All language subtitles for Law and Order SVU s22e06_English

- 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.

[dramatic music]

- Ms. Palma,
you claimed my client

groped you on the dance floor?

- Yes, I had to smack him away.

- With one hand,
because your other hand

was holding a vodka and soda?

How many drinks in
were you at this party?

- Objection, Valentina Palma
isn't on trial here.

Ian Hunter is.

- Testing my patience,
Ms. Calhoun.

- Moving on.

After my client groped you,

didn't you ask him
for a ride home?

- It was late.

I didn't feel safe
taking the subway to the Bronx.

- And did Ian drive you home?

- Yes, but to his house,
not mine.

- To his parents' house
in West Hampton.

Why didn't you tell him
to turn around?

- I fell asleep in the car.

- But you were awake enough
to enter his beach house

and have sex.
- It wasn't sex.

I said no.
- No to getting in his car?

No to going in the house?

Or no to having sex
with a young man

you didn't realize
had raped you

until two months later?
- Objection, badgering.

- Sustained.
Last time, Counselor.

- It was two months, wasn't it?

- Yes, but I--
- Thank you.

[dramatic music]

Nothing further.

♪

- You've been there before.
You've got this, Liv.

Captain says it's getting ugly.
She testifies next.

- Carisi should have
never let Suffolk County

take the case first.

- Yeah, but he can try Ian
on forceable touching--

in Manhattan, four years tops.

It's 15 years for rape
in Suffolk County.

- If he's convicted.

Preppy boy charged with raping
a South Bronx Latina

in the snow white East End.
Calhoun's defending him.

It makes me nervous.

- As we both know,
the fact that Valentina

didn't disclose for two months
is not at all unusual.

- If that's true, why didn't
Manhattan take the case?

- Because the more serious
charges were here.

- Not because your DA knew
you had no real evidence?

- Objection.
- Withdrawn.

Thank you, Captain Benson.

- Prosecution rests.
- Very well.

Defense ready to proceed?
- We are.

But at this time, we move
for a trial order motion

for dismissal.

Prosecution failed
to make a case.

No rape kit,
delayed police report--

- Thank you, Counselor.

I'll consider your motion
during recess.

- Is that motion bad?
- No, it's a routine move.

Defense attorneys
do it at every trial.

- It's a Hail Mary.
Rita Calhoun is worried.

She knows that
if she puts Ian on the stand,

the jury is gonna see
right through his smirk.

- Todo está bien, Valentina.

- So your friend Rita, huh?

I think she grew another
dorsal fin during quarantine.

- Oh, it was always there.

I think that
she just had it sharpened.

- Judge Gallagher
wants everybody in.

- In "he said, she said" cases,
almost by definition,

there is reasonable doubt.

Before this accusation,
this exemplary young man

Ian Hunter,
had already been accepted

to Vanderbilt Law School,
but you, Ms. Palma,

disrespected your scholarship
to Tompkins Square University

by binge drinking at a party.

Then, after asking Mr. Hunter
for a ride home

and willingly entering
his house,

you waited two months to decide
you'd been raped.

I have no way of knowing

what actually happened
that night,

but I do know
that I can't let this court

cavalierly destroy
Mr. Hunter's future.

I've heard the evidence
presented by the prosecution,

and I find it
legally insufficient

to establish
the offense charge therein,

therefore I am granting
the defense motion

to dismiss the indictment.

[gavel slams]

[tense music]

- Thank you, Judge Gallagher.

- He can't do that, can he?

- He can try,
but it doesn't mean

that he's gonna
get away with it.

- We can appeal this.
This is not over, Valentina.

♪

- I'm so sorry.

- Tough loss.
- [sighs]

- I did have
home court advantage.

- What does that mean?

- Gallagher, I just found out
he wasn't supposed

to be assigned this trial.
He bird-dogged it.

We were all a part
of his show trial

to shore up his base.

He just used you
to launch his political career.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

for New York State
Attorney General.

There's lawlessness
in the streets.

Our suburbs, our way of life,
are under attack,

and so are our sons.

