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.
Theo! Theo! Stop playing with the birthday presents.
Henry, hold still. Mom, that hurts.
Theo... Theo, it's not your birthday. You're gonna break that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You've got more on your face than in your tummy.
I want another piece of cake.
Oh, yeah? We'll see, puppy.
Theo? Theo! Theo!
Theodore! I'm right here. Stop yelling.
I have told you a million times not to disappear like that.
You said don't play with the birthday presents. I'm not.
Sure.
Henry? Where'd he go?
I don't know. Henry?
Henry! Henry!
18 is sending manpower to canvass.
There's four birthday parties going on, a couple hundred kids and parents.
Nobody saw Henry Morton wander off.
Well, whoever took him knew how to be invisible.
The parents rent the party section. There is public access
but the employees have all been accounted for.
Picture from mom's wallet.
Now, we're covered from 23rd Street
down to Tenth, Second Avenue to Broadway.
Print up flyers. Mom remember anything else?
No, she's too upset. EMS took her to St. Vincent's.
Her husband's with her now.
Send Munch to get a statement as soon as she calms down.
Sighting, lower Broadway.
Benson, SVU. Description? No, he has brown hair. Thanks.
Kid left alone, blond hair and khakis.
Security tape's up. I got Henry.
Okay, here's Henry with Mom. She's coming toward us.
She's looking for the older kid.
Henry's right there with the yellow balloon.
Henry comes down the aisle, he's still got the balloon,
rounds the corner, keeps going, going...
Gone. There's the balloon on the floor.
The kid was out of camera range five seconds.
Okay, what about the cameras at the front door?
Nothing. Must have went out the back.
Looks like we got ourselves one smart perv.
So smart that he's got his eyes on the kid and the cameras.
Go away, Wolinsky. That's no way to treat a concerned citizen.
You gotta stop listening to that police scanner and get a life.
Just trying to pick up the slack for you guys.
It's Sunday. Take the day off, go to church.
Malcolm Wolinsky, Association for the Protection of Children.
I know who you are. Get lost.
Me and my group, we have a legal right to investigate and make arrests.
Last time you almost cost us the conviction.
Your daughter was molested, you'd want our help.
Officers, escort these gentlemen behind the barricade.
They cause any trouble, collar them.
Arrest us? For what? Obstruction.
He was dragging the boy down the street. He had wavy red hair.
The man or the boy? The father. The boy had brown hair.
I thought he was throwing a temper tantrum.
Mrs. Lewis saw the guy force the kid into a red jacket and a blue baseball cap.
I'll get out a description of the new clothes.
Hey, did you see where they went? Subway.
The kid was screaming his lungs out.
Sure I remember him. I was just clocking in.
Kid was fighting and kicking.
His dad was trying to buy a MetroCard out of that machine.
Did he use paper or plastic? Machine's busted. Only takes plastic.
We got him. What time did you start work this morning?
1:00. It's Stabler. I need Transit Bureau
to run a guy's credit card and address.
I want my mom! You're not my mom!
Shut up! You do what I tell you.
Hit it!
Let me go!
Jeffrey Jackson! What the hell's going on?
Jeffrey Jackson, get away from the boy, stand over here.
Step over here, sweetheart.
It's okay, Henry. It's okay.
Henry? Who's Henry?
Elliot.
It's not him. He's my stepson.
I want all your badge numbers. I'm gonna sue your asses off.
Henry Morton's been missing for three hours
and we've been chasing the wrong kid. What else we got?
Mom wasn't much help. Her husband took her up to Riverdale an hour ago.
Liv and I'll go out there. John, Fin, you coordinate the search.
Okay, get us something with the kid's scent on it.
I'll turn it into K-9 as soon as we get the sample.
We gotta get a new picture of Henry. The photo we've got is a year old.
Is that Henry's most recent picture?
This was taken six weeks ago. It looks more like him.
Here. Update the flyers.
Did you find something for the bloodhounds?
Yes, Henry's socks, in the dirty laundry.
This gonna be enough? Yeah, that should be fine.
