The episode " Persona"
The episode opens with a woman going to a drug store pharmacy to get the morning after pill. When the pharmacy challenges her request, she causes a scene, which brings out security. During her outburst, she claims she was raped. Detectives Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Chris Meloni) are called in, and Stabler instructs security to release the rape victim from the handcuffs. The pharmacist says she is going to press charges, and Stabler tells her not to press her luck.
The detectives take her to the hospital where she is examined. The doctor (Didi Conn) shows them photographs of her injury. The victim, Mia Latimer (Clea Duvall), describes her attack, saying she was threatened with a knife. She describes her attacker as “tall, white, big.” She was told not to look at him. She and her husband were trying to get pregnant and she knew she was ovulating, and she did not want to have the rapist’s baby.
Benson and Stabler arrive at the crime scene where Forensics Tech O'Halloran (Mike Doyle) has already arrived and said the rest of the team already left. He said all he could do was set up the crime scene tape. Someone dumped oil over the area where the attack occurred and if the attack happened where Mia actually said it had, she would have oil all over her clothes, which she didn’t. She lied to them. But, she was clearly injured from a beating, so they concluded the perp was her husband.
At the Latimer residence, Mia answers the door and when asked, says her husband is not home. They confront her with the fact that she lied, and while they are talking, her husband Brent (Nathaniel Marston) arrives home, carrying flowers. They tell him they are investigating burglaries in the area, he says he has good security, back up by several guns. He gives his wife the flowers and kisses her. When Stabler cautions him on keeping his weapons secure, Latimer seems agitated and tells them he can take care of his own home. The detectives decide to talk to the neighbors to get info as “the walls have ears.”
Wheelchair-bound downstairs tenant Jonah Malcolm (Mike Farrell) says he’s a crime buff and makes references to the Hitchcock movie “Rear Window” as his wife Linnie (Brenda Blethyn), joins them. Jonah seems to want to talk; Linnie doesn’t want to get involved. He describes fights at the Latimer’s; also saying Mia had a broken arm last spring. But Linnie is worried that they will get kicked out of their rent-controlled apartment by talking about the matter. When Linnie walks away, Benson follows her and continues to discuss the Latimers. She says she’s afraid of Brent Latimer – he’s a monster, nice on the outside, nasty inside.
Later, we see Mia coming in to Linnie’s place, saying she got her message. But Benson is there, and Mia doesn’t want to talk to her. She says she doesn’t need protection, but Benson offers to help. Benson forces Mia to look at her injuries. Mia says he always says he’s sorry and brings her flowers. Benson tells her that her husband won’t change, and she needs to tell her what really happened. She says he wanted to have sex and to make a baby. He tracks her ovulation, takes her temperature every day. She doesn’t want to have a child with him, but he called her a selfish bitch and beat her. Linnie offers to take care of Mia and tells the to go “arrest the bastard.” They take him off in cuffs.
Latimer is being arraigned, with Benson present. He pleads not guilty, of course. ADA Greyleck (Michaela McManus) argues the case with Latimer’s attorney Trevor Langan (Peter Hermann). The judge sets bail at $50,000, and Greyleck asks for an order of protection for his wife. Benson whispers something to Greyleck, who comes back to the judge and asks for Latimer’s firearms to be surrendered to the NYPD. The judge agrees.
Mia s worried because they let him go, thinking even taking away his guns won’t stop him. Her parents are dead and she has no friends, and Brent cut her off from all the money. Linnie suggests going a shelter, but she refuses. When Benson says she should be OK financially after she files for divorce, Mia tells her she signed a prenup, she married him at 19 and never had a job. Linnie says she deserves someone better. But Mia agrees to go to the a shelter.
At the Domestic Violence Safe House, Benson is telling Mia not to disclose the location to anyone, and tells her the rules. She can have no contact with Brent. Mia feels like she’s in prison, and she knows all about rules – Brent has lots of them.
Back at the squad, Benson mentions to Stabler that going to the safe house should have been Mia’s choice and she pushed her into it. When Stabler mentions that Brent will be going to jail, Langan arrives, and tells them that Mia recanted her charges against Brent – on video, so Brent will be released.
Later, Benson goes to the Latimer residence, and is greeted by Brent. He tries to blow her off, but she says she has a right to see Mia. He lets her in, and calls out to Mia, who arrives looking fresh, perky, and happy, and says everything is fine. She wants to be home with her husband, and says she made a mistake, and Brent forgives her. He says goodbye to Benson, and says to tell her partner he wants his guns back.
Benson goes downstairs in the laundry area to see Linnie, and Linnie is annoyed that Mia doesn’t seem to care. Benson sees a doorway, and Linnie says it’s the old servant’s steps that were left there after they converted the apartment, and they also share the laundry. When Benson looks like she has an idea, Linnie tells her that she can’t stay there, but Benson stays it’s the only way she can protect her. Linnie is unsympathetic, but relents under pressure from Benson.
While she is staying there, Benson hears Brent yelling at Mia. She kicks in the door and tells Brent to put his hands on his head, Mia standing there with a knife in her chest. He says she attacked him. Benson yells for Linnie to call 911, but Mia bleeds out.
Later, at the Latimer home, Cragen (Dann Florek) tries to reassure Benson. As she leaves the apartment with Cragen, Linnie is there, and asks Benson if it was worth it, and she chides her for pushing Mia. But Jonah asks Benson to not let Brent get away with it.
