverse image search.
- And?
- And the picture was
copied off a website
of some river raft
excursion guide in Sweden.
- This perp is trying
hard to stay anonymous.
- Yeah, I did call and
confirm the Swedish guy's
never even been stateside.
- Look, if he went
to all this trouble,
he also must have worked
hard to target Zoe.
- Yeah.
- Has... does Zoe have
any issues with men?
Relationship
problems? Coworkers?
- The way Zoe tells it, no.
- Okay, well,
canvass her building,
her neighborhood, coworkers,
and scrub her social media.
- On it, Captain.
- Hey, Liv, lab
found a DNA match.
- The guy's in the system?
- It's a familial match.
- To who?
- Zoe's dead husband.
- My husband was
arrested in college.
- So you knew about it?
- He stole a keg
from the freezer
of a liquor store he
worked in for a party.
- Okay.
- So that's how his DNA
is in the police database?
- In 2010, New
York started taking
DNA samples for misdemeanors.
- And the DNA on my rape kit
is somehow a match to Brian's?
- Well, it's a familial match,
which means it's
a male relative.
- You're saying Klaus is
related to my dead husband?
That's impossible.
Brian wasn't Swedish.
- Well, the funny thing is,
Klaus isn't even Klaus.
- So Zoe, um,
we need a list of your
husband's male relatives.
- I haven't talked to
the majority of them
since the funeral.
- Well, I'm sure you
remember their names?
- I was only ever close
with his nephew, um,
Brian's older sister's kid.
- What's his name?
- Cooper.
- But he's just a kid.
He's 23 years old.
- Cooper.
- No.
Absolutely not.
No, I would know if it were him.
- Can you say that
with 100% certainty?
I mean, you said that you
were blindfolded in the dark,
and Klaus only spoke
to you in a whisper.
- Oh, I feel like puking.
- When's the last
time you saw Cooper?
- I take him to dinner
from time to time...
Just to
try and stay in touch.
He's a... he's a
med school student.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
I never should have
gone on that website.
I feel like I'm losing
control over my life.
I just...
- Okay. All right.
- I just wanted
to reclaim myself.
I don't... I don't want
his nephew arrested.
- All right, one step at a time.
So first of all,
all we're gonna
do is talk to him.
And whatever happens after that,
you will be part
of the decision.
- Okay.
- Okay.
- Wait.
Aunt Zoe he was
assaulted and told you
I'm the one that did it?
- Well, she didn't say that,
but DNA is hard to argue with.
- Where were you two nights ago?
- I was studying.
Ask my friends.
- Let me see your phone.
No dating apps.
- I live in a co-ed dorm.
- You might have deleted it.
- Look, my Aunt Zoe
and I are really close.
- Yeah, the question
is, how close?
- Ew. She's my aunt.
It's only hot in porn.
- Well, you forget one thing.
There's a DNA connection to you.
- So we're gonna need a sample.
- Wait.
I'm guessing it was seminal
fluid you found on her?
- That's right.
- I'm a donor.
Past two years, a
really popular one.
- Yeah, tall, blue
eyes, med student.
I'm sure you do all right.
- Make 1,500 bucks a month.
- Someone hit the
genetic lottery.
- It helps me pay my
way through school.
- Okay, well, any chance
you might know who
had access to your donation?
- It's all confidential.
- Okay.
Well, then we're still
gonna need that swab, man.
Unfortunately, this
one doesn't pay at all.
Open up.
Come on.
- Let me get this straight.
Cooper Davis, the
23-year-old nephew
of the victim's
deceased husband,
is a DNA match for her rape kit?
- The short answer is yes.
- The long answer?
- Not much longer.
- I'm listening.
- He's a sperm donor.
We checked with the bank.
Profile's been requested a
dozen times in the last month.
- But because of HIPAA
laws, confidentiality,
they're not gonna
give you those names.
- Right, but this is a specific
kind of sexual assault.
Can you get a court order?
- I can try to
get a court order,
but confidentiality
around reproductive rights
is pretty tight.
- All right, well,
in the meantime,
we go back to Zoe.
- And ask her what?
- Maybe she knows somebody who
wanted to get her pregnant.
- So the semen on the rape
kit matched to Cooper,
but it wasn't him?
- It looks like he has an alibi.
So Zoe, I, uh, have to ask you
a sort of delicate question.
- It can't be any worse
than anything else
I've answered here.
- You said that
Klaus penetrated you,
and I wanted to
know if you could
describe that a little more.
What did it feel like?
- To be with a man
after two years,
it was fun,
till it wasn't.
I felt his penis
go inside of me.
But like I said, it
was pretty micro,
and now I'm just confused.
It all happened very fast.
- Right.
- The nurse gave me
a morning after pill.
I hadn't thought about
taking it, but...
- Well, that's your decision.
- Klaus was always so
respectful of my boundaries.
He was a gentle dom.
I thought we were
having so much fun.
Why would Klaus do
something like that?
- I don't know.
But what I do know is that
some guys have a
pregnancy fetish.
It's the ultimate
exertion of power.
- Oh, my God.
- What?
- It's... it's him. It's Klaus.
- What did he say?
- "I never meant to hurt you.
"I'm going out of the country,
and I wanna see
you one last time."
What... what should I do?
"My little A student,
shut the lights
then stand by the window."
The instructions are
almost exactly the same.
- All right, Zoe.
You just get him
in the room, okay?
- We'll do the rest.
- They say light's
the best sanitizer.
- Infrared's even better.
- Don't need either to
get an admission on tape.
- All right, guys, be
ready to move in quickly.
Let's move.
Jenna?
- I thought... how could you?
- Zoe, I just wanna
see you be happy.
- Oh, my God.
- I thought you were my friend.
- I'm still your friend.
I'm still your friend.
- No, you're not.
I don't even know who you are.
- You know my heart.
Please, just let me explain.
- Let's go.
- Please, I can't let
you... Please let me...
- You'll explain
at the precinct.
Let's go.
- It's okay.
You okay? It's okay.
It's okay. It's
okay. It's okay.
Shh. It's okay.
- You didn't have to bring
me home, Captain Benson.
I'm all right.
- Zoe, you might
think that you are,
but you've just been
through a pretty big shock.
- I feel so stupid.
I didn't know it was her.
You have to believe me.
- Well, it's called
willful blindness.
And believe me,
I've had my share.
- What the hell
was she thinking?