The Me Too pendulum
has swung too far.

- "Our sons"?

Guess he doesn't care
about our daughters.

- Not even a little.

All this guy cares about
is himself

and his political career.
What is his pedigree?

- Hudson U undergrad,
Harvard Law,

eight years as
a Suffolk County ADA.

- He ever put his thumb
on the scale

when he was a prosecutor?

- Yeah, first year,

he had four high profile
rape convictions,

all Black
and Latino defendants,

and then he declined
to prosecute

a white college male
in a "he said, she said."

- The old boy network
is strong out east.

- So is the corruption.

Look who's spearheading
his campaign.

- Not the Hunter family?
- Close enough.

Tom Burns,
Ian Hunter's maternal uncle.

- That guy was
at the trial every day.

Look.

- The fix was in
before "all rise."

- It's pretty much
what Calhoun told us.

- She may have
overplayed her hand.

I can appeal
Gallagher's decision,

but Valentina doesn't want
to go through another trial,

but if we can prove
quid pro quo,

there's a good shot that
we get that decision reversed.

- This may help--
Gallagher and Ian's uncle

have known each other
for 30 years.

They were in the same frat
at Hudson U.

- At Hudson U in the '90s?

I may know someone
who went to school with them.

- Another country club buddy?
- Just the opposite.

- Captain, your reputation
precedes you.

- Oh, as does yours.

- Congratulations
on the promotion.

Head of the Civil Rights Unit,
that's a big step up.

- Well, after the riots,
they needed someone--

what did my boss say?

"Who checked
every diversity box."

So what brings SVU

to the people's republic
of Brooklyn?

- The past.
We're looking at a judge.

Charles Gallagher,
you two were undergrads

at Hudson U together.
You remember him?

- Chip Gallagher.
I wish I could un-remember him.

I worked in the frat kitchen.

He never bussed a tray once,
and now he's running for AG.

- Yeah, and to kickstart
his campaign,

he threw out a solid rape case.
- In Suffolk, I heard.

- And it turns out
the defendant's uncle

was Tom Burns,
another Hudson U alum.

- I know him too.

Those two were
thick as thieves.

- So Burns donated
to his campaign.

If we could prove
that it was a bribe...

- Tough case to make,
but I wouldn't be surprised.

They've been covering up
for each other for years.

- Covering up what?

- I've probably
already said too much.

- Counselor...

if there's a reason
that Gallagher shouldn't be AG,

we need to get that out there.

- It was a long time ago--
early '90s.

Sweet, brilliant girl who was
so brutalized by Gallagher,

she dropped out of Hudson.

It's haunted me
because I didn't help her.

- So you're saying
that he raped her.

- She told me he raped her

while Tommy Burns
held her down.

- Did she report this?

- She did, but those days,
it got buried.

Gallagher went on
to Harvard Law,

became a judge.
- And the victim?

[somber music]

- Not a week has gone
without my thinking

about what Chip did to her.

♪

- Nobody cared back then,
not even Isaiah Holmes.

I don't blame him.
We were on scholarship.

No match for that crowd.

- Can you tell us
about Gallagher?

- He invited me,
April from Sunset Park,

to a frat party

like he was interested in me,
but it was a setup.

- He assaulted you.
- One glass of punch.

Then I woke up with Gallagher
on top of me,

his wingman
Tommy Burns laughing,

holding me down.

- What happened
when you reported it?

- Campus cops interviewed me,
Chip, his frat brothers.

Then they basically told me I
shouldn't let one drunken night

define my college experience.

- Did you ever go to NYPD?
- No.

Those guys control
the narrative.

I realized I was never
gonna make it in their world.

Never even made it
to law school.

- Ms. Kelly, look,

your case is past
the statute of limitations,

but often when one person
comes forward--

- Not me.

I tried to fight Gallagher
30 years ago.

Lost.

And he's running for AG now?

If I go up against him,

his old boy network
will destroy me.

I have to go back to work.

- So that's it?

- Well, if she reported it
to Hudson,

there might be a record.