We'd like to ask your wife a few more questions.
I gave her a sedative so she could sleep.
I'm a psychiatrist.
Any patients with a grudge? No one's made any threats.
How about violence against children?
No, just your garden-variety neurotics.
Detectives, we've been canvassing the neighbors.
Kid next door saw a guy hanging around this morning.
I was in our driveway fixing my skateboard.
Henry was playing in his yard.
The man was in a car parked over there.
Did you happen to notice what he was wearing?
A baseball cap and sunglasses. He was watching Henry.
Was the man black, white, young, old? White.
Can you describe the car?
It looked like the Toyota my mom used to drive.
What color? Black.
Did you get a look at the license plate number or the state?
I didn't look.
I'm sorry, Dr. Morton.
I wish I'd told my mom this morning.
It's okay, Jake, you're helping us now. Thanks.
Jake, listen...
I know the research on pedophiles.
What's the chance my son is still alive? You can't lose hope now.
Now, we're gonna get Jake's description of the man out on the air,
we'll run the car and we'll get these to the K-9 unit.
Where are these bloodhounds? Coming in from Coney Island.
Another lost kid. ETA's an hour.
We're gonna lose the light and the scent trail.
Search team just found this in the gutter six blocks from the party place.
Same size and brand that Henry was wearing.
We need those dogs. I'm not gonna stand around here waiting
with my thumb up my ass.
Maybe the Sex Offender Unit got a hit on the car, huh?
Your witness said an old black Toyota.
Best I've got is a '95 Honda, dark blue. I'll take it.
I went back 10 years. We could go further but this is a good hit.
Billy Turner?
Cases preschool playgrounds, picks a kid,
waits for the parents to show up, follows them home.
Now, our missing kid goes to a preschool on the East Side.
Parole photo.
Last time Billy took a collar, he drove all the way up to Hastings,
grabbed a kid and fondled him in his car.
Got out two months ago. These pervs just never stop.
Now, it says he has an apartment on Avenue B.
Car's not registered in his name? Belongs to Mom.
You worked Billy's case. Any idea where he might have taken the kid?
He works nights at a plating shop, closed on Sunday. Could be there.
Have the sector car check out that shop. Me and my partner
are gonna hit his apartment. Thank you.
I'll beat it out of you, you son of a bitch! Please! Don't hurt me!
I don't know! Tell me where he is!
Where is he? I don't know!
Wolinsky! Step away from him! Now!
What the hell are you doing here? Looking for the kid.
Where's Henry? I don't know. I told this crazy bastard.
Where did you stash him? It wasn't me, I swear. I'm cured.
Officers, take him, put him in the car. Wait outside for CSU.
How'd you find out about Billy? Yeah, I heard you were looking for him
on the police radio... You are done with this.
Do you understand me? You are done with this.
Right after I file a complaint for police brutality!
You're lucky I don't charge you with assault!
I didn't touch the baby-raper!
You trashed this apartment. If Henry Morton was here,
that means that you destroyed a crime scene.
You interfere again, you're doing time.
You take that perv scum's side over me?
I don't take anybody's side. Get out of here.
I never heard of this kid.
I wasn't there.
I don't have those urges anymore. We know. You're cured.
I told you, I was at the Laundromat.
All morning? You must have had a lot of clothes.
His name is Henry. He's five years old.
Same age as that boy you played doctor with up in Hastings.
What's the matter, Billy? Don't you want to look?
I know you like to look. My shrink says I can't.
Yeah, but you want to.
There ain't no doctor ever gonna put out that sick fire, huh?
Where's your car, Billy? I don't have one.
Oh, that's right. It's your mama's Honda.
Does she know what you do in that car?
Does she know that you take little boys for rides?
I don't do that anymore. Really? 'Cause I called your mama...
No.... and she says that you borrowed the car
and you didn't bring it back.
It was stolen. Or you dumped it,
because it was soaked with Henry's blood.
Yeah, your mama's going to be very disappointed
when she finds out that you're back to your old tricks again.
You leave my mom out of this!