- You know, my detectives
are talking to Jenna now,
and all I know is that, um,
Jenna had downloaded the
IdealDate app on her phone.
And she saved
Klaus's DMs to you.
- The sick thing
is, I was happy.
- Well, that's the
power of fantasy.
But it's looking more
and more like your friend
had a fantasy of power.
- Over me.
- And her own life.
Look, there's a lot to
unpack there, but, um,
is there anything
I can do for you?
Can I call someone?
Your family or friend or...?
- Two hours ago, I would
have told you to call Jenna.
- You know what?
Um, well, from now on, uh,
if you need anything,
you call me.
Take care.
- Everything I
did, I did for Zoe.
- You wanna tell us about that?
- She was a wreck
after Brian died.
I listened to her cry herself
to sleep for a full year
through the wall of
our guest bedroom.
She needed love.
- And Klaus gave it to her?
Or was it you that wanted
the crying to stop?
- Love is messy.
Sometimes it involves
a commitment to act
on behalf of a person who
can't take care of themselves.
- Yeah, commitment.
Not sexual assault.
- We just wanna hear
your side of the story.
How did this all start?
- Have you ever potty
trained a child?
- Yeah, it's tough.
- Yeah, they cry.
But in the end, you know
what's best for them.
Zoe was ready to
get back out there.
But she was so heartbroken
when she wasn't
getting any matches.
- So you stepped in?
- Yeah, a handsome,
smart man wanted her.
The longer it went on, the
harder it was to get out.
I was trying to help her
mourn her dead husband,
not put her in a position
to feel lost again.
- I get that.
But trying to get her pregnant?
- Yeah, Zoe always
wanted a family.
We dreamt of raising
our children together.
- But it all came
crashing to a halt?
- The night Brian
had his aneurysm.
- So when did you decide
to become the sperm fairy?
- I remember when
Cooper told Zoe
how he made money in college.
She and I laughed
about it over lunch.
- And in the wake
of Brian's death,
similarities just
couldn't be ignored.
- Zoe we would never be
able to meet another Brian.
But maybe she could make one.
I just wanted to see
her back on track.
- So Jenna's still not
denying any of this?
- She thinks it's
what Zoe wanted.
- Classic she said,
she said, huh?
- So what can you
charge her with?
- Not rape. She
used her finger.
- That's right,
officer, it's not rape.
But Zoe didn't consent
to penetration.
- So sexual assault
with an object,
aggravated sexual
abuse, a felony?
- Impressive. You
know your law.
- What about their
prior sexual encounters?
Even if it was
consensual, Zoe consented
to having sex with Klaus.
- I don't know, we've been
down that road before.
There's no rape-by-fraud
law in New York.
Could fall under
sexual abuse three.
- Inability to consent
due to incapacitation?
Including deceit.
- So now that we've
figured that out,
we'll need Zoe on board if I'm
gonna leverage a plea deal.
- No trial?
- Not if I can avoid it.
We have enough trouble
making sense of this.
I can't imagine what
a jury is gonna think.
- I'll talk to Zoe.
- Jenna Scott.
On eight counts of sexual
abuse in the third degree
and one count of
aggravated sexual abuse
in the first degree,
how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- People on bail?
- We request 100,000.
The circumstances of
this case are unusual,
but these are serious charges.
- Which my client intends
to defend herself against.
She's not a flight risk.
She's married with a child.
- I'm granting ROR.
Better luck next
time, Counselor.
Bailiff, next case.
- Well, round one
to you, Ms. Efron.
- Oh, I'm just getting started.
- Well, I'm ready to talk
deal whenever you are.
- Why would we do that?
No jury is gonna
believe your vic
had no idea who my client was.
- Sex assault is sex
assault, Ms. Efron.
- Which this was not.
See you in court.
- That's defense
attorney's confident.
- Mm. And she's not wrong.
- Jenna's husband
sticking with her.
She must spin a good story.
- Yeah, well, one
I've learned is,
you never know what's going
on in someone's marriage.
- Even his own?
- Jenna wouldn't take the deal?
- Well, she's listening
to her attorney.
- Does she even think
she did anything wrong?
- Define wrong.
- I wanna talk to her.
- Hold on. Zoe.
Zoe, listen to me.
I strongly, strongly
advise against that.
- I want her to admit that she
hurt me, that she lied to me.
- She doesn't see it like that.
She thinks that she
was making you happy.
- She always was the one
trying to be in control.
- I know, and right now,
we can go back to Carisi
and try to get a deal.
Telling your side of
the story in court
can give you a sense of
having your power back.
But being cross-examined
when you're angry
can also complicate things,
and I just... I want you
to be prepared for that.
- Trust me, going on the
stand when you're pissed
is not a good idea.
- But if I don't, Jenna
just gets away with it.
She wins like she always does.
- And you have every
right to be angry.
- I spent the last
two years of my life
feeling sorry for myself.
And anger feels
pretty good right now.
I lost my husband.
I can survive losing
my best friend.
But I will not lose this trial.
- Okay.
- I met Klaus online.
Started DMing, but
he didn't wanna meet
in person, not at first.
I'd never really
pursued a guy before,
so I pushed until he agreed
to meet me at a hotel.
- Where you had a
sexual relationship?
- More like sensual.
Klaus gave specific orders.
I was to be blindfolded.
It was all very dominant.
I enjoyed that.
- Enjoyed with Klaus, who
you believed was a man.
Can you tell the jury
how that was possible?
- Any time Jenna spoke,
she disguised her voice
in a horse whisper, only
touched me with hands.
I wasn't allowed
to touch his body.
I was promised that as a reward,
but I never was allowed.
- Why was that?
- He said I had to
earn that privilege.
It was just part of our game.
- Just to be clear, those
games you consented to
over the course of a month?
- Yes.
But I now know I was being
deceived the entire time.
Jenna was lying to
control me, once again.
- Objection... This
witness has no knowledge
of the defendant's intent.
- Sustained.
The jury will disregard.
- Mrs. Green, what happened
the night of your assault?
- It all started the
same, except this time,
I was penetrated by what
I thought was a penis.
- And how did you respond?
- I said no.
I used our safe word.
- And then what happened?
- Then he ejaculated.
I only learned later that
it was Jenna's finger.
Well, obviously, Jenna
doesn't have a penis.
But she was trying
to impregnate me.
- And did you consent
to any of that?
- No.
- And when did you first learn
that Klaus was, in fact, Jenna?