- Yeah, but didn't you
used to know the president?

- Well, there's been
a revolving door lately,

but Gallagher teaches there.

I should give the new president
the courtesy of a heads-up.

- We're lucky to have a judge
of Gallagher's stature

teaching
constitutional law here.

We think the world of him.

[people shouting indistinctly]

- Well, it doesn't seem
like your students agree.

- I can't say I entirely
disagree with them.

The ruling in the Suffolk case
was upsetting.

Frankly, I wish
the Manhattan DA

had prosecuted the case.

- That was a decision
beyond my pay grade.

- I imagine
there's a lot of those.

Anyway, if you're vetting him
for his AG run,

I can assure you
there have been no complaints

about him here.
- As a professor.

And I realize this is
before your time here,

but do you know anything

about his record
as an undergrad?

- You're fishing for something.
You want to give me a hint?

- There may have been
a sexual misconduct claim

filed against him
when he was at Tau Omega.

- This would have been
in the '90s.

- Yes.
- I'll look into it.

- Thank you.

- But I doubt
we'll find anything,

given his character
and, frankly,

the way complaints
were handled back then--

- I would appreciate any help.
- Of course.

- You get anything, captain?

- Well, President DuBois agreed

to look into April's
accusations against the judge.

- And you believe her?
- I don't know.

I mean, she said
all the right things,

but that's why they hired her.

- Ask Carisi for a warrant.

- I think that'll raise
a red flag.

[indistinct chatter]

- There might be a better way.

- Working campus police,
I got more bennies

than even you guys.

Three kids, free tuition.

My third's a senior,
protesting that judge.

- Actually,
he's why we're here.

Any chance you were
on the job

back when Gallagher
was a undergrad?

- My first year.

- You know he was accused
of raping a girl

your daughter's age?

- Listen, I can't talk
to you, man.

You gotta go
through administration.

- You know how that goes.

Any chance you got
any of your memo books

from back in the day?

The victim's name
was April Kelly.

- Sorry, I gotta go, Officer.

I drive my daughter home
every day.

- You can never be too safe
with a college girl.

- I wish I could have
been more help, man.

- Hey, if anything comes up.
- Hi, Dad.

- Hey.
- Hello, Officer.

- Investigating
a decades old assault charge

on Judge Gallagher
with a reluctant victim

seems an overreach.

- He's running
for attorney general.

His victim disclosed
to me at the time.

- Chief, I spoke to her myself.
She's credible.

- And her case
is outside the statute.

- This guy is a predator
who protects other predators.

If we keep digging,
we're gonna find more victims.

- Sorry, sir, I told him
you were in a meeting.

- My fault, Chief.
It's important.

I'd appreciate a few minutes.
- Of course, Judge.

It's okay, Celia.

- So these are my accusers?

Captain, Counselor, and Isaiah.
Et tu, busboy?

- Been a long time, Chip.

- Counselor Holmes
and I go way back

when he was slinging
fish sticks.

He knows
I have nothing to hide.

You have questions,
you should have come to me.

- Just due diligence,
Your Honor.

- This because you
just lost your case

or because I'm running for AG?

- We have
a credible accusation.

- Credible or ginned up?

In this environment,
any woman can say anything.

If you have
political opponents,

they'll run with it.

- Well, if that's the case,
then we'll find out.

- Before or after
you've achieved

your true goal to tar me?

- [chuckles]

That's not what
this is about, Judge.

- You're gonna sit there
and tell me these three

aren't biased against me?

You're a smart guy.

Think you'd know a hanging jury
when you see one.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Thanks for calling.

- Wasn't my idea.
- Well, thank your daughter.

- Went through
some old boxes in my garage,

found a bunch
of old memo books, but...

- I didn't get 'em from you.

- And his other two victims
I found,

you didn't get those
from me either.

- Understood.

♪

.

- So how did you guys
hear about my case?

Hudson U just treated me
like I was toxic waste.

- Well, somebody who cared
came forward.

Look, if you feel
uncomfortable at all,

or if you don't remember
the details--

- Oh, I remember the details.