We will, as soon as you tell us where Henry is.
I don't know him.
A witness saw you in your car outside that little boy's house this morning.
You don't know him?
Billy, it's gonna be better for everybody if you just tell us the truth now.
Fin just called. K-9 has a scent.
Those bloodhounds are gonna find that boy, Billy.
You son of a bitch, they better find him alive.
She picked up Henry's scent at the party place
and been taking us north ever since.
This pooch is cool. We gave her the sock, went right to work.
Going inside, Bridey-girl? I don't want her off the leash.
You. Pull her back a little.
Yeah, girl, we're gonna let you in.
Call an ambulance.
Not yet, Elliot. Call an ambulance!
This is it.
Henry.
Dr. Warner will ask you to make a positive ID.
Will we recognize him? Yes.
I can't do this.
It's okay, honey. I'll do it.
Are you ready? Yes.
That's my son.
Was... Was he molested? No.
Cause of death?
Suffocation. I found small pebbles lodged in his trachea.
To silence him.
What else? Brown animal hairs.
Do you have a cat, Dr. Morton? No.
Henry's allergic.
I sent the pebbles and hairs to the lab.
CSU is checking the apartment for matches. Apartment?
Whose apartment? You have a suspect? Dr. Morton,
as soon as we make an arrest I promise you you'll be the first to know.
I can handle it. But your wife can't.
I think she needs you. Come on.
I'm holding you to that promise.
You call me the second you get the bastard who murdered my son.
Sorry, I blew it. I said too much.
Can't blame you. I've never seen a dad that composed.
The guy is a time bomb.
He keeps holding it in, he's gonna explode.
Let's go. Where?
Back to Billy's apartment. Crime Scene's got it covered.
Let's make sure.
Cat hair, you can tell by the barb. Brown.
Where's the cat? No sign of it.
No litter box, no cat food.
Billy gets worried about transfer evidence and he dumps the cat, too?
You check the incinerator? And the dumpster and the alley.
What about the rocks?
Combed the rugs, checked the soles of all his shoes.
You vacuum it?
No, we tweezed looking for all your damn cat hairs.
If the pebbles were here, we would've found them.
That was Munch.
Billy's car was found stripped and torched.
Let's bring Jake O'Hara in for a line-up.
Just take your time, Jake, there's no hurry.
I think... I think number three.
Jake, are you sure?
Or maybe two.
Okay, well, just take a look at all of them. Take a good look and just focus.
They all kinda look the same, but...
Three's the closest.
That's great, Jake. Thanks. I'll take you back to your mom. Come on.
Not bad. It's not good.
You know as well as I do any lawyer can shred that ID on the stand.
The cat hairs are gonna match. But it's still not enough for an indictment.
Break him or we got to cut him loose.
Our witness picked you out, Billy. Your witness is wrong!
Cat hairs on the boy, cat hairs in your apartment.
I don't have a cat.
The landlady's cat wanders in and out! I don't want to hear
about your landlady anymore! It's over!
Now, you stalked that little boy, you snatched him,
and you got into his pants and then you wanted to keep him quiet
so you shoved rocks down his throat till he choked to death.
I never killed anyone.
Only touched.
Maybe I did something I shouldn't have.
Like what, Billy? Like what?
If I violate my parole, they'll send me back inside.
I don't wanna go back. Okay.
That's why I didn't tell you.
I could talk to your parole officer, make sure that...
They'll send me back.
I'll get raped every single day.
I'm gonna make sure that that doesn't happen to you,
but you have got to tell me where you were.
I'm not allowed to be alone with kids.
But she asked me. Who asked you?
She needed me to baby-sit her little boy.
The lady who lives next door.
Billy's neighbor didn't ask him. He volunteered.
How old is the kid? Five. He said Billy never touched him.
Well, what about the mother? She confirmed Billy's story,
left at 8:30, got back to the apartment at 11:30.
Could Billy have left the kid alone for an hour and then come back?
No, the boy says Billy was with him the whole three hours.