- After I reported the assault,
Jenna DM'd me as Klaus.
The police made me
promise to tell no one
so they could set up a
controlled meet at the hotel.
She was masked, I was mic'd.
- Why did she wanna meet?
- She was aware she had
done something to hurt me.
But more than that,
Jenna talks a lot
about how boring her life is.
She has an addictive personality
mixed with a high
need for novelty.
It's possible she liked being
Klaus better than herself.
- Thank you. Nothing further.
- Mrs. Green, isn't it true
that Mrs. Scott is
your best friend?
- She was.
- All the same, you go way back
to freshman year in college?
- Yes.
- You were roommates
all four years,
then lived together
after college
until Mrs. Scott met her
husband and you met yours.
That's a lot of history,
fair to say, 14 years?
- Roughly.
- Yeah.
In that time, you've hugged...
What... hundreds of times?
You've even slept in the same
bed more than a few times.
- On vacation or once at
a destination wedding,
and when my husband died.
- You've been in the same bed?
So you know what her body
feels like, smells like.
And yet you expect
a jury to believe
you had no idea it was her,
even in the dark
with a blindfold on?
- This was different.
This was sexual.
- So it's your testimony
you never had sex
with my client before.
- Objection. Where
is this going?
- I apologize, Your Honor,
but new evidence has
just come to light.
- What new evidence?
- I just found out my
client and Mrs. Green
had several sexual encounters
while back in college.
- Objection.
- Overruled.
Witness may answer.
- Well, I wouldn't
describe it as sexual.
We were kids, drunk,
experimenting.
- I'll remind you,
you're under oath.
Were you naked together?
- Well, yes, but...
- Did you orgasm during
those encounters?
Do you remember having
any orgasms in the hotel
over the past month?
- I don't remember.
- That's interesting,
because you told my client
over lunch that you did.
- Objection. Hearsay.
- Defense, exhibit A.
Can you please read
these for the jury?
Are those your
texts, Mrs. Green?
- Yes, but...
- Please read them for the jury.
- "Klaus is hot.
"The edging is delicious.
"He gave me my first
real orgasm in years.
"I hate to say it, but
even better than Brian.
- Fair to say,
given these texts,
that you continued to seek
out Klaus, pushed to meet,
even after my client
tried to break things off
and talk you out of
ever meeting Klaus.
- It's sad to say, but yes.
- Nothing further.
- Redirect, Your Honor.
Mrs. Green, though
you may have consented
to Jenna in the
past, did you consent
to her the night in question?
- No. No, I didn't.
- You had sex with
Jenna in college
and you didn't tell me?
- It was so long ago.
What does that have to
do with what happened?
- Do you realize what
the jury just heard?
That you had an ongoing
sexual relationship with her.
- Yeah, in the past. Not now.
- This time she consented,
not to Jenna, but to Klaus.
- A moral distinction.
It doesn't matter in the
absence of credibility.
- Jenna still assaulted me.
- I know, Zoe.
But the jury sees
you as a liar now.
- Well, I didn't lie.
- And the problem is,
all of your testimony
has been called into question.
- I never told anyone
that Jenna and I
used to experiment together.
I'm sure Richard didn't
even know until just now.
I need some air.
- I'll walk her out.
- Yeah. Do that.
- Hey, go easy on her.
I mean, in the last two years,
she's lost three people,
right, her husband,
Klaus, and her best friend.
- Yeah, well I'm
gonna lose this case.
Because if Efron files
a motion to dismiss,
I don't know how
I'm gonna object.
- Sexual assault
is sexual assault.
It doesn't matter if she
consented to the shared fantasy
or didn't divulge her deepest,
darkest secret to you.
- This was a tough enough
case to begin with, Liv.
It was a whisper in the dark.
- What?
- Now it's the
full-throated braggadocio
of Efron laughing at us.
- She wants a dismissal?
- Oh, no. Worse.
She's putting her
client on the stand.
- I've always been
there for Zoe.
The night Brian died, I held her
as she wailed for
nine hours straight.
It was scary.
If you've never heard true
loss like that, it's primal.
I thought she tried
to kill herself.
I wanted to fix her.
- Is that when you first
invented this Klaus character?
- No.
But it turned out to be
exactly what Zoe needed.
And I love her so much I
was willing to do anything.
- Even if it meant
being someone else?
- That was part of the fun.
Back in college, we'd
fantasize about the careers
we'd have one day, the
men we might marry,
what we'd name a
child if we had one.
It was our dynamic.
I assumed Zoe knew I was Klaus.
- Why would you assume that?
- She'd recount her
nights with him,
allow me to read her texts.
It was all fantasy,
a continuation
of the games we
started in college,
sexual and otherwise.
- And the night Zoe
claims you assaulted her,
was that all part of the game?
- She clearly wanted
to be overpowered.
Zoe has always taken
on a submissive role
in our relationship.
- And you asked her
to choose a safe word?
What was it?
- Athena,
after Athena Hall, our old dorm.
- Mm, and what did
you take that to mean
that she picked that safe
word out of any other phrase
she could have chosen?
- That she knew it was
all a game of fantasy.
- And the night in question,
did she use the word?
- If she did, I didn't hear
it over her moans of pleasure.
- When you penetrated
her, were her legs open?
- Yes.
- Were they positioned
that way involuntarily,
with ropes, or some other kind
of bondage play at the time?
- No.
- Ms. Scott, we've heard you
talk a lot about fantasy.
But can you tell me,
was it her fantasy
to be forcibly impregnated
by her nephew's sperm?
- She always talked
about how similar
Brian and Cooper looked.
- Okay.
Let me ask you, how much of this
was about ultimate control?
Subjugation versus fantasy?
The two of you could
have just gone down
to the cryo bank
together, could you not?
I mean, why... why did you
do any of this as Klaus?
- Like I said, Zoe
knew it was me.
- Right, even though she
couldn't see your face,
she was blindfolded,
and it was dark?
- Yes.
- Okay, Your Honor,
with your permission,
I would like to put
that to the test.
- Objection.
- What?
You like springing things on me.
A little latitude,
Your Honor, please.
- Just a little, Mr. Carisi.
- Hit it, bailiff.
- Mr. Carisi.
- One question, Your Honor.
Ms. Scott, what
color is my tie?
- Uh...
I don't know. I can't see it.
- Are you sure?
I'm standing right here.
- Thought you said one question?
- Excuse me.