Chip Gallagher assaulted me.

- So can you tell us
what happened?

- I passed out at a party,

woke up with his thing
in my hand,

and the whole room
was laughing.

- Did you report Gallagher?
- The next day.

They took statements
from everybody in the room,

Chip's pals,
my so-called friends.

They all backed Chip,
just like with April.

- So you knew about April.

- When April heard about it,
she reached out,

told me what Gallagher
did to her.

At least it made me feel
like I wasn't crazy.

- If we can make a case
against Gallagher,

would you be willing
to testify?

- Isn't it too long ago?

- We wouldn't be able
to prosecute your case,

but this is still
an open investigation,

so his conduct with you would
certainly speak to pattern.

- If you say so.

In my opinion,
guys like Gallagher,

they've been
above the law for so long,

nothing touches them.

[tense music]

- I was a freshman.

I couldn't believe I was
invited to a Hamptons party.

I had some drinks.

I woke up on a boat naked
and alone with Chip Gallagher.

I was scared.

I begged Chip to take us back.
- And what did he say?

- He said I had two choices--
hump or jump.

- I'm so sorry.

- I was a city kid.
I couldn't swim.

At least it was over fast.

- Did you ever file
a police report?

- Hudson U said it was
a campus security matter.

When you're on financial aid,

you do what the school
tells you.

- So they told you
they'd look into it

and not to go to the police.

- Would you be willing
to testify against him?

- I'm a court reporter.

For the past 15 years,
I've taken the testimony

of every skeeze, sleaze,
and scumbag they make.

My dream--
someone else typing

while I testify
against Chip Gallagher.

- So April is still reluctant,

but Francine is willing,

and Carmen has already given
an interview to Buzzfeed

about how she was
sexually assaulted

by Gallagher as an undergrad.

- And we've got
campus police memo books

to back 'em up.
- Okay, it's a start.

It goes to pattern,
but I still need a case

within the statute.

- Also going to pattern,
Gallagher only chooses

women from lower classes--
on scholarships, ethnic.

- So we look for more women
in his orbit

that fit that profile.
- Well, you better move fast.

Gallagher's circling
the wagons.

- With us today
are ten lawyers

who've been mentored
by Judge Gallagher

as interns,
clerks, or students.

Each of these women
has signed a statement

attesting that the judge is
a man of impeccable character

incapable of
the kind of behavior

he has been
falsely accused of.

- Calhoun is defending
Gallagher now.

So there really is no bottom.
- Or shame.

She just argued
a case in front of him.

- I pride myself on having
created opportunities

for women
throughout my career.

If I stand for anything,
it's for equity and fairness.

I don't see
gender, race, or creed.

- All right, well,
he doesn't see class or color,

but when I look
at that screen,

all I see are white women
of privilege.

- So we know
he's not raping them.

- But these guys call in favors

from women
they haven't assaulted.

We've seen that move before.

- All right,
then we need to find the women

that didn't
sign that statement.

- This was over ten years ago.

I can guess why you're here,
and I can tell you right now

I can't help you.

- You weren't a part of
Gallagher's press conference.

- I just made junior partner
at my firm.

I didn't have the time.

- Maybe it's because Gallagher

was less of a gentleman
with you.

- He was my professor,
my mentor.

- And you're saying
he wasn't hands on?

- I wouldn't be here today
earning high six figures

without his referral.

- You should be very proud,
a girl from the Pink Houses.

- I am.

I moved my moms
out of the projects

in Brownsville
into a brownstone I now own.

- You're afraid
all that'll go away

if you let people think

that you slept
with your professor?

- I was talking
to your partner.

- He's my boss,
but maybe you and I have...

More in common
than you think.

I had to leave
my first job, my hometown,

because of a guy
like Gallagher.

- Then you know
I didn't sleep with him.

- Yeah.

- He said
he needed an assistant

on a fast track to clerk.

Didn't matter that I was
one of his best students.

I had a choice

between failing his class
or acing it

with a law school
recommendation

and a clerkship
that led to this job--

- Maya, you don't need me
to tell you that that's rape.

