On February 7, 2018, Esparza left the series after six seasons in the episode "The Undiscovered Country". [39], WPIX described Paxton as an "ADA with a dark side" who has "serious control issues and several skeletons in her closet". Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But the relationship between Rita and Olivia has not always been fraught. They have somewhat of a tense conversation, as she does not like the tone he is using with her, after he asked why he has never heard of this man. He is of Native American ancestry, specifically Mohawk, and speaks proudly of his ancestors, noting that many of them helped to build the city's skyscrapers and subway tunnels. Donald Cragen is the Captain of the Special Victims Unit. Porter is trying not to be subpoenaed by the defense to avoid having to give dirt on Detective Benson. In the season 7 episode, "Venom", Ken is arrested after he was found digging in a vacant lot while he was intoxicated. In season 13, Executive ADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) is transferred from homicide to take over Donnelly's former role as supervisor. Simmons also played another character in Law & Order continuityColonel Alexander Rausch in the Homicide: Life on the Street Season 4 episode "For God and Country", a continuation of the Law & Order Season 6 episode "Charm City". The following morning, she arrives 45 minutes late to the mistrial hearing, appearing distraught and blaming a "fender bender". As of the season 8 episode "Screwed", he is assigned Chester Lake as his new partner. At the end of the season 2 premiere episode, Detective Fin Tutuola shows up at the SVU precinct, and Jeffries asks if she can help him. He continues to act as squad commander when Cragen is absent. A former homicide detective, he is often hard on Benson and her squad, most notably during their early interactions, but ultimately respects the work that they do and frequently backs them up to the NYPD brass. Resigned to her fate, she cooperates, repeatedly saying, "I understand," as tears continue rolling down her cheeks. No thanks, just show me the news. Rollins is revealed to be pregnant in the two-part season 17 opener when she is interviewing serial killer Dr. Gregory Yates (Dallas Roberts). Laura Dixon. Pieces of the confession begin to fall apart as Munch and Rollins finds evidence missing in the cold case file and the boyfriend of the victim admits to having a romantic relationship with Agent Lewis. "Unlike the two of us," he says, Delia is in a better place. As Benson returns to identify herself as police, the patrol officer shoots Cassidy twice. They are released on bail due to lack of evidence, which leads to Doug's murder by Cassandra's former lover Jerry Bullard (Tom Irwin). She developed a deep compassion for the mentally ill afterward, but still feels guilty for not being able to help him, as shown in season 9's "Blinded." During his tenure as the chief of detectives, he helped SVU on multiple cases, including a highly controversial one that upset many in the police force. M.E. 4. With each episode comes a new case, so Law & Order: SVU brings a new cast of characters to give life to the stories. Tutuola admits he called Lake, but says he did not expect him to run. She releases confidential case information to Harding, which puts Harding in danger. The last thing Lewis tells Benson is that his death will be the last thing she will see before she dies. She invites him to lunch with Noah, but is enraged when he does not show up and leaves him an enraged voice mail. SVU executive producer Neal Baer revealed that, "She's [Paxton] from Appeals and she's tired of having rape cases overturned because of misidentifications. One exception occurs in the episode "Burned", in which he compares a teenage suspect to his own son and admits that he enjoys rollerblading and Nintendo. However, when Benson confronts him during the trial and he admits he sympathizes with Barba but cannot ignore the prosecution because he fears it will set a bad example to others, she urges him to talk to Barba and be more reasonable with him. Paxton tells the SVU squad that she has been working to find Harding's missing sister for decades, as it was her case. He initially has a rocky relationship with his colleagues in SVU, especially his partner John Munch and Olivia Benson. As SVU Commanding Officer, he is portrayed as a somewhat stern but understanding father figure to the detectives who work under him, often giving them a great deal of leniency because he trusts their ability to get results. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) get an unexpected win over Gallagher (Josh Stamberg) when Judge Lewis (Adriane Lenox) delivers a surpr. Moredock orders Paxton to seek treatment. After Lake kills a suspect, Stabler accuses Tutuola of tipping him off before he is taken into custody and checks his phone records. Ellis uncovers a massive cover up by the lead prosecutor in the original case, who withheld photographic evidence of Rhodes being sexually assaulted by the man he murdered. A dogged prosecutor, she pushed the detectives to make cases for the sake of politics in favor of pursuing actual offenders. His biological parents saw him . In the season 14 episode, "Secrets Exhumed", Agent Lewis returns to partner with SVU when she believes that a Manhattan cold case is connected to several rape-homicides across the country. This proves too much for her to handle and she is seen gambling, smoking, and drinking in the final scene. Munch has been the only fictional character played by a single actor to appear on eight different television shows: Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, The X-Files, Arrested Development, The Beat, and The Wire. As the series progresses, he becomes closer with Munch and even saves Benson from being raped while they were both undercover in season 9. Grace Muncy ahead of the NBC . She was the medical examiner on SVU throughout the first season and has since been replaced by Dr. Melinda Warner. He defends the former football star and receives a not guilty verdict. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cast list, including photos of the actors when available. After she confesses this to a department psychiatrist, who is working for a commission investigating problems in various police units, she is taken off active duty and ordered to receive treatment. He separates from his wife Kathy during seasons 7 and 8, but they reconcile after she becomes pregnant with their fifth child. When Darius cons SVU into getting his confession without his lawyer present, the case continues in the season 8 finale, "Screwed". In season 14, Munch is temporarily reassigned to the Cold Case Unit, after solving a decade old cold child abduction case in the episode, "Manhattan Vigil". law and order: svu female defense attorneys Law And Order: 11 Actors Who Appeared On The Show Before They Were In season 17, he names his son, Mike (Andy Karl), Manhattan SVU's new sergeant, and is devastated by his death in a domestic violence dispute between a corrupt corrections officer (Brad Garrett) and his wife. After rushing to put Paley on the stand to testify, Barba and the detectives discover that she did not write the book, which forces Barba to get creative with the trial. In the fifth episode of season 16, it is revealed he has permanently joined the Manhattan SVU team. He diagnoses the boy with antisocial personality disorder and makes arrangements to get him into a treatment facility. Elliot Stabler is a senior detective who previously worked in Manhattan's 16th Precinct, also known as the Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. He is one of the original members of the squad. When Amanda hears screams from inside her apartment, she finds Kim's ex-boyfriend attempting to rape Kim, and Amanda shoots and kills the man as he pulls a gun on her. Olivia Benson. Rita Calhoun is played by the inimitable Elizabeth Marvel, who many might recognize for her roles in House of Cards, where she plays Heather Dunbar, or Homeland, where she plays President Elizabeth Keane. Beginning in season 13, Tutuola's primary partner is Detective Rollins. Unlike his older, more seasoned colleagues, he has difficulty keeping his emotions in check when confronted by the horrific crimes he sees. In the seventeenth-season episode "Community Policing", Murphy returns after finding out about Rollins' pregnancy while he was "4,000 miles away in Serbia trying to take down a sex trafficking ring." Who does Peter Scanavino play on Law and Order? | The Sun She tells Benson, who is clearly shocked and distraught, that she is so sorry. Law and Order SVU's Ice-T forces Jimmy Fallon to leave chair - Express After Barba resigns, traumatized by the case, Stone takes over as ADA overseeing the Manhattan SVU. Cragen sends him to interview a young girl who was repeatedly raped and brutalized, causing Cassidy to realize that he cannot emotionally handle the types of crimes that a SVU detective must deal with on a daily basis. 7. During "She Paints For Vengeance", he is assigned his first case when a young stripper/aspiring artist (Tonya Glanz) is raped by a former athlete. In "True Believers", Cutter takes the lead in a case where a college music student (Sofia Vassilieva) is raped at gunpoint by a drug dealer. In the episode "Reasonable Doubt", he comes out of a shower in Rollins' apartment. Stabler abruptly retires from the Special Victims Unit after he shoots and kills a teenage girl who was recklessly firing a gun in the squad room. Benson reassures Rollins and tells her that she trusts her partner.[25]. Executive ADA David Haden, the prosecutor who is re-investigating the case and Benson's love interest, is confronted by Ellis about their relationship and threatens to expose them if they didn't do the right thing. Cragen remarks to Marlowe, "You're the boss in court counselor, not here." I love her vulnerabilities and her underbelly that is pretty well hidden until the third and fourth episodes. In the season 11 finale, "Shattered", Marlowe is taken hostage, along with Detective Benson and Dr. Warner, in the morgue by Sophie Gerard (Isabelle Huppert), the distraught mother of a dead boy. Because of the sketchy lengths she'll go through to protect obviously guilty clients, she and Olivia have often butted heads. Amaro then gets the suspect to recant his confession and Lewis begins to seem increasingly panicked. Nonetheless, Novak has a 71 percent success rate in the cases she prosecutes, whereas the average for prosecutors is 44 percent. +25 Law And Order Svu Defense Attorneys Ideas | US Folder She later returned in the season 13 premiere "Scorched Earth", in which Cabot is the lead prosecutor in a rape case against a man who is the favorite to become Italy's next prime minister. This episode calls attention to the difficulty Donnelly experiences as a woman working in the justice system. Although she quickly loses her innocence when dealing with sex crimes, she still shows uneasiness when dealing with the gray areas of human involvement, preferring the letter of the law to the messiness of each individual reality. He happily returns command of SVU back over to Benson after the case is closed. 