Would you... would you
come with me, please?
Come on. Just take your time.
Follow my voice.
Right this way.
All right, who is this person
standing before you right now?
- Uh, Zoe?
- Okay, Your Honor, I object
to this whole performance.
- Mr. Carisi, my patience
for your antics is at an end.
Bailiff.
- Richard?
- You slept with Zoe in college?
You cheated on me, and
you didn't tell me.
- You've been married to
this man for ten years,
and you could not
recognize him in the dark.
How could you possibly
expect Zoe to recognize you?
- You asked me how much
was fantasy versus control.
Maybe it was neither.
It was selfish.
There wasn't just a
hole in Zoe's life.
There was a hole
in mine as well.
- Nothing further.
- Madam Foreperson, will
you please read the verdict?
- On the charge of
aggravated sexual abuse
in the first degree, we find
the defendant not guilty.
On the charges of sexual
abuse in the third degree,
we find the defendant guilty.
- The state of New York thanks
the jury for its service.
Mrs. Scott, you are
remanded until sentencing.
- What's gonna happen to her?
Her life, her kid, her husband.
- Well, she was convicted
of a misdemeanor.
She'll do less than a year.
- Well, I don't want her
to go to jail at all.
- Listen, I can
talk to the judge.
And if she agrees to copious
amounts of counseling,
I could probably get
this down to probation.
But that has gotta be
what you really want.
- How are you doing
with all this?
- How do you think?
My husband's gone and
my best friend too.
- His presence will
always be felt.
It's about how you cope.
- Does getting on
a dating app count?
- Look, Zoe, you're young.
It's not too late
for a fresh start.
- Thank you.
- So what just happened
here? Was this justice?
- This is one of those
cases where you really
don't know what to think.
- I bet you've seen
a lot of those.
- I have. You will too.
You know, this job,
even when you do
everything right,
you don't always win.
Get used to that.
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.
Mm.
Oh, hey, Zoe, check
out those two guys.
Mr. Wellness and his sidekick.
- The King of Kale.
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, underneath their
hemp shirts lurk the abs
of two very
well-practiced yoginis.
- Mm, I don't want my pillows
to smell like
patchouli tomorrow.
-Okay.
Okay, uh...
ooh, how about Baron Von
Broker sitting by himself?
- Jenna, he has a
ring on his finger.
- Don't sabotage yourself
with morality, Zoe.
I'm trying to get you laid.
- What?
What if somebody tried
to pick up your husband?
- Oh, I'd be
flattered for Richard.
Ever since the kid was
born, his testosterone
has dropped like the Dow.
- Maybe I just start
seeing my shrink again.
- No, she has had
two years to fix you.
You are my project now.
Oh, what about him?
- The sad dad?
- Yeah.
- No. He's probably divorced.
No ring.
- He's normal.
The male equivalent
of a Nissan Altima.
Just your type.
- I hate this.
This isn't what I want.
- Look, I get it.
You miss Brian.
- I loved him.
- We all loved him.
Okay?
Okay, look, listen.
Soho on a Thursday
night is like the ocean.
What you need is an aquarium.
- A dating app?
- Yeah.
- Oh, I don't know. I
haven't done that before.
- Neither have I.
- You are married.
- Yeah, but I would
walk through the valley
of the shadow of Seth with you.
Well, this guy owns
his own helicopter.
- Really? Jeez.
- Oh, isn't this that chef from
that cooking show you watch?
You should reply.
- On your profile?
I'm pretty sure that's
not how this works.
- It's time you were
touched by something
that doesn't require batteries.
- Jenna, he matched with you,
a blonde with nonexistent pores.
What do you think's gonna
happen when I show up?
- What I need is more wine.
- No.
I'm tired.
I just wanna go to bed.
This all just reminds
me of college,
always buying three tickets
to every movie, one for you,
one for Richard...
- And poor Zoe.
- Mm-hmm.
- It just takes time.
- I already had mine with Brian.
Maybe that's all the
happiness I deserve.
- He's cute. You matched?
- He's smart, well read.
- Klaus Darcy,
educated in Sweden.
- I can almost hear his
accent through the texts.
- Oh, Zoe, all
these DMs already?
- What?
We've been texting a whole week.
- Girl, you're
being love bombed.
- Better than being bombed,
like when I was
living at your place.
You should calm down
with the Sancerre.
- "Klaus: where
are you right now?
"You: doing laundry.
Stop what you're
doing and touch yourself"?
Zoe!
- What?
Brian and I used to
get a little freaky
from time to time.
It's nobody's business.
- Everything is my business.
- Are you telling
me you and Richard
never get a little freaky?
- Okay, you stayed at
our place for a year
after Brian passed.
How many times did you
hear the bed creak?
What if he's married?
- I'm okay with that.
- You're not actually planning
on meeting this guy, are you?
- If I can goad him into it.
Can't you just be happy for me?
- I am. I am.
I'm just... I'm a little...
- Jealous?
- Mind if I read one more?
"The satisfaction for
me comes from knowing
you do exactly what I ask."
Lucky for you, I like
having my boundaries pushed.
Done.
Yes.
Yes, sir.
- Captain. Captain.
- Yeah?
- Velasco's motorcycle
wasn't downstairs
for the third day in a row.
- That's good
detective work, Muncy,
but I told you that I gave
him a couple of days off.
- Well, can I call him?
- No.
- Just to check in?
- No.
- Come on. How is that fair?
- Muncy, most of
life is not fair.
Velasco is still above ground,
unlike the father and son
whose murders he witnessed.
Now, I know that Velasco
wasn't a cop at the time,
but he is now.
So it falls on him to bring
his friend to justice.
- Captain.
Sorry for the intrusion.
- Oh, you don't have to stand.
No need for fanfare.
- I got a message last night?
Said I'm temporarily transferred
to Manhattan Special Victims.
Authority, Chief McGrath?
- And?
- I didn't even think
he knew who I was.
- Well, he does now.
How do you feel about that?
One thing that inspires me,
that has driven me all
my life, is excellence.
- This isn't the
Bronx, you are aware?
- Your metrics
speak for themself.
Only squad with a
90% closure rate.
But why not aim for 100?
Am I right?
- I will take that as a yes.
- She didn't shake my
hand when I first started.
- No offense, but you were
brought here by way of Duarte.
Lucky she didn't
throw up a gang sign.
- Sarge, what do I do?
I'm not supposed to answer.