- Maybe rape three,
but that's a tough case,

and it might put
my partnership at risk.

- Maya, I can't tell you
what to do,

but I've never known
a sister from Brownsville

that would step away
from a fight

when someone
had done her wrong.

- Two women
he went to college with

and someone who clerked for him

are making
unsubstantiated accusations.

This isn't an investigation.
It's a political inquisition.

- Rita, you can spin this
any way you want.

We found these women.
They didn't come to us.

- And the DA's willing to go
to trial on this tomorrow.

- Correct me
if I'm wrong, Counselor.

You went to Fordham Law
night school?

You've been a ADA for a year?
- Hold on, Your Honor.

Neither of you like my client,
but let's face it.

If you had a viable case,

you'd have already
perp walked him,

so why are we here?

- The DA's also willing
not to proceed

if Judge Gallagher agrees
to drop out of the AG race.

- What the hell
are you talking about?

- He'd also have to resign
from the bench.

- Olivia--

I have asked the judge to give
you the benefit of the doubt,

but these overt ideological
and personal attacks

are beyond the pale.

- Rita, this isn't personal,
and this is not political.

Your client is a rapist.

- The only reason
that he's getting off

on a complete walk
is because the DA

doesn't want it to look
like he's interfering

in a political race.
I'd take it, Counselor.

- Respectfully pass.
Judge, let's go.

- You people in Manhattan

really live in a bubble,
don't you?

The world has changed.

You have no idea
what you're dealing with.

You know, if you keep this up,

I'll see to it
you're disbarred.

You get lucky,

maybe the NYPD'll
take you back.

You can do traffic stops
on Staten Island.

- Your Honor, we're done here.
- Okay, all right.

- Something they
can't teach you at Fordham,

how to belong.

People on the eighth floor
who nod at you in the elevator,

they can smell the flop sweat
and the garlic

coming off your cheap suit.
- Keep going, Judge.

- Yeah, what do you
want to hear, you dumb dago?

You want to go?
- Yeah, fine.

I'll take you out right here.
- Okay, that's enough.

That's enough.
- Or we can go right now.

Either way's fine for me.
- Carisi.

- No need.

You're in
so far over your head,

you don't even know
your career's dead and buried.

[tense music]

♪

- You okay?
- Fine.

Screw him.

.

- I'm sorry
you had to listen to that.

- I'm not.

It's always good to know

what's right there
below the surface.

- He has so much ego.

He thinks
that he's invulnerable.

It hasn't even occurred to him
that he's risking prison time.

- Eh, to the contrary.

He sees this as a way
to shore up his status

as a victim
of cancel culture persecution.

- Charges are slanderous...

- Calhoun is beating that drum
as loud as she can.

- You have your work
cut out for you, Counselor.

Good luck.

- My client has been
a respected and dedicated

civil servant
for over 1/4 century.

He has devoted his entire life
to upholding the Constitution

and the rule of law.

- Isn't Carmen
your first witness?

- Ms. Benitez, you need
to wait with the court officer

until you testify.
- I won't be testifying.

- Wait, hold on, look,

I know how stressful
this can be,

but you were solid on--

- I just got a text
from my supervisor.

He said if I testify,
no judge will take me

as their court reporter.
I'm sorry.

I have to work.
I have kids.

- Hold on, hold on,

they're threatening
to blackball you.

That is illegal.
They cannot do that.

- Like that's
ever stopped Gallagher.

- We can call your supervisor.
- Please don't.

[dramatic music]

♪

- All right, I'll just--
I just tell Francine

that, after opening statements,
she's up first now.

- Carisi, don't you let
these bastards get to you.

You got this.

- I was a freshman
at my first frat party.

I had too much to drink.
- And what happened?

- I must have passed out.
- And when you came to?

- I was on the floor.

Chip Gallagher
was kneeling over me,

and he had put his erect penis
in my left hand.

- Was anyone else there?

- His frat brothers watched.
I can still hear them laughing.