Okay, so your witness puts Billy outside the Morton home in Riverdale
at 8:00 a. m.
But Billy's alibi puts him back on Avenue B at 8:30.
Tight, but doable.
Then he's gotta get back to Riverdale to follow Henry into the birthday party.
Henry's mom says they left the house no later than 11:45.
And Billy didn't finish his baby-sitting gig in Manhattan till 11:30.
Well, there's no way he got to Riverdale in 15 minutes,
not even on a Sunday.
We got the wrong guy.
It looks that way.
Lab says cat hairs from Billy's apartment don't match the ones on Henry Morton.
We've got to let Billy go. We keep him here much longer,
we're gonna have one hell of a lawsuit.
I'll tell the perv he's going home.
We have a right to keep our kids safe.
What the hell is this?
They shouldn't be left...
Pervert out! Pervert out! Wolinsky! You need a permit
for the bullhorn and to be on the street. Now, move it onto the sidewalk.
This is a peaceful protest.
Do we want a pervert in this neighborhood? No!
We want him out! Last chance, Wolinsky. Break it up now.
We want the perv gone. Let's get him now!
All right, you're under arrest for inciting to riot.
Surround him with your guys, get him into the building.
You have the right to remain silent...
Wait until parole gets here.
Benson. Bring this guy to our squad.
Thanks for making me a hero.
Yeah, we're on our way. Elliot, we gotta go.
Forensic geologist ID'd the pebbles in Henry's trachea.
Colorado quartz, not indigenous to this area.
So they could be from the alley where the body was found.
I checked. Didn't find any.
So, you're saying the perp brought them in from out of state?
What I'm saying is the perp isn't who you think it is.
We dusted the pebbles. The stone's porous. We got perfect prints.
And they're not Billy Turner's. Or any other adult's.
The fingers are too small. Has to be a child's.
So, Henry's. Nope. Don't match.
You have those pebbles?
Look familiar? Just like the ones
from that neighbor boy's front yard. Jake O'Hara.
No wonder the kid was such a good witness.
If we are gonna charge a 13-year-old with Henry's murder,
we'd better have a smoking gun.
We do. The stones in Henry's throat. They were from Jake's front yard.
The prints are gonna be his. I bet if we go back
to the party security tapes, we're gonna see Jake.
We weren't looking for a kid. What about that man that Jake saw?
Well, he must have made that up.
But Jake O'Hara picked Billy Turner out of a line-up.
How could he have possibly known Billy was a pedophile?
I don't know.
All right, then let's not hardball the kid till we get some answers.
We can't afford to make the same mistake twice.
I thought my son answered all your questions.
We just have to follow up on a few things.
Jake, this man that you picked out of the line-up...
You mean the guy who killed Henry?
Actually, he didn't do it.
I told you I wasn't sure.
It's okay, honey. You did your best.
I guess it was Number Two after all.
No, Jake, Number Two is an off-duty cop.
I'm sorry, they all looked alike with those sunglasses.
I only saw the picture for a minute.
What picture?
The guy you wanted me to pick out.
You never saw the man.
Well, I did, but
I told the other detective I wasn't sure I'd recognize him again.
That's when he showed me the picture.
What other detective? What was his name?
I don't remember. Do you remember what he looked like?
He was kind of bald and he had a mustache.
I'll be right back.
So what else did this detective say to you?
This is absurd. Don't you people talk to each other?
He just asked me some questions. Can you remember any of them?
The same stuff you guys asked me.
Hey, that's him.
Excuse me.
Detective, can I have a word with you?
What're you doing? What are you, crazy?
You send me on a wild goose chase, waste my time...
I was trying to help you guys.
You contaminated evidence, you tell that kid you're a cop
to get him to make a false ID... You got the perv, didn't you?
Wrong perv. But I tell you what.
Where you're going, you'll be meeting plenty of them.
What's going on here?
What's going on, Mrs. O'Hara, is Jake identified a man he never saw.
You made it all up, didn't you, Jake?
I did what that detective told me to do.
I'm sure it was a misunderstanding.