- Muncy, work is about
overcoming problems,
problems you wouldn't have
if you were unemployed.
So how about we do our
jobs before we lose them.
- Hey, Sarge.
- Hi. I'm Detective Muncy.
This is Sergeant Tutuola.
- Can we help you?
- I have her clothes
here, the lingerie, too,
everything she wore last night.
- I think I was raped.
- Klaus Darcy?
- I met him online.
Started DMing me a month ago.
He was handsome.
To be honest, I
was pretty shocked
he even swiped right on me.
- Why is that?
- Jenna usually gets
all the attention.
- Okay, why don't you
tell us what happened?
- Our chat became kinky.
- Kinky how?
- There's nothing
we haven't heard.
- We did BDSM stuff.
- Any of it ever cross a line?
- Not at first.
It started with him giving me
little fun orders over text,
uh, making me call him sir.
He sent me a belly chain
to wear under my clothes.
We had an agreement that when
I had it on, he owned me.
- Where would you meet?
- We only ever met
at hotels for safety.
- Okay.
Describe an average encounter.
- He got off on me
blindfolding myself
with my dead husband's neckties.
He said grief had robbed me of
my whole way of seeing things.
He wanted to explore
that with me.
It felt therapeutic.
- Was there penetration?
- I was starting to think
he couldn't even get it up,
but he never even tried.
- When did things go wrong?
- Last night.
- Did you say no or stop?
- Some kind of safe word...
- I said both.
But by the time I
said it, he already...
came inside of me.
- Then what?
- And then he left.
In a way, I feel bad for him,
all that build-up.
I think he was embarrassed
for not lasting longer.
And his size... He
wasn't very big.
- We're gonna need
you to get a rape kit.
- And we're gonna need to
talk to this Klaus guy.
- We only ever communicated
through the app.
- It's okay.
It's a start.
- Zoe came over to my
house late last night,
crying, as usual.
And Richard, my husband, just
offered up the guest room.
Out of reflex, I guess.
- Is there some kind
of past history?
- The past two years have
been crazy on all of us.
- Okay, what happened
two years ago?
- Zoe lost her husband the same
month I gave birth to my son.
- Wow.
- Richard and I had no
choice but to take her in.
- Oh.
- In some ways, it was like
we suddenly had two newborns.
- What did Zoe say
happened last night?
- Some rando she'd
been seeing...
She met him on an app
about a month ago...
Raped her.
I warned her not to
get involved with him.
- Why, what did you
think was off about it?
- If your best
friend of 14 years
was trying to goad some S&M
guy to meet her at a hotel,
wouldn't you try to stop her?
- So when did she tell
you that she'd been raped?
- A few hours ago, after
Richard left for work.
I guess she wanted
to keep it secret.
- That's normal.
I feel awful.
You know, I'm the
one who pushed her
to get back out on the market.
And it's a sad thought,
but my marriage
is pretty boring.
I think I just wanted to
live vicariously through her.
- Well, you know, life
is such an odd mix
of beauty and pain, right?
We can't control
how that unfolds
for the people that we
love, much less ourselves.
- Hmm.
- Take care.
- Thank you.
SANE nurse put a
rush on Zoe's kit.
Found signs of bruising, trauma.
- But the hot shower she took
must've washed away any DNA.
- What about the clothes
that Jenna brought in?
- Lab was able to recover
semen from the lingerie.
- That confirms this
story. That's good news.
- M.E.'s running
it through CODIS.
- All right, and what do
we know about Klaus Darcy?
- Hotel room was
paid for by Zoe.
- That's a bit odd for
some stud, isn't it?
- Well, maybe the wife
sees his credit card bills.
- Seems to be a lot of history
between Jenna's husband and Zoe.
Another woman lives in
their house for a year,
Richard starts to fantasize.
- So he what?
Raped her to knock it
off his bucket list?
- You can't underestimate
the power of sexual fantasy.
Sometimes it adds to
the initial momentum
of sex crimes.
- Yeah, I got a fantasy.
It involves you going
back up to the Bronx.
- Whoa, Muncy. Take it easy.
- You're pissed
about your friend.
- Yeah, I am, 'cause
you recorded him
without his knowledge.
- I get it. You're
loyal to him.
- Wanna give them
both a time out?
- No. I have a better idea.
Churlish, go talk
to Jenna's husband
and find out if he had an alibi.
- Copy that, Captain.
- Muncy, what about
the dating website?
- Burner cell phone,
fake email address.
The guy never graduated
from the free trial period
of the dating app, so I can't
check it with a credit card.
Zoe was his only match.
I did do a reverse image search.
- And?
- And the picture was
copied off a website
of some river raft
excursion guide in Sweden.
- This perp is trying
hard to stay anonymous.
- Yeah, I did call and
confirm the Swedish guy's
never even been stateside.
- Look, if he went
to all this trouble,
he also must have worked
hard to target Zoe.
- Yeah.
- Has... does Zoe have
any issues with men?
Relationship
problems? Coworkers?
- The way Zoe tells it, no.
- Okay, well,
canvass her building,
her neighborhood, coworkers,
and scrub her social media.
- On it, Captain.
- Hey, Liv, lab
found a DNA match.
- The guy's in the system?
- It's a familial match.
- To who?
- Zoe's dead husband.
- My husband was
arrested in college.
- So you knew about it?
- He stole a keg
from the freezer
of a liquor store he
worked in for a party.
- Okay.
- So that's how his DNA
is in the police database?
- In 2010, New
York started taking
DNA samples for misdemeanors.
- And the DNA on my rape kit
is somehow a match to Brian's?
- Well, it's a familial match,
which means it's
a male relative.
- You're saying Klaus is
related to my dead husband?
That's impossible.
Brian wasn't Swedish.
- Well, the funny thing is,
Klaus isn't even Klaus.
- So Zoe, um,
we need a list of your
husband's male relatives.
- I haven't talked to
the majority of them
since the funeral.
- Well, I'm sure you
remember their names?
- I was only ever close
with his nephew, um,
Brian's older sister's kid.
- What's his name?
- Cooper.
- But he's just a kid.
He's 23 years old.
- Cooper.
- No.
Absolutely not.
No, I would know if it were him.
- Can you say that
with 100% certainty?
I mean, you said that you
were blindfolded in the dark,
and Klaus only spoke
to you in a whisper.
- Oh, I feel like puking.
- When's the last
time you saw Cooper?
- I take him to dinner
from time to time...