- Did you report this
to Hudson U?

- I did.

They told me
not to go to the police

and then they deemed it
unfounded.

I ended up transferring out.

I've replayed the humiliation
of that moment in my head

for over 30 years.

- Thank you.

- Ms. Giamba,
you've been married twice.

No, I'm sorry.

Three times.

I don't see a ring
on your left hand.

- No, that's because--

- Right, because you've been
divorced three times

and all for infidelity?
- Objection.

- Prosecution
is using this woman

as a Molineux pattern witness.

I'm merely showing a pattern
of deceit that this witness...

- Sustained.

- Cheated on three husbands

she promised to be faithful to.

- Ms. Calhoun,
the objection is sustained.

- I don't see why the jury
should take her word

against my client now.

- Jury will disregard.

One more word, Ms. Calhoun,

and I will hold you
in contempt.

- Nothing further.

- Ms. Bell, when you
first met the defendant,

he wasn't just
a law school professor.

He was also a sitting judge.
- Yes.

I looked up to him.

He seemed to take
a special interest in me

even though
I was on scholarship.

- And what changed
your relationship?

- I asked if I could use him
as a reference for a clerkship.

He said he would be happy
to discuss my future

if I met him
at his campus office one night.

- And what happened
in that meeting?

- He said he would be
open to helping me

if I was open to helping him.

- What did you
take that to mean?

- He made it clear
that if I wanted good grades,

a recommendation,
I had to, as he put it,

"approach the bench."

By that, he meant
service him sexually.

- And did you?

- Yes, the first time
that night.

I subsequently
had "night court" with him--

his phrase for oral sex--
until the semester ended.

- Did he physically force you?

- No, but he made it clear that
if I didn't do what he wanted,

he wouldn't just fail me.

He'd see to it that I would
lose my scholarship

and be expelled.

One phone call
and my hopes of a law career

would be dead and buried.

- Dead and buried.

Those were his exact words?
- Yes.

I knew I would
never become a lawyer.

- Thank you, Ms. Bell.

I know it wasn't easy
for you to be here today.

- As a lawyer, Ms. Bell,
I assume you know

the penal code for prostitution
in New York State?

- Yes, and I know
where you're going,

and this is not--

- Didn't you just testify
you exchanged sex

for monetary rewards?
- I was forced to.

- Do you have any proof--
texts, emails, witnesses

of your sex for success
arrangement

with my client?

- No.

The judge was very careful.
- And you were very grateful?

- Objection.
- I'll just prove my point.

Would you please read aloud

this email that you sent
to Judge Gallagher?

[somber music]

♪

- "Chip, a note of thanks
for all you've done for me.

"I began my clerkship today,

and I never would have made it
here without your support."

- Does that sound
like the kind of note

that a victim
sends to her rapist?

- I think a part of me
was trying to pretend

that what he did to me
didn't happen.

He had recommended me
for the clerkship, so I--

- And didn't you choose him
to swear you in as a lawyer?

And didn't he
write a recommendation

to the firm where you
are now a junior partner?

- Yes, but that doesn't mean--

- Your testimony seems to me

like nothing more
than an ambitious young woman

looking to hustle
some free Me Too publicity.

- Objection.
- Withdrawn.

No more questions.

- Ms. Bell,
can you in any way benefit

from your testimony here today?

- No, not if it makes people
question how I got my job.

I want to be fair.

Gallagher did help me.

That's why I didn't
come forward earlier.

- But he did assault you?

♪

- Yes.

- Nothing further.
Thank you.

♪

.

- How are you holding up?

- Well, they were
both better at prep.

- Well, they see him
sitting at the table

and they get intimidated
all over again.

- If I were on that jury,
sex for success

versus inability consent,
I'd see reasonable doubt.

I mean, this is textbook
"he said, she said."

- Gallagher's favorite phrase.

- April.

- There's no reasonable doubt
about what happened to me.

It was rape.

I saw his lawyer's
press conference

calling the other victims
opportunists or crazy

or liars.

I don't want Gallagher
to get away

with what he's done.
I'll testify.