At the crime lab at One Police Plaza, it appears that Brent’s claim of self-defense won’t stand up. But, they did find prints on the kitchen phone that matched an old homicide from 1974. A man named Vincent Cresswell was killed in his sleep by his wife, shot 6 times. His wife Caroline was arrested at the scene, but she fled just before trial and has been a fugitive ever since. The face of that killer is a young Linnie Malcolm.
At the Malcolm residence, Linnie says she has been dreading this for 34 years. She also never told Jonah about it. She said when she escaped, she had nowhere to go, and had no money, spending her last dollar on a bowl of soup. At the squad with Stabler, Jonah recalls meeting her that day, and Linnie is also at the squad, telling Benson that Jonah saved her life as she had no money or friends and was thinking about suicide. She had no family to go home to. They tried to have children but Jonah said she was infertile, but she said she was on the pill, as she could not risk her identity being discovered. Jonah wonders if their marriage is even legal.
She says she met her first husband at an anti-war protest, and after the war ended the world moved on but Vincent was still angry. No one wanted his “bitter poems” and he blamed Linnie for “stifling his muse”. He was into drugs and booze and beat her all the time. He bought a gun and when he was drunk he talked about suicide, one day he said he was going to shoot her and kill himself, and she knew he meant it. She was planning to leave, stashing away change and had almost $50 dollars, and he found it and accused her of selling herself for the money. He raped her, over and over. When he went to sleep, she took the gun from under his pillow and shot him. She still had the gun in her hand when the police broke down the door. She never told anyone he raped her.
Looking from behind the glass, Cragen muses to Greyleck that marital rape wasn’t a crime until 1984 and today this would be ruled self-defense. Greyleck says Linnie will have to face the original indictment but if they can corroborate her story, she is probably looking at probation. A voice from behind states “Over my dead body” and Greyleck says, surprised “Judge Donnelly”. Donnelly (Judith Light) says “Not any more.’ She’s taken a leave of absence to return to the DA’s office for “unfinished business”, meaning Linnie Malcolm AKA Caroline Cresswell.
She enters the room and says “Hello Caroline, remember me?” Benson looks stunned, and Linnie says she knows she was the prosecutor on her original case. Donnelly orders Benson to arrest Linnie for escape in the first degree, and when Benson balks, Donnelly says if she won’t do it, she’ll bring in a detective that isn’t personally involved. Benson arrests her, under her original name.
At arraignment, Donnelly requests remand. The defense requests home confinement with electronic monitoring because Jonah needs her for his care. She is remanded but the defense adds they will be presenting an affirmative defense because Caroline was a battered woman. The judge allows the defense.
In Donnelly’s office, Benson confronts her with the fact that she spent her entire career protecting abused women, and now she is going after one. Donnelly comments “You don’t know, do you?” and asks Benson if she ever asked how Caroline escaped. (She hadn’t.) Caroline asked for a meeting to plea bargain, and then escaped out of the bathroom, Donnelly taking the blame. Her colleagues continue to refer to her rookie mistake as “doing a Donnelly” and said Benson has no idea how it was working in law enforcement back then for a woman. Caroline made her look like a fool, but this is not why she’s going after her. She tells Benson that Linnie “snowed her” but that she snowed her too. Donnelly pulls out a letter fro Caroline and read it, Caroline asking for her help. She wanted to plead guilty but had a problem that she could only speak to her about in private. It was ruse to get her down to her office, she thought. She says Linnie is a smart and manipulative woman.
At Rikers, Benson is talking with Linnie, saying she wants the truth. Linnie says she did not plan to escape, it just happened. She asked why she wrote the letter to Donnelly, but she says she doesn’t remember. She says she deserves to go to jail, but Benson said it was self-defense. She won’t tell Benson why she ran away. Benson says she should help herself for Jonah, he deserves to know the whole story.
She says that after Vincent raped her, she was crying, and he told her to shut up so he could get some sleep. He put the gun under the pillow, and said he knew she liked it, and if she was a good girl she would give him more in the morning. Now on the stand, Linnie continues her story. It didn’t bother him what he did to her. Hurting her was the only thing that made him feel good. She pulled the trigger, and kept seeing him slap her and kick her and rape her, and she kept shooting until those images went away. She only remembers the blood everywhere.
Donnelly begins her cross-examination, and brings out the she never told the police about the rape and the beatings. She says her story is very convenient, and there is no proof. When asked why did didn’t tell that to a jury 34 years ago, she balks. Donnelly states she ran because she was guilty and she knew it. But Linnie counters that she was pregnant. Donnelly challenged that the hormones made her do it, did they make her run, too? She said she ran so she could get an abortion. She said she could not get an abortion in prison, she could not bear the thought of having his child. She came to see Donnelly to see if she could get an abortion, then she would plead guilty. This causes Donnelly to seem to show some concern on her face. Linnie says that Donnelly was so strong and self-confident that she was ashamed of her weakness. She couldn’t tell her, how could a woman like Donnelly ever understand a woman like herself?
The verdict comes in. Murder in the second degree – not guilty. Escape in the first degree – guilty. When the judge says they will meet later for sentencing, Donnelly stands up and declares the people will be recommending probation. The judge will hear her reasoning, and adds she tends to agree with her.
As Donnelly goes to leave, Linnie asks her why. Donnelly says back in the days when she was trying so hard to be one of the boys, she forgot why she became a lawyer. Linnie also thanks Benson for her help. Linnie calls to Jonah saying it’s over, but Jonah asks when she had the abortion. She says it was when he went to Seattle, he left her money. He’s angry that all the decisions they made were based on a lie. He wanted children and grandchildren and now he will never have them. She says she is sorry, but he says he doesn’t know her. She asks for his forgiveness, but he can’t, and he leaves., leaving Linnie standing alone...