Well, there's a few other things that we don't understand.
Like why Henry was covered up in cat hair.
Or how these stones from your yard
were found in his throat.
Henry must have picked them up.
Sweetheart? What are they talking about?
I don't know, Mom. I swear.
Sure you do, Jake.
You knew that Henry's mom was taking him to the birthday party.
People saw you there.
They also saw you on the subway.
And you want to know what else?
The fingerprints on these little stones
are gonna match
the ones on your soda can.
I... I was scared.
Henry saw me chasing Mrs. Brody's cat
and I fell on it and it died.
And Henry said I killed the cat
and he was gonna tell on me.
I didn't want to go back to that camp,
but I knew you'd send me if you thought I'd killed the cat.
Honey, I never would have done that.
You would, I knew you would.
That's why I had to stop him.
I just wanted to talk to him but he kept saying he'd tell.
I didn't mean to do it, I was just so scared.
This is my fault because I sent Jake to that camp a month ago.
What camp? It's a tough-love place.
They were supposed to help him. Look at what they did to me!
They burned me and they cut me
and they stuck things in me.
I'd rather be dead than go back there.
The other children tortured him.
If my son has done anything wrong,
it's because of what they put him through.
Mrs. O'Hara, we still have to place Jake under arrest.
I'm calling a lawyer.
Jake killed Henry?
But he loves our boys.
He... He taught them to throw a Frisbee, he helped them build a fort
in the back yard. He confessed, Dr. Morton.
I can't believe this.
Did you know that his mother sent him to a boot camp?
Yes, yes. Since Jake's father died, he's been acting out.
Leslie was overwhelmed. I recommended a place up in Rhinebeck.
Why, what... It looks like he was brutalized up there.
Leslie never said anything to me. What did they do to him?
Jake said he was sodomized and he showed us some scars
where the other kids had burned him.
I need to see Jake.
Please.
I'll hear the People on bail.
The People request $500,000, Your Honor.
He's a child. I'd argue for house arrest with an ankle bracelet.
And I'd be comfortable with a little more security.
The bail is set at $200,000, cash or bond.
Let's take 10, everybody. Casey.
This is Brett Morton, Henry's father.
I'm very sorry.
Can I speak with Jake?
Cleo? Can we have a minute please?
Dr. Morton, I'm so sorry.
Henry was my friend. I know, Jake.
Why did you do it?
I don't know.
Something's wrong with me.
Jake...
What did Henry say before he died?
He said he wanted his mommy.
What's going to happen to him? Without a plea bargain,
he'll stand trial and go to prison.
He's a juvenile, he'll be out at 18.
Dr. Morton, we're trying Jake as an adult.
No.
I lost a child and I know one thing.
It's wrong to lose another child to a life in prison.
As a parent, I can't imagine what you're going through.
Well, putting Jake in jail isn't justice.
And sending him to that camp doesn't make you responsible for what he did.
Jake's had a hard life.
What he did isn't entirely his fault.
And that evidence will be introduced at trial.
I'm sure you have the best intentions.
But you're wrong.
Well, maybe I am wrong.
Brett Morton is caught between his anger and his guilt.
Why, just because he recommended that camp?
He feels responsible. He feels that if Jake hadn't been abused there,
Jake wouldn't have killed Henry. And what do you think?
Jake suffered there, you know? He was burned,
he was possibly raped... Yeah, well, lots of kids are traumatized.
They don't go out and kill other kids. Every time they shoot up a school,
they say it's because they were bullied. Sometimes they were.
And the question is whether that's the reason why Jake killed Henry.
Okay, what do you know about this camp? Rhinebeck Survival?
No incidents of hazing or torture that I've heard of.
Well, none that you've heard of.
The director is a psychiatrist named Burt Gleason.
I'm sure he'll talk to us.
We should never have admitted Jake in the first place.
He's a very disturbed child.
Isn't that what this camp is for, Dr. Gleason?
Children with behavioral problems, yes. Not kids with serious pathology.
Which the abuse here made worse.
You mean the accusations Jake made against his bunkmates.
