Gray - Recap

Several different girls give 1 to 2 lines that tells the story of how
their date rapes transpired. Their last thought was always "If only I'd
done something different. If only I hadn't gone out that night." They
are speaking at a candlelight vigil for Take Back the Night. Elliot
watches from a distance. His daughter, Kathleen, is managing the vigil.
She asks after Olivia, but he tells are she couldn't make it. He's up
next. That's interesting, because he had no idea he was even speaking.
As he is introduced, a young woman runs into the vigil. She yells
that Chuck Mills raped her. He yells right along with her that he
didn't do it, and asks why she is accusing him. Elliot approaches them
and asks her to reiterate the charge. When she does, he has the young
man turn around and place his hands behind his back. He is placed under
arrest.

Olivia questions the young woman. She recounts her story. Last May,
she was too drunk to drive. Chuck lived across the street, and told her
she could crash at his place. They did not know each other before, they
met that night. When he took off her shoes, and tucked her into bed, she
remembers thinking he was so nice.

Chuck recounts that Bethany asked him if he was seeing anyone. Elliot
asks where they were. She was in his bed, he was on the floor until she
asked him to join her. Elliot tells him he could have taken a pass.
Chuck said he tried, but next thing he knew, she was all over him.

She tells Olivia that the next thing she remembered was waking up, with
him on top of her, then inside her. It was over before she could do
anything.

He said it was just a hook-up, he didn't want a relationship. So she
freaked out, told everybody they knew, and dragged him in front of the
disciplinary committee. Elliot figures he got a slap on the wrist, but
he got community service and a permanent honor violation code on his
record. He thought that was huge.

Bethany tells Olivia that his punishment was the equal of cheating on a
bio-chem final. Olivia asks her if she called the police and she says
that the campus police sent them to the disciplinary committee. Chuck
raped her and she wants him punished.

He asks if he hasn't been punished enough. Elliot blows him off, but
Chuck explodes. She has a website, www.chuckmillsrapedme.com, and
everything she has posted on it is a total lie. Fin, Munch, Stabler,
and Benson check out Bethany's website. Elliot thinks it's very well
done, but Munch points out that whoever screams loudest on the internet,
wins. Fin notes that sites like these are just so much letter on the
information superhighway. Benson strongly disagrees. She feels that
Bethany was trying to get justice. Says Bethany was drunk, she was
incapable of consenting. Fin wonders; what if Chuck was drunk, too?
That doesn't seem to matter to Olivia. Apparently men are supposed to
stay sober when it comes to sex, while women get a free pass. Elliot is
about to call Hardwick to ask what they should do with "Chuckles", but
Fin already handled it. Hardwick is in Albany meeting with the AG. The
temp ADA is en route. Stabler just hopes they can get someone who can
straighten out this mess.

Sonya walks in, announcing that messes are her specialty. When Liv asks
what she's doing here, Sonya says "You mean, how did I escape the drunk
tank?" Ell retorts "No, she means 'why us'." It's part of her probation.
They present the case to her, and Elliott takes a shot at Sonja's
drunken history. She tells him rehab was awesome, but it didn't make her
a miracle worker. They have no evidence. Sonja deems it 'gray rape'. Liv
says rape is rape. She says not until it's black and white. Til then,
it's gray. They got nothin. Chuck is free to go. They can visit him
again when they have something concrete to hang on him. As she's walking
away, she stops herself, turns around and says "please" and "thank you."

Olivia and Elliott pay a visit to campus security. When they mention the
case, he says "that was her story". Most of these kids, it's their first
time away from home. He doesn't even have any notes or investigation,
yet he claims that on the campus, and by authority of the governor's
office, they ARE the police. Elliott corrects him. The campus police
can't do anything in the case of a felony, and that's what Chuck
committed. He says that everybody is advised to follow their conscious.
Liv counters that when their conscious leads them to the campus cops,
the rapes are then swept under the rug. He disagrees. Every rape
accusation goes to the dean.

The dean tells them that this was just a case of poor judgment. Olivia
says on Chuck's side, but the dean says no; on both sides. What would it
serve to lock Chuck up? Olivia says Bethany. She wouldn't have to see
the man who violated her roaming free on campus every day. The dean
counters that while they are at it, they can lock her up for underage
drinking. Stabler likes that idea. Next we can lock up the dean for
criminal negligence! Or endangerment of a minor. Elliott reaches forward
to look at the case, but the dean removes it from his reach. Their rules
state that the only way anybody can look at it is with the permission of
both students. That's wonderful - for Chuck. Stabler neatly sidesteps
the dean's blocks by requesting a list of the people who sat on the
disciplinary committee. The dean agrees to have his assistant fax him a
list.

