"Tomorrow is the beginning