From what Jake says, those kids are the ones with serious pathology.
Judge for yourself. I'll arrange for you to talk to them.
He's sick, man. He's crazy. Jake said you helped torture him.
We did it to him?
Second day he's here, we're down at the lake, he sneaks up,
whacks me on the head with a boat paddle.
I almost drowned.
Maybe he was just goofing around. You don't get it.
He held my head underwater. He wanted me to die.
When he finally let go, he said, "Don't tell anybody or else. "
Or else what?
Or else he'd kill me.
Are you sure he was serious?
Jake wasn't kidding. That psycho would do it.
I told Dr. Gleason. What happened?
Dr. Gleason wouldn't believe me.
Next night I find a dead gopher in my bed.
Only guy around here sick enough to break a gopher's neck is...
Jake, he's the only one.
You look like you could take care of yourself.
Couldn't till I started working out.
I did it 'cause I was afraid of him.
Why? 'Cause he's nuts, man.
He would always say, "Oh, let's see who's tougher. "
He'd take off his shirt,
put his arm next to mine, put a lit cigarette in between.
Jake says you burned him. I ain't no psycho.
Jake would stand there, hold a match in his fingers till his skin went on fire.
You could smell it and he'd just laugh.
That dude is crazy.
Jake O'Hara burned himself?
The camp's director tried to explain to Jake's mother
that he should be institutionalized.
She didn't believe him, she threatened a lawsuit and then she took Jake home.
He was thrown out of two private schools in Brooklyn
for violent behavior and arson. His mom had to move him to Riverdale.
The kid's a sociopath.
He's only 13. Well, he has all the classic symptoms.
He's glib, he lies, he has no remorse, no empathy, he's narcissistic
and he's extremely manipulative. He fooled both of us.
Even Brett Morton, and he's also a psychiatrist.
He lives right next door. He never saw how devious Jake really is.
If the boy is mentally ill, we'll send him to a hospital.
Sociopathy is a personality disorder.
A lot of shrinks believe there's no cure.
What do you believe?
You can't grow a conscience.
Jake knew what he was doing was wrong and didn't care.
It's the right decision to try him as an adult.
It's too late. Why?
Dr. Morton came to see me this morning.
He begged me to send Jake to Family Court, so I moved it.
Case is being heard right now.
The minor will be released into the custody of his mother.
Fact-finding will begin tomorrow at 11:00.
Initial reports in my chamber today.
I'm very sorry to interrupt, Your Honor, but we've made a mistake.
That's refreshing. I don't often hear that in my courtroom.
The District Attorney's office has reconsidered our decision
to try Jake O'Hara in Family Court. We request that the case be moved
to Supreme Court for trial as an adult. Hearings have begun,
jeopardy is attached. If I dismiss now, the case is over.
These are highly unusual circumstances.
Jake O'Hara lied about his abuse. All his injuries are self-inflicted.
What are you saying? Dr. Morton...
We interviewed witnesses at the camp. They all told us Jake burned himself.
This case must be moved, Your Honor. I believed you.
I fought for you. Dr. Morton, sit down.
You lying little bastard...
The court officer will remove Dr. Morton from this courtroom.
You should rot in hell!
Let's go before she locks you up. You bet I will.
Get him out of here. You monster! You murdered my son!
I don't believe this is happening.
I can't breathe. Let's go outside and get some air.
Relax. Do you understand?
Jake will get out when he's 18.
He's a sociopath. He will kill again.
And again and again...
I'm sorry for what happened, sir, I really am.
You're not sorry. You don't know what sorry means.
You have no feelings.
Leave my son alone.
Hey!
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, no...
I knew the guy was wound too tight.
I should've seen it coming.
You didn't know Morton would shoot him.
We all thought Jake was a victim.
The kid snowed everyone.
Elliot.
Jake's dead.
He never made it out of surgery.
Olivia. Don't.
How could you let this happen? You've got some nerve, lady.
That kid was killed because you sent him to Family Court.
I didn't stand there and watch Brett Morton grab a gun.