10 Best Guest Stars On Law & Order: SVU - CBR Avery Hemmings (Michelle Borth) was the hidden villainess of "Trade", episode 9.18 of Law & Order: SVU (airdate May 6, 2008). His new role finds him caught in the middle of conflicts between his former colleagues at SVU and his new boss, Vanessa Hadid (Zuleikha Robinson), at the district attorney's office. As seen in "Heartfelt Passages", Sgt. ADA Barba goes head to head with the Suffolk County District Attorney, Pam James (Jane Kaczmarek), in the episode "Beautiful Frame", after a Manhattan rape victim is charged with murder of her ex-boyfriend in Suffolk County. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Cast List - Ranker Executive Assistant District Attorney David Haden joins the show in the season 13, "Official Story", with a four-episode arc. His dedication to the job also makes him the target for several IAB investigations during the course of his 12-year career at SVU. In the same episode, Carisi helps turn one suspect against another during the investigation of a porn star's rape, earning him praise from Benson. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - NBC.com Benson and Haden meet for drinks and decide that they have to end their relationship and pretend like it never happened. Later, Cassidy and Benson share a kiss in his hospital room after Benson tells him she isn't the same person he knew years ago. A defense lawyer for Alex Murdaugh said Thursday that authorities were so determined to convict the disgraced South Carolina attorney of killing his wife and son that they lied about or misrepresented evidence. She states that she is a big supporter of the U.S military. He is portrayed by Titus Welliver, who also portrayed Tom Landricks in an earlier . Greylek also rushes to get justice for three women who were drugged and raped by a man obsessed with pornography in the episode "Smut". He was raised in Harlem and he served in the United States Army, where he saw combat in Mogadishu. Cassidy was written out of the show midway through the first season. Murdaugh spoke briefly at the hearing, continuing to claim his innocence. "[33] She returns again in the eighth episode of that season to "clash" with Cabot. At the end of the episode, after the real rapist has been caught and the wrongfully imprisoned man released, Cragen informs Benson that the District Attorney has decided to form a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate past cases and ensure no one is wrongfully imprisoned. She says that her father was an M-60 Door Gunner on a Huey during the Vietnam War. Actor Character First episode Last episode Number of appearances Some months later, Carisi reveals that he has recently taken the bar exam and thanks Barba for the earlier opportunity. In this way, their Season 22 elevator confrontation was just the latest (and perhaps most intense) in their years-long saga of working together. Barba was the best DA Carisi is a better cop than attorney. She was friends with PJ in college and became very aggressive in defending PJ, even going as far as to make a . A conspiracy theorist and dedicated detective, Munch is first partnered with Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters), whom he thinks of as a kind of younger brother, alternately poking fun at him and imparting (often questionable) advice on life and women. . She was killed in the season 12 finale "Smoked" by the young girl who fired a gun in the SVU squad-room with the intention of killing the men in holding who murdered her mother. During a case involving child abuse, Beck tries to foster a traumatized adopted girl, who attempts to burn down her apartment and kill them both. . In the season 14 premiere, after Amaro delays talking to her about their issues, he finally begins to apologize when she tells him that she has taken a job in Los Angeles, California. Then, in the episode's final scene, Benson rejoins Barba at Forlini's for one last call before the bar closes. When the taker demands Detective Stabler to come out of the office, he gives Warner his second gun, which she later uses to shoot the taker to prevent him from committing suicide by cop. While his plan is successful, however, he realizes that he let his emotions get the better of his legal ethics, and that he has to resign to make sure it doesn't happen again. Afterwards, he and his father mutually cut ties with Darius for his actions. The Sharp Defense Attorney Would Clash With The Svu Team Several Times. On the day of the airing of the episode "Hammered", Lahti stated that Paxton is the person that "everyone's loving to hate", and that hopefully the viewer's perception of her would change after the episode, sympathizing with the character's drinking problem. Barba tells the detectives to uncover anything and everything about Paley and her attacker. Murphy's reign as commanding officer continues after Lewis's suicide at the request of One Police Plaza. However, before the trial, Tucker commits suicide, wanting to spare his wife from suffering due to his terminal cancer. Dr. Warner is a NYC medical examiner who is one of SVU's biggest allies. Marlowe leaves the precinct only to have Cragen follow her outside, where he