Just to
try and stay in touch.
He's a... he's a
med school student.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
I never should have
gone on that website.
I feel like I'm losing
control over my life.
I just...
- Okay. All right.
- I just wanted
to reclaim myself.
I don't... I don't want
his nephew arrested.
- All right, one step at a time.
So first of all,
all we're gonna
do is talk to him.
And whatever happens after that,
you will be part
of the decision.
- Okay.
- Okay.
- Wait.
Aunt Zoe he was
assaulted and told you
I'm the one that did it?
- Well, she didn't say that,
but DNA is hard to argue with.
- Where were you two nights ago?
- I was studying.
Ask my friends.
- Let me see your phone.
No dating apps.
- I live in a co-ed dorm.
- You might have deleted it.
- Look, my Aunt Zoe
and I are really close.
- Yeah, the question
is, how close?
- Ew. She's my aunt.
It's only hot in porn.
- Well, you forget one thing.
There's a DNA connection to you.
- So we're gonna need a sample.
- Wait.
I'm guessing it was seminal
fluid you found on her?
- That's right.
- I'm a donor.
Past two years, a
really popular one.
- Yeah, tall, blue
eyes, med student.
I'm sure you do all right.
- Make 1,500 bucks a month.
- Someone hit the
genetic lottery.
- It helps me pay my
way through school.
- Okay, well, any chance
you might know who
had access to your donation?
- It's all confidential.
- Okay.
Well, then we're still
gonna need that swab, man.
Unfortunately, this
one doesn't pay at all.
Open up.
Come on.
- Let me get this straight.
Cooper Davis, the
23-year-old nephew
of the victim's
deceased husband,
is a DNA match for her rape kit?
- The short answer is yes.
- The long answer?
- Not much longer.
- I'm listening.
- He's a sperm donor.
We checked with the bank.
Profile's been requested a
dozen times in the last month.
- But because of HIPAA
laws, confidentiality,
they're not gonna
give you those names.
- Right, but this is a specific
kind of sexual assault.
Can you get a court order?
- I can try to
get a court order,
but confidentiality
around reproductive rights
is pretty tight.
- All right, well,
in the meantime,
we go back to Zoe.
- And ask her what?
- Maybe she knows somebody who
wanted to get her pregnant.
- So the semen on the rape
kit matched to Cooper,
but it wasn't him?
- It looks like he has an alibi.
So Zoe, I, uh, have to ask you
a sort of delicate question.
- It can't be any worse
than anything else
I've answered here.
- You said that
Klaus penetrated you,
and I wanted to
know if you could
describe that a little more.
What did it feel like?
- To be with a man
after two years,
it was fun,
till it wasn't.
I felt his penis
go inside of me.
But like I said, it
was pretty micro,
and now I'm just confused.
It all happened very fast.
- Right.
- The nurse gave me
a morning after pill.
I hadn't thought about
taking it, but...
- Well, that's your decision.
- Klaus was always so
respectful of my boundaries.
He was a gentle dom.
I thought we were
having so much fun.
Why would Klaus do
something like that?
- I don't know.
But what I do know is that
some guys have a
pregnancy fetish.
It's the ultimate
exertion of power.
- Oh, my God.
- What?
- It's... it's him. It's Klaus.
- What did he say?
- "I never meant to hurt you.
"I'm going out of the country,
and I wanna see
you one last time."
What... what should I do?
"My little A student,
shut the lights
then stand by the window."
The instructions are
almost exactly the same.
- All right, Zoe.
You just get him
in the room, okay?
- We'll do the rest.
- They say light's
the best sanitizer.
- Infrared's even better.
- Don't need either to
get an admission on tape.
- All right, guys, be
ready to move in quickly.
Let's move.
Jenna?
- I thought... how could you?
- Zoe, I just wanna
see you be happy.
- Oh, my God.
- I thought you were my friend.
- I'm still your friend.
I'm still your friend.
- No, you're not.
I don't even know who you are.
- You know my heart.
Please, just let me explain.
- Let's go.
- Please, I can't let
you... Please let me...
- You'll explain
at the precinct.
Let's go.
- It's okay.
You okay? It's okay.
It's okay. It's
okay. It's okay.
Shh. It's okay.
- You didn't have to bring
me home, Captain Benson.
I'm all right.
- Zoe, you might
think that you are,
but you've just been
through a pretty big shock.
- I feel so stupid.
I didn't know it was her.
You have to believe me.
- Well, it's called
willful blindness.
And believe me,
I've had my share.
- What the hell
was she thinking?
- You know, my detectives
are talking to Jenna now,
and all I know is that, um,
Jenna had downloaded the
IdealDate app on her phone.
And she saved
Klaus's DMs to you.
- The sick thing
is, I was happy.
- Well, that's the
power of fantasy.
But it's looking more
and more like your friend
had a fantasy of power.
- Over me.
- And her own life.
Look, there's a lot to
unpack there, but, um,
is there anything
I can do for you?
Can I call someone?
Your family or friend or...?
- Two hours ago, I would
have told you to call Jenna.
- You know what?
Um, well, from now on, uh,
if you need anything,
you call me.
Take care.
- Everything I
did, I did for Zoe.
- You wanna tell us about that?
- She was a wreck
after Brian died.
I listened to her cry herself
to sleep for a full year
through the wall of
our guest bedroom.
She needed love.
- And Klaus gave it to her?
Or was it you that wanted
the crying to stop?
- Love is messy.
Sometimes it involves
a commitment to act
on behalf of a person who
can't take care of themselves.
- Yeah, commitment.
Not sexual assault.
- We just wanna hear
your side of the story.
How did this all start?
- Have you ever potty
trained a child?
- Yeah, it's tough.
- Yeah, they cry.
But in the end, you know
what's best for them.
Zoe was ready to
get back out there.
But she was so heartbroken
when she wasn't
getting any matches.
- So you stepped in?
- Yeah, a handsome,
smart man wanted her.
The longer it went on, the
harder it was to get out.
I was trying to help her
mourn her dead husband,
not put her in a position
to feel lost again.
- I get that.
But trying to get her pregnant?
- Yeah, Zoe always
wanted a family.
We dreamt of raising
our children together.
- But it all came
crashing to a halt?
- The night Brian
had his aneurysm.
- So when did you decide
to become the sperm fairy?
- I remember when
Cooper told Zoe
how he made money in college.
She and I laughed
about it over lunch.