You sure as hell put it in his hand.
What, you didn't want to say no to a grieving father?
You afraid the press would call you a cold-hearted bitch?
You two want to blame each other, go ahead.
But I have a job to do. What's our decision on Dr. Morton?
Charge him. Murder two.
His son was killed by a psychopath who was gonna walk.
And that gives him the right to kill a kid?
I want him arraigned by tomorrow morning.
Are you just gonna cover her ass? Just sweep it all under the carpet?
My job is not to protect my boss. Then do the right thing.
You saw Morton. The guy was out of his mind.
It's not murder two, it's manslaughter.
How's Jake? He died in surgery.
What have I done? You were out of control, Brett.
You didn't know what you were doing.
If this isn't extreme emotional disturbance,
I don't know what it is.
So you're going for an affirmative defense. What do you want?
Man two, minimum time.
I have a better idea. Why don't we just throw him a parade?
I don't like your tone.
Yeah, well, I don't like 13-year-olds being shot to death in the courthouse.
Do you think I meant to do it?
You grabbed the court officer's gun and pulled the trigger.
I don't remember any of it. I just snapped.
Now, that's convenient. No, that's extreme emotional disturbance.
You'll have to forgive me if I don't take your client's word for it.
Fine. Have your psychiatrist examine him.
Do you recall your state of mind after you shouted at Jake?
I walked out of the courtroom.
Nothing seemed real.
Detective Stabler was talking.
I couldn't understand what he was saying.
And then what's the next thing that you remember happening?
Jake lying on the floor.
Blood everywhere.
The smell from the gun.
My heart beating so fast I thought it would explode.
I know I shot Jake because the gun was in my hand.
I just don't know how it got there.
Doctor Morton, when you heard that Jake had lied about being abused,
what went through your mind?
I had to get out of there. I had to go outside
and get some air. I couldn't breathe.
And that's when you saw Jake.
I wasn't thinking about killing him.
What were you thinking about?
My son's face.
The last time in the morgue.
His last words. I can hear him crying for his mother.
Well, does Brett Morton have a valid defense?
Well, it's a textbook presentation of extreme emotional disturbance.
Memory loss, vivid sensory recall. He's got all the psychological symptoms.
Yeah. I hear a "but" coming.
It's almost too perfect.
Morton's a psychiatrist. He knows exactly what to say.
But you know, just because he could be faking doesn't mean that he is.
Should I plead him out?
I can't tell you what to do.
What Morton went through was unimaginable. That kind of tragedy...
I sympathize with him.
But you still have doubts.
It's a tough call, Casey.
I was out of my mind with grief.
I never would've shot Jake O'Hara if I'd been thinking straight.
Now, let's be clear about this.
You testified you had no specific knowledge of the incident itself,
but you do admit you killed him.
I don't remember doing it, but I know I did.
I can't excuse it. I can't explain it away.
And I'll live with the pain of that knowledge the rest of my life.
Thank you. No further questions.
Ms. Novak, we're waiting.
You don't remember grabbing the gun.
You don't remember shooting Jake O'Hara.
But do you remember telling Detective Stabler that Jake was a sociopath?
No, I don't.
Or saying that Jake would kill again when he got out of jail?
I was overwhelmed. I don't know what I said.
But did you think that Jake was a sociopath?
Sociopathy can't be diagnosed in children.
The DSM-IV prohibits it.
Until 18, children can only be treated for conduct disorder.
But you don't agree.
Well, I adhere to the standards of my profession.
Your Honor, at this time I'd like to introduce into evidence an article
from the December 1992 issue of Adolescent Behavior.
Counselor?
No objection.
Dr. Morton, would you please read the first highlighted passage?
"If we fail to incarcerate these killer kids for the rest of their natural lives,
"they will surely kill again. "
And now the second one.
"The American Psychiatric Association does not let us label these children
"as sociopaths.
"But that does not change who and what they are.
"They are born that way,
"and we must take whatever measures are necessary to protect society
"from these amoral predators. " Who wrote that, Doctor?