When they get the list Sonja says it's not going to help much. She'll be
tied up in court for months. Higher education is big business. Nobody
wants to send their daughter to Rape "U", so they have to sweep
incidents like this under the rug. Elliott finds one committee member
who might talk without a subpoena. She works at the Women's Crisis
Center. When they speak to her, she is angry. She sees at least two
women a week who have clearly been raped yet Hudson expels more students
for cheating. She's not allowed to discuss Bethany's case. She has
literally been put on the committee to do an end run around the Clery
Act. So she quit. The committee calls the rapes anything but rape.
Misunderstandings, impaired judgments, etc. The best she could do to
help was to put a buddy system in place. It's like having a designated
driver, only your friend stays sober so she can be your guiding
conscience. Liv wishes Bethany had had a buddy that night. The
counselor can't say anything legally, but she advises Elliot to talk to
Kathleen.

When he talks to her, Kathleen informs him that everybody knows she's
sober, so they all want are to be their buddy. He asks why she did not
tell him about Bethany. She says because she knows he would tell her
she screwed up. That night, she was Bethany's buddy. She saw Bethany
and Chuck start talking. But then she saw a guy she really really
liked, and they went out for coffee. They weren't gone for more than 10
minutes, but when she got back, Bethany was gone. She's becoming very
upset, and Elliott hugs her and tells her she didn't screw up. He asks
where they went that night, and she says they went to a party at the
library.

The Library is a bar. Chuck is up to his chest in admiring women. One of
the ladies walks over to Chuck and dumps a pitcher of beer over his
head. He grabs her, they grapple, and he shoves her toward the bar.
Liv make sure Felicia is okay, while Elliott places Chuck under arrest.
Again. Chuck yells that Felicia came at him. Elliott says "It's called
'assault', you dumb ass." Felicia is bleeding from her close encounter
with the bar.

Sonya sees Liv questioning Chuck. He calls Felicia a bitch. Liv notes
that he called Bethany a slut and Felicia a bitch. He doesn't seem to
have much respect for women. Sonya notes that it was just a scuffle in
a bar, and the detectives aren't getting anywhere. Sonya asks where
Felicia is, and Elliott tells her she said she'd meet them at the
station. She's two hours late. He wants to keep Chuck on ice until
arraignment, but Sonja reiterates they got nothing to hold him on. He's
out of here, just like her. Stabler tells her that if they let him go,
every girl on Hudson's campus will be in danger. She tells him again.
Let Chuck loose. Go home.

He asks his wife Kathy what would have happened if they hadn't gotten
drunk the night they met. What would, or wouldn't, have happened. She
finds it ironic that he's asking after 26 years and five kids. The main
thing she remembers about that night is how very much she wanted to kiss
him. He says it took him four beers just to work up the nerve to say
hello. They are in the process of reenacting the chemistry of that
night, when Kathleen arrives to drop off a package. It's the
disciplinary action file. Her boyfriend works in the dean's office, and
he slid it under her door. Stabler asks if he did that on his own, or if
she asked him to. She says from what she knows of the law, since Stabler
didn't ask her to get it, the police can use it. HE can use it.

When Olivia arrives at work after a sleepless night, she finds Elliott
and the file. He's already read it three times, and either Bethany was
Chuck's first rape, or the report was sanitized beyond recognition. He
did find one thing they might be able to use, though.

Felicia called Chuck a murderer. She's been expelled from Hudson. The
disciplinary committee told her she needed to apologize to him in
writing. She told them they needed to go to hell. She's packing her car
as she talks to Liv and Ell. He asks why she called Chuck a murderer.
She says it's because he killed Carla's baby, and Carla thinks Chuck is
the love of her life. Felicia says Carla wasn't there a week before he
wooed her, screwed her, and got her pregnant. What makes him a murderer
though? Well, Carla had a miscarriage, and afterwards Felicia saw "that
douche" high-fiving everyone. He was bragging that he was 'taking care
of business', and flushed that toilet. She tried to go to the
disciplinary committee, but they refused to hear it. And Carla wouldn't
hear it, either. She wanted to keep that baby.

They interview Carla about the miscarriage. She was eight weeks along,
and she started cramping bad. She called him and he had to study, but
she says he was as upset as she was. And he never raped Bethany. He
wouldn't have sex with her. They tell her that Felicia sees things
differently. Carla tells them that girls come on to Chuck all the time,
but he only loves her. He proved that to her last week, the night before
she lost the baby. He called and told her he had this stuff that was
amazing, he called it Love Potion #9. He mixed it up himself, some kind
of herbal sex powder. Liv notes that she miscarried the next day. Carla
sees where Liv is going with that, but she's in denial. Chuck told her
that they were going to get married, he wanted the baby; why would he
lie to her? Elliot asks if he left any of the love potion there, but he
took it with him. Elliot thinks he might need it again.