- And in the wake
of Brian's death,
similarities just
couldn't be ignored.
- Zoe we would never be
able to meet another Brian.
But maybe she could make one.
I just wanted to see
her back on track.
- So Jenna's still not
denying any of this?
- She thinks it's
what Zoe wanted.
- Classic she said,
she said, huh?
- So what can you
charge her with?
- Not rape. She
used her finger.
- That's right,
officer, it's not rape.
But Zoe didn't consent
to penetration.
- So sexual assault
with an object,
aggravated sexual
abuse, a felony?
- Impressive. You
know your law.
- What about their
prior sexual encounters?
Even if it was
consensual, Zoe consented
to having sex with Klaus.
- I don't know, we've been
down that road before.
There's no rape-by-fraud
law in New York.
Could fall under
sexual abuse three.
- Inability to consent
due to incapacitation?
Including deceit.
- So now that we've
figured that out,
we'll need Zoe on board if I'm
gonna leverage a plea deal.
- No trial?
- Not if I can avoid it.
We have enough trouble
making sense of this.
I can't imagine what
a jury is gonna think.
- I'll talk to Zoe.
- Jenna Scott.
On eight counts of sexual
abuse in the third degree
and one count of
aggravated sexual abuse
in the first degree,
how do you plead?
- Not guilty, Your Honor.
- People on bail?
- We request 100,000.
The circumstances of
this case are unusual,
but these are serious charges.
- Which my client intends
to defend herself against.
She's not a flight risk.
She's married with a child.
- I'm granting ROR.
Better luck next
time, Counselor.
Bailiff, next case.
- Well, round one
to you, Ms. Efron.
- Oh, I'm just getting started.
- Well, I'm ready to talk
deal whenever you are.
- Why would we do that?
No jury is gonna
believe your vic
had no idea who my client was.
- Sex assault is sex
assault, Ms. Efron.
- Which this was not.
See you in court.
- That's defense
attorney's confident.
- Mm. And she's not wrong.
- Jenna's husband
sticking with her.
She must spin a good story.
- Yeah, well, one
I've learned is,
you never know what's going
on in someone's marriage.
- Even his own?
- Jenna wouldn't take the deal?
- Well, she's listening
to her attorney.
- Does she even think
she did anything wrong?
- Define wrong.
- I wanna talk to her.
- Hold on. Zoe.
Zoe, listen to me.
I strongly, strongly
advise against that.
- I want her to admit that she
hurt me, that she lied to me.
- She doesn't see it like that.
She thinks that she
was making you happy.
- She always was the one
trying to be in control.
- I know, and right now,
we can go back to Carisi
and try to get a deal.
Telling your side of
the story in court
can give you a sense of
having your power back.
But being cross-examined
when you're angry
can also complicate things,
and I just... I want you
to be prepared for that.
- Trust me, going on the
stand when you're pissed
is not a good idea.
- But if I don't, Jenna
just gets away with it.
She wins like she always does.
- And you have every
right to be angry.
- I spent the last
two years of my life
feeling sorry for myself.
And anger feels
pretty good right now.
I lost my husband.
I can survive losing
my best friend.
But I will not lose this trial.
- Okay.
- I met Klaus online.
Started DMing, but
he didn't wanna meet
in person, not at first.
I'd never really
pursued a guy before,
so I pushed until he agreed
to meet me at a hotel.
- Where you had a
sexual relationship?
- More like sensual.
Klaus gave specific orders.
I was to be blindfolded.
It was all very dominant.
I enjoyed that.
- Enjoyed with Klaus, who
you believed was a man.
Can you tell the jury
how that was possible?
- Any time Jenna spoke,
she disguised her voice
in a horse whisper, only
touched me with hands.
I wasn't allowed
to touch his body.
I was promised that as a reward,
but I never was allowed.
- Why was that?
- He said I had to
earn that privilege.
It was just part of our game.
- Just to be clear, those
games you consented to
over the course of a month?
- Yes.
But I now know I was being
deceived the entire time.
Jenna was lying to
control me, once again.
- Objection... This
witness has no knowledge
of the defendant's intent.
- Sustained.
The jury will disregard.
- Mrs. Green, what happened
the night of your assault?
- It all started the
same, except this time,
I was penetrated by what
I thought was a penis.
- And how did you respond?
- I said no.
I used our safe word.
- And then what happened?
- Then he ejaculated.
I only learned later that
it was Jenna's finger.
Well, obviously, Jenna
doesn't have a penis.
But she was trying
to impregnate me.
- And did you consent
to any of that?
- No.
- And when did you first learn
that Klaus was, in fact, Jenna?
- After I reported the assault,
Jenna DM'd me as Klaus.
The police made me
promise to tell no one
so they could set up a
controlled meet at the hotel.
She was masked, I was mic'd.
- Why did she wanna meet?
- She was aware she had
done something to hurt me.
But more than that,
Jenna talks a lot
about how boring her life is.
She has an addictive personality
mixed with a high
need for novelty.
It's possible she liked being
Klaus better than herself.
- Thank you. Nothing further.
- Mrs. Green, isn't it true
that Mrs. Scott is
your best friend?
- She was.
- All the same, you go way back
to freshman year in college?
- Yes.
- You were roommates
all four years,
then lived together
after college
until Mrs. Scott met her
husband and you met yours.
That's a lot of history,
fair to say, 14 years?
- Roughly.
- Yeah.
In that time, you've hugged...
What... hundreds of times?
You've even slept in the same
bed more than a few times.
- On vacation or once at
a destination wedding,
and when my husband died.
- You've been in the same bed?
So you know what her body
feels like, smells like.
And yet you expect
a jury to believe
you had no idea it was her,
even in the dark
with a blindfold on?
- This was different.
This was sexual.
- So it's your testimony
you never had sex
with my client before.
- Objection. Where
is this going?
- I apologize, Your Honor,
but new evidence has
just come to light.
- What new evidence?
- I just found out my
client and Mrs. Green
had several sexual encounters
while back in college.
- Objection.
- Overruled.
Witness may answer.
- Well, I wouldn't
describe it as sexual.
We were kids, drunk,
experimenting.
- I'll remind you,
you're under oath.
Were you naked together?
- Well, yes, but...
- Did you orgasm during
those encounters?
Do you remember having
any orgasms in the hotel
over the past month?
- I don't remember.
- That's interesting,
because you told my client
over lunch that you did.
- Objection. Hearsay.