I did.
But that was nearly 15 years ago.
My views have changed. Have they?
Because what you told Detective Stabler right before you shot Jake O'Hara
sounds like the passage you just read.
All I meant was, we should find a way to protect people from sociopathic children.
And you found one, didn't you? Objection!
Sustained.
I didn't say we should kill them.
But if children like Jake can't be treated,
what's the alternative? Incarcerate them for the rest of their lives.
That's what I believe.
But on that day in court, I wasn't thinking like a psychiatrist.
I was a grieving father.
You really went after Morton in there. He killed a kid.
He knew what he was doing. You're so sure about that
because of something he wrote 15 years ago?
Elliot, he's screwing with us.
This grief-crazed-father crap, it's all an act.
I spend my life locking up skells for murdering children.
The system says they go away to prison. Fine.
But if it were my son lying on that slab,
I don't know what my rage would make me do.
Detective Stabler?
Yeah? You're served.
Subpoena.
Zierko's calling me to testify for the Defense.
Detective Stabler, can you describe Dr. Morton's emotional state
when he identified his son's body?
Calm.
Detached.
In your experience, is this unusual?
Unusual? Yeah.
Were you concerned?
Well, I thought that if you hold your grief in like that,
at some point you're gonna blow.
And that's exactly what happened.
Nothing further.
Detective Stabler, you just testified that Dr. Morton was in control of his emotions
throughout the investigation.
So, would it be fair to say that he acted more like a calm, detached doctor
than a grieving father?
Up until that day at Family Court, yes.
And in the hallway, right before he shot Jake O'Hara,
what did the defendant say to you?
He said Jake was a sociopath and that he would kill again.
Does that sound like a father talking or a psychiatrist?
A psychiatrist.
And one who's written that sociopathic children cannot be cured.
So I ask you, based on your 12 years' experience as a detective,
would you say the killing of Jake O'Hara was the act of a grief-crazed father
or a calculated, deliberate execution?
I don't know.
So put yourself in Brett Morton's place.
Imagine what it was like in that hallway,
the person who murdered your son standing in front of you.
A disturbed young man who killed your child
without mercy, without remorse.
He'll be getting out of jail at 18, a birthday your child will never celebrate.
Could you lose control? We all could.
We could lose sight of our beliefs and values, lose control for one moment
and act blindly out of raw grief and despair.
That's what Dr. Morton did.
And the law says that's not murder.
None of us can imagine enduring Brett Morton's grief.
But grief is not what drove him to murder.
He acted not out of emotion, but out of his professional knowledge and experience.
His act wasn't irrational.
In fact, it was perfectly consistent with his long-held belief
that sociopathic children cannot be cured.
Jake O'Hara pretended remorse for the murder of Henry Morton.
And when the defendant learned that Jake was a devious
and manipulative child, he also began to pretend.
He pretended he lost control.
He didn't.
Not for a single second.
He waited for the perfect opportunity, grabbed the court officer's gun
and then shot a child. That is not extreme emotional disturbance.
It's murder and you must hold him responsible.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
We have, Your Honor.
On the charge of murder in the second degree,
how does the jury find?
We find the defendant not guilty.
The court thanks the jury for their service.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are dismissed.
This court is now adjourned.
And I think the jury understood. I'll always regret what I did.
I didn't think they'd acquit him.
This trial wasn't about Brett Morton, or extreme emotional disturbance,
or even your testimony.
The jurors didn't want Jake O'Hara running loose
and Brett solved that problem.
We can't treat these kids, so we kill them?
I don't have the answers. I don't think anyone does.
Maybe that's why they acquitted. Ms. Novak? Ms. Novak.
You seem pretty satisfied. I am.
Well, you got away with it. Oh, I suppose I did.
Tell me one thing.
When did you decide to kill Jake?
In the courtroom, once I knew what he was.
You were right.
I looked around, saw the officer,
realized I could take the gun.
I just waited for the right moment.
You manipulated us just like Jake did.
There's one big difference.
Jake would have killed again.
I won't.