I woke up lying
on a cold bathroom floor.

I was naked
from the waist down.

Chip Gallagher
was on top of me.

He was raping me

while one of his brothers
held me down.

- Did you go to the police?
- No.

I reported it to Hudson U.
They said they would handle it.

- And did they?
- No.

After they investigated,

they declared
the case unfounded.

- Thank you, Ms. Kelly.

- Ms. Kelly, why do you think

Hudson believed this encounter
was consensual?

- I don't know.

- Was it because none of
the supposed witnesses to this

backed you up?
- They were his frat buddies.

- Didn't campus police
interview two of your friends

who said they saw no rape?

- They weren't in the bathroom.
- Okay.

You were drinking.
- Yes, I said that--one drink.

- And you don't remember how
you got on that bathroom floor?

- No.

- So isn't it possible
you don't remember

initiating
the sexual encounter?

- Objection.
- Overruled.

- I didn't.
He raped me.

- But no rape kit,
no police report.

- Well, they told me
if I reported it to the police,

it could jeopardize
my scholarship.

- And did you report this
to anyone?

- I told a classmate--
Isaiah Holmes.

- And did Mr. Holmes
do anything on your behalf?

Did he report what you
supposedly told him?

- I did tell him!

Chip Gallagher raped me.
He ruined my life.

I was gonna be a lawyer.

- Were you?

You failed out of Hudson.
This was 30 years ago.

Isn't it possible
that you ruined your life

all by yourself?

- Objection,
badgering the witness.

- Rephrase.

You're unhappy with your life.

Isn't it possible
you're looking

for someone else to blame?
- I can't do this!

[sobs]
I can't.

- Your honor, request a recess.

- I'm not finished with my line
of questioning, Your Honor.

- I think the witness is.

- [sobbing]

- I tried to talk to April.

She said she wished
I never brought any of this up.

- I was the one that came
to you in the first place.

- I thought I could
make things right,

but I could not
help April today

any more than I could
30 years ago.

- You could testify to that.

- I was in the courtroom
to be supportive of her.

Calhoun will claim that taints
any testimony I give.

- She will, but let me
take it to the judge.

You were an outcry witness.
That has to carry weight.

- And you think that'll make
any difference to the jury?

- It'll make a difference
to Gallagher.

When did April Kelly
tell you

that she had been raped
by Chip Gallagher?

- Your Honor, approach?

Again, I object
to this witness.

How do we know
Mr. Holmes' testimony

hasn't been tailored to confirm

what he heard
April Kelly claim on the stand?

- We went over this
in chambers, Your Honor.

- Ms. Calhoun, your objection
is on the record.

You will have the opportunity
to cross-examine on that point,

and, as I said,
I will remind the jury

that when they evaluate
this testimony,

they need to take Mr. Holmes'
earlier presence into account.

Step back.

You may proceed, Mr. Holmes.

- April told me the next day.

She was distraught, broken,
I'd say.

I knew she was
telling the truth.

- Was there another reason
that you believed her?

- Yes, that morning
while serving them

in the frat dining hall,
I heard Chip bragging

about what he'd done to April.
- In front of you?

- I believe
they were accustomed

to not noticing the help.

- And did you say anything
to Gallagher?

- I tried to confront him.
- You tried?

- I was a confused kid
in college,

unsure of my own racial
and sexual identity.

- Objection.
Relevance?

- I'm getting to that,
Your Honor.

What happened when you
confronted Mr. Gallagher?

- He just smirked.

Then he said,
if I reported him,

he would tell everyone I was
"not just a half-breed

but a homo," and that
he knew the school trustees.

He could kill my scholarship
in a phone call.

- Mm.

And so you did not support
April's accusation?

- No, to my lasting shame.

- And even today,
is testifying

against a sitting judge,

a candidate
for state attorney general,

a good career move for
an assistant district attorney?

- I wouldn't think so.

- So why are you
testifying today?

- I am trying to right

the worst moral lapse
of my life--

my silence.

My failure to come forward
on April's behalf

haunts me to this day.