- Defense, exhibit A.
Can you please read
these for the jury?
Are those your
texts, Mrs. Green?
- Yes, but...
- Please read them for the jury.
- "Klaus is hot.
"The edging is delicious.
"He gave me my first
real orgasm in years.
"I hate to say it, but
even better than Brian.
- Fair to say,
given these texts,
that you continued to seek
out Klaus, pushed to meet,
even after my client
tried to break things off
and talk you out of
ever meeting Klaus.
- It's sad to say, but yes.
- Nothing further.
- Redirect, Your Honor.
Mrs. Green, though
you may have consented
to Jenna in the
past, did you consent
to her the night in question?
- No. No, I didn't.
- You had sex with
Jenna in college
and you didn't tell me?
- It was so long ago.
What does that have to
do with what happened?
- Do you realize what
the jury just heard?
That you had an ongoing
sexual relationship with her.
- Yeah, in the past. Not now.
- This time she consented,
not to Jenna, but to Klaus.
- A moral distinction.
It doesn't matter in the
absence of credibility.
- Jenna still assaulted me.
- I know, Zoe.
But the jury sees
you as a liar now.
- Well, I didn't lie.
- And the problem is,
all of your testimony
has been called into question.
- I never told anyone
that Jenna and I
used to experiment together.
I'm sure Richard didn't
even know until just now.
I need some air.
- I'll walk her out.
- Yeah. Do that.
- Hey, go easy on her.
I mean, in the last two years,
she's lost three people,
right, her husband,
Klaus, and her best friend.
- Yeah, well I'm
gonna lose this case.
Because if Efron files
a motion to dismiss,
I don't know how
I'm gonna object.
- Sexual assault
is sexual assault.
It doesn't matter if she
consented to the shared fantasy
or didn't divulge her deepest,
darkest secret to you.
- This was a tough enough
case to begin with, Liv.
It was a whisper in the dark.
- What?
- Now it's the
full-throated braggadocio
of Efron laughing at us.
- She wants a dismissal?
- Oh, no. Worse.
She's putting her
client on the stand.
- I've always been
there for Zoe.
The night Brian died, I held her
as she wailed for
nine hours straight.
It was scary.
If you've never heard true
loss like that, it's primal.
I thought she tried
to kill herself.
I wanted to fix her.
- Is that when you first
invented this Klaus character?
- No.
But it turned out to be
exactly what Zoe needed.
And I love her so much I
was willing to do anything.
- Even if it meant
being someone else?
- That was part of the fun.
Back in college, we'd
fantasize about the careers
we'd have one day, the
men we might marry,
what we'd name a
child if we had one.
It was our dynamic.
I assumed Zoe knew I was Klaus.
- Why would you assume that?
- She'd recount her
nights with him,
allow me to read her texts.
It was all fantasy,
a continuation
of the games we
started in college,
sexual and otherwise.
- And the night Zoe
claims you assaulted her,
was that all part of the game?
- She clearly wanted
to be overpowered.
Zoe has always taken
on a submissive role
in our relationship.
- And you asked her
to choose a safe word?
What was it?
- Athena,
after Athena Hall, our old dorm.
- Mm, and what did
you take that to mean
that she picked that safe
word out of any other phrase
she could have chosen?
- That she knew it was
all a game of fantasy.
- And the night in question,
did she use the word?
- If she did, I didn't hear
it over her moans of pleasure.
- When you penetrated
her, were her legs open?
- Yes.
- Were they positioned
that way involuntarily,
with ropes, or some other kind
of bondage play at the time?
- No.
- Ms. Scott, we've heard you
talk a lot about fantasy.
But can you tell me,
was it her fantasy
to be forcibly impregnated
by her nephew's sperm?
- She always talked
about how similar
Brian and Cooper looked.
- Okay.
Let me ask you, how much of this
was about ultimate control?
Subjugation versus fantasy?
The two of you could
have just gone down
to the cryo bank
together, could you not?
I mean, why... why did you
do any of this as Klaus?
- Like I said, Zoe
knew it was me.
- Right, even though she
couldn't see your face,
she was blindfolded,
and it was dark?
- Yes.
- Okay, Your Honor,
with your permission,
I would like to put
that to the test.
- Objection.
- What?
You like springing things on me.
A little latitude,
Your Honor, please.
- Just a little, Mr. Carisi.
- Hit it, bailiff.
- Mr. Carisi.
- One question, Your Honor.
Ms. Scott, what
color is my tie?
- Uh...
I don't know. I can't see it.
- Are you sure?
I'm standing right here.
- Thought you said one question?
- Excuse me.
Would you... would you
come with me, please?
Come on. Just take your time.
Follow my voice.
Right this way.
All right, who is this person
standing before you right now?
- Uh, Zoe?
- Okay, Your Honor, I object
to this whole performance.
- Mr. Carisi, my patience
for your antics is at an end.
Bailiff.
- Richard?
- You slept with Zoe in college?
You cheated on me, and
you didn't tell me.
- You've been married to
this man for ten years,
and you could not
recognize him in the dark.
How could you possibly
expect Zoe to recognize you?
- You asked me how much
was fantasy versus control.
Maybe it was neither.
It was selfish.
There wasn't just a
hole in Zoe's life.
There was a hole
in mine as well.
- Nothing further.
- Madam Foreperson, will
you please read the verdict?
- On the charge of
aggravated sexual abuse
in the first degree, we find
the defendant not guilty.
On the charges of sexual
abuse in the third degree,
we find the defendant guilty.
- The state of New York thanks
the jury for its service.
Mrs. Scott, you are
remanded until sentencing.
- What's gonna happen to her?
Her life, her kid, her husband.
- Well, she was convicted
of a misdemeanor.
She'll do less than a year.
- Well, I don't want her
to go to jail at all.
- Listen, I can
talk to the judge.
And if she agrees to copious
amounts of counseling,
I could probably get
this down to probation.
But that has gotta be
what you really want.
- How are you doing
with all this?
- How do you think?
My husband's gone and
my best friend too.
- His presence will
always be felt.
It's about how you cope.
- Does getting on
a dating app count?
- Look, Zoe, you're young.
It's not too late
for a fresh start.
- Thank you.
- So what just happened
here? Was this justice?
- This is one of those
cases where you really
don't know what to think.
- I bet you've seen
a lot of those.
- I have. You will too.
You know, this job,
even when you do
everything right,
you don't always win.
Get used to that.