reminds her of "why she really retired" back in 1995: when she was a lieutenant she had sent two undercover detectives who later died in an attempt to arrest a drive-by murderer. She is taken hostage midway through season 17 ("Townhouse Incident"), but is rescued unharmed. In the fifth episode, it is revealed that Carisi has permanently joined the Manhattan SVU team. He is Roman Catholic, and wanted to be a priest when he was a child; two of his cousins are in the priesthood. After a twelve-year absence from the show, Cassidy returned in the season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights". Maria discovers this and comes into the squad room in a rage, knocking folders off his desk. [40], Previously.TV, while noting the misleading representations of lawyers on television, commented on the realism of Paxton's alcoholism storyline, contending that it "could happen, as alcoholism among lawyers is an issue. She and Benson also clash when Vivian Arliss (Maria Bello)who gave custody of her son Calvin (Charlie Tahan) to Bensonis a suspect in a string of burglaries. When the alleged rapist is killed, her friend is put on trial and Rollins' personal life is revealed on the stand. The two eventually ended their romantic relationship. Working in the Appeals bureau, she was the first to get a Capital Conviction in New York when the then newly elected Governor George Pataki brought back the death penalty in 1995. The character was first created for the NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street, where he worked as a homicide detective with the Baltimore Police Department. 'Law & Order: SVU': A Defense Attorney Gives Olivia Benson Jaw-Dropping Later in the episode "Deadly Ambition", Kim returns to New York beaten by her ex-boyfriend Jeff and claiming to be pregnant. Masterson reprises the role in the seventh-season episode, "Ripped", where she helps Detective Stabler come to terms with unresolved issues in what Baer called "an emotionally devastating scene". The operators of the illegal casino threaten to out Rollins to Benson, and although Rollins comes clean to Fin, Benson is still outraged. They begin to argue in front of the squad, until Cragen tells Amaro, "not here", and they go into the bunk room. 3. With Law & Order kicking off a three-hour block of the TV universe, which includes SVU and Organized Crime, there's bound to be crossovers between all three series. The Silent Epidemic Affecting Generation Z. the NYPD of racially profiling the defendant, who is African-American, and reveals that Tutuola and Rollins frisked three identical suspects - all of which result in Cutter losing the case. Her bread and butter involves defending celebrities, medical professionals, and even fellow lawyer criminals, and she's proven, over the past eight seasons, that she will stand behind them no matter what even if they are shown confessing on video. Kim has also suffered repeated abuse by her ex-boyfriend. Olivia Benson Can't Save Us: Law & Order SVU Takes on Police Reform - Paste He makes it through surgery, but he later suffers a stroke in the ICU and is put on life support. 1 min read. Barba is a headstrong, by-the-book prosecutor, who puts pressure on not only the detectives, but also the victims and witnesses. The 24-year-old, who also plays . Defense attorney Bayard Ellis (Andre Braugher) accuses [49] Throughout season 16, he mentions that he is going to night classes at Fordham University's law school. Ian Somerhalder on "Law and Order: SVU." NBC. [61] In the 2009 episode "Hammered" Moredock presides over the case of a heavy drinker accused of killing a woman during an alcoholic blackout. When the officers pull the woman off her, Greylek tells Stabler to charge her with assault. After his resignation, he began working for the government but approached SVU about a case before parting ways. Kathy is pinned and unconscious when Benson wakes up and calls for help. Rita, who jumped to the stand to defend a judge with a history of assaulting and raping women, ultimately warned Olivia she would have an uphill battle to climb for the rest of her career protecting victims, or "staying on the wrong side," unless she took her advice to "lie back and pretend you're enjoying it." Detective Grace Muncy is a detective assigned to SVU by Captain Olivia Benson and Captain Mike Duarte. As has often taken place in the Law & Order franchise, Simmons first appeared as a different characterJerry Luppin in the Season 4 episode "Sanctuary". Stabler half-jokingly refers to her as a "jinx", saying "[he's] nearly been killed" every time Lewis shows up; she counters his remarks by saying that maybe she is his "good luck charm", as he's survived every injury during their three episodes together. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Full Cast & Crew - TV Guide Stabler reluctantly says he cannot make that decision for her, so she decides it would be best to return to her old post at the Warrants squad. Three of the regular characters have appeared as regulars in other NBC series: Captain Donald Cragen (Florek), who was on the first three seasons of Law & Order; ADA Alexandra Cabot (March), who led the cast of Conviction; and Sergeant John Munch (Belzer), as a Baltimore detective in Homicide: Life on the Street. Cutter's office does not drop the charges, even when the producer's son takes his father's girlfriend and her daughter hostage and demands that his father be set free. The character was based on Jay Landsman, a central figure in David Simon's true crime book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, a documentary account of the homicide unit's operation over one year. Gerard shoots Dr. Warner and Benson and Marlowe must take action to save her life. law and order: svu female defense attorneys Carisi grew up in Staten Island ("off Arden Avenue") which is where his parents still reside. Primarily which defense lawyer fans of the hit TV series "really hate." I love her gray tones even though she pretends to be very by the book black and white; I love how just, you know, the complex gray tones in her character. Huang returns to New York in the season 14 episode, "Born Psychopath", and helps the SVU detectives with a case involving a young boy who has become increasingly violent towards those close to him. Hunger Chapter 24, a law and order: svu fanfic | FanFiction In the season 21 premiere he resigned, but not before insisting that Benson be promoted to the rank of captain. Want a refresher on who this fiery defense attorney is? ET. The characters of Elliot Stabler & Olivia Benson were named for creator Dick Wolf's children. He is seen visibly shaken as it happened to be his first kill shot. On September 28, 2021, after an 11-year hiatus, NBC announced that the series would be revived for . Best Law & Order Villains, From The Original Series to SVU - Collider Lewis, in tears, admits she went to the victim's home, and after the victim taunted Lewis with the fact he asked her to marry her, she says she blacked out. Dr. Rebecca Hendrix is a former police officer who was at the police academy with Detective Benson. In the following episode, "Father's Shadow", Haden offers to take Benson to dinner, but she respectfully declines, saying she is still on duty and joking there would be a possible conflict of interest. Murphy's strictness often causes him to butt heads with the detectives, mainly Amaro, who does not trust him. He was one of SVU's biggest allies until his death in the season 10 finale. As Benson tries to help her, Paxton says "It's okay, I got him," and she dies in Benson's arms. Judge who sentenced Alex Murdaugh to life tells disgraced lawyer his In "True Believers", he defends a black man who is on trial for attacking a girl in her apartment, and cites poor police procedure and the victim's creditably to get a not guilty verdict. Donald . Lewis then pursues Benson again, killing and raping people in his path and abducting a little girl, Amelia Cole (Lily Pilblad) to make Benson come to him at an abandoned quarry where he abducts her again. In the later episode "The Burden of Our Choices", she transfers to Benson's squad as a detective-in-training and is placed under the supervision of Fin and Rollins. Lieutenant Declan G. Murphy is first introduced working as an undercover cop who meets Rollins when she's on a gambling binge. Assistant District Attorney Peter Stone is appointed by District Attorney Jack McCoy as special counsel prosecuting Rafael Barba in the death of a terminally ill child in the episode "The Undiscovered Country". He also profiles suspects and offers advice to the District Attorneys regarding witnesses' and suspects' mental states. Special victims unit was renewed for a fifteenth season on april 26, 2013, which consists of 24 . Before Kim can be arrested, however, she steals everything from Amanda's apartment and disappears. In season 10, she makes a surprise return to SVU as the temporary ADA, replacing ADA Greylek, for six episodes, starting with the episode "Lead". At the end of "Spring Awakening", Murphy tells Benson that he has been chosen for an undercover assignment and recommended to One Police Plaza that command of the SVU be returned to her. Benson breaks free of her restraints and beats him within an inch of his life. Paxton is embarrassed and meets Benson and Stabler at a bar where she is seen drinking. She's also appeared in films like Burn After Reading, True Grit, The Meyerowitz Stories, and Lincoln, in which she stars alongside her husband Bill Camp. [62] In "Possessed", Moredock drops a statutory rape case because the statute of limitations had run out, even as he states that he finds the defendant, an elderly pedophile, repulsive. Olivia Benson, this elite team includes Sgt. Greylek also seeks justice when a man is brutally beaten outside a strip club with the man's ex-wife and 13-year-old transgender daughter as the prime suspect. When Cassidy's lawyer questions him, he is forced to reveal that he had a romantic relationship with the sister of a drug lord he was investigating undercover. The second officer, however, is released after the jury deadlocks. West next appeared in the third episode, "Behave", in which Benson works with to get justice for a rape victim named Vicki Sayers (Jennifer Love Hewitt), and to ensure that Bill Harris (James Le Gros), her rapist, is put away. Detective Katriona "Kat" Tamin is introduced in the Season 21 premiere "I'm Going to Make You a Star". This is a great post, thank you for putting everything together. After Cassidy's departure in the middle of the first season, she partners with Detective Munch and begins going out on investigations. Though he is liked and respected by the SVU detectives and they generally defer to his professional judgment, his diagnoses sometimes hinder prosecutions, particularly where he finds mental illness, making defendants either not fully responsible for their crimes, or not fit to stand trial.