.

- Okay, Tommy, hold the fort.
This'll all be over soon.

- Isaiah,
looking a little pasty.

Trying to get back at me
because I never tipped you

for bussing my trays?

- At least
you're consistent, Chip.

Once an ass, always an ass.
- Said the bottom to the top.

- Excuse me?

- You know, 30 years ago,
a lot of guys didn't want

even a closeted homo
touching their food,

but I stood up for you.

Now that you're a double token
sucking and jiving

your way up the ladder,
this is how you repay me?

- Did you feel anything

watching April
fall apart on the stand?

- She got what she wanted
that night.

- She wanted to be raped?

- It's a common
women's fantasy, Holmes,

not that a faggot like you
would know what a woman wants.

- The NYPD
can't have witnesses...

- This is inadmissible
and illegal!

- Working undercover.

- Nobody at the NYPD
or my office

asked Mr. Holmes to do this.

- How did you come
to record this?

- When Gallagher
came into the men's room,

I sensed he was
going to threaten me,

so I hit record.

- Permissible
under New York state law.

- This is out of context
men's room talk.

You cannot allow it, Judge.

- Actually, I can and I will.

[dramatic music]

♪

- Gallagher's taking a deal?

- He doesn't want that tape
to get out.

- He'll end his campaign
and plead to sexual misconduct.

- How much time?
- A year under house arrest.

- Figures, judge gets off easy.

- It's not my call.

The eighth floor
is very sensitive

to being perceived
as using their power

to punish political rivals.
- Carisi, we get it.

Your hands were tied.

- Yeah, we live
in divisive times.

Gallagher has
a lot of supporters...

[phone vibrates]

Happy to see a conspiracy
against their hero.

- Hey, well,
at least he's off the bench

and on ankle bracelet.

About to close this out.

- Are you ready to allocute,
Judge Gallagher?

- I am.

Today I plead guilty
to sexual misconduct.

What I thought was consensual
I now understand

was perceived as coercive
and hurtful actions.

- I understand there's a deal?

- We've agreed
to the DA's offer

of one year to be served
under house arrest.

- Mr. Carisi, are you
comfortable with this?

- My office is satisfied,
Your Honor.

- Well, I'm not.

[dramatic music]

Judge Gallagher,
you come from a good family,

a fine home, and yet
despite all those advantages,

upon achieving power,
you abused it habitually.

So in the interest
of true justice

for the women you've abused,

I hereby order you to serve
your one year sentence

in a jail cell.
- What?

- It's fine.
- You can't do that.

We had a deal!
- You did.

And as you well understand,
the bench has inherent powers

in these situations.

♪

The long arm of the law
can work both ways.

You're remanded.

Take Mr. Gallagher
into custody.

- It's fine.
Don't worry.

I will be in touch shortly.

[indistinct chatter]

[applause]

♪

- How long
till he's out on appeal?

- I don't care.

It was worth it
to see the blood

drain out of his face.

- He just got a taste
of his own medicine.

- Wouldn't have happened
without you, Counselor.

You were brave
to get on the stand.

- The women were.
I wasn't.

What would have been brave--
if I'd taken a stand

30 years ago.
- Take the win, Counselor.

Listen, you feel
the need for penance,

every case Gallagher
ever dismissed

is now up for review.

- Sounds like we have
some digging to do.

- Excuse me.
I'll try not to gloat.

- You all seem pleased
with yourselves.

This was just the first round.

- You know what I
don't understand?

Rita, what the hell were you
thinking defending him?

- Read the room, Olivia.

The way the courts are packed,
Gallagher's side,

these guys and women--
the next 30 years,

every appeal all the way
to the Supreme Court.

The fix is in.
- That's why we keep fighting.

- Not if they won't
let you in the ring.

Olivia, you keep staying
on the wrong side of this,

you're gonna be marginalized
for the rest of your career.

My advice...

[elevator bell dings]

Lie back
and pretend you're enjoying it.

[somber music]

♪

.

[dramatic music]

♪

[wolf howls]