When Chuck walks in, dropping his pants, it's because Carla called and
told him that the doctor told her the baby was going to be fine after
all. He finds Sonja sitting on the bed, and Liv, Ell and Carla come out
of the bathroom. She flips out on him, and Elliot retrieves the little
envelope of Love Potion #9 that Chuck brought with so he could finish
the job. Stabler places Chuck under arrest for abortion in the second
degree. He says he wants a lawyer, and Sonya suggests he get a good one,
because she's going to kick his ass. He says there's nothing in the tube
but lube. However, when Melinda analyzes it, she finds it contains an
over-the-counter ulcer medication, misoprostal. It's been selling like
hotcakes in Brazil, their form of the "morning after" pill. It's been a
miracle in other countries that don't allow abortion. It's better, and
much cheaper, than back alley botch jobs. Liv says that Chuck told Carla
it's an aphrodisiac. Melinda knows Chuck is pre-med, and therefore he
knew exactly what this stuff can do.

Chuck's attorney puts up some laughable plea. Sonya counters depraved
indifference to human life. He knew full well what he was doing, and he
hoped it would kill the baby. Under his attorney's direction, Chuck
claims that he thought using misoprostal was a cheap way of getting an
erection if he'd had too much to drink. In other words, it was like
Viagra. They present a sealed envelope from Chuck's doctor which
allegedly states he suffers from ED due to drinking. He didn't need it
when he got Carla pregnant, because he wasn't drinking that night. The
only thing he's guilty of is poor judgment.

They don't have a case. They brainstorm what's happened thus far. Sonja
says that maybe the pharmacist who sold him the stuff knows something.
He remembers that Chuck was very stressed out. Ell tries to confront the
pharmacist, who says he has two teen-aged granddaughters. He knows
perfectly well what this drug is capable of. It's completely legal. All
he can do is warn young pregnant women to keep their distance. He did
give them some helpful news though. Misoprostal doesn't work for ED
unless used in conjunction with a penis pump.

Carla doesn't recall if Chuck did or didn't use a pump. She doesn't want
to talk about it anymore. She had an abortion when she was in high
school. If this goes to trial, they will make everyone believe that she
brought this on herself. When Elliott asks who 'they' are, Carla says
Miss Maddox. Chuck's lawyer.

In the chambers of Judge Sylvia Quinn, Carolyn Maddox accuses the SVU
squad of violating federal privacy laws. She aims the judge at Stabler.
Her client's confidential disciplinary committee records were the only
link.

Sonya gets back to the squad room and won't hear word one of what
Stabler has to tell her. She's too angry. He tells her he did not tell
Kathleen to take the file, but she doesn't believe him. He says he's
hoping she's not on the sauce right now, because he has a policy against
strangling drunks. He then tells her to go have a drink. They all calm
down. Liv tells Sonya this literally fell in their laps, and Elliot
agrees. Kathleen knew Chuck was guilty, and she tried to help. That's
all. Sonya says that's not a problem. Kathleen can swear to that under
oath. Ell says she's not going to subpoena his daughter, but Sonya feels
she was left with no other choice.

Ell arrives in Sonya's office. He apologizes for not telling her about
getting his file. Kathleen did them a favor. There would be no case
against Chuck without her. If she's put on the stand, Hudson will throw
her out. Sonya doesn't know what he wants from her. Does he want to be
put on the stand, so he can lie instead of Kathleen? He asks her,
defenses down and in all honesty, "Please don't do this to my child."
She thinks for a time and then says that a confidential informant gave
him the file. Kathleen's name will never be part of this. He thanks her.
As he's leaving, she tells him to be at arraignment, first thing tomorrow.

When the judge backs Sonya's bail request, Maddox asks that the order be
stricken based on the judge's bias. The judge calls for a ten minute
recess. She recluses herself, and the new judge is the one that got
Sonya sent to rehab. He wants a cause hearing. Sonya tells Ell & Liv
they're screwed. She's thinking about dropping the case to a misdemeanor
so Maddox will play. Judge Quinn overhears and says no deals. Carolyn
Maddox has been playing dirty all along, so Judge Quinn came here to
help them win this case. She wants to help persuade Carly Vincent to
testify.

She tells Carly her story. She was studying to be a dancer. She danced
for free pizza and beer one night. She remembers stumbling across the
quad ... she woke up to three boys standing over her, taking turns. It
seemed to go on forever. When they were done, they force-fed her pills
so it would look like she overdosed. The police never caught them. They
never even tried. All they were interested in was destroying her. Were
her tights too revealing. How many boyfriends did she have. Etc. That
was over 40 years ago, and she never danced again. She never got
justice, either. Liv and Sonya tell Carly she didn't deserve what Chuck
did to her. The judge says she can get justice, but she must stand up
for herself. She says she will; she'll do it. She'll be there.

She doesn't show up, and Sonya fights the judge for a recess. He gives
her the rest of the day to come up with Carla. Liv finds Carla on the
bathroom floor. Dead. Cause of death is toxic shock syndrome, caused by
the miscarriage. The misoprostal compromised her system. It's safe when
taken orally and absorbed through the stomach, but not the way Carla got
it. Chuck's going on trial for murder in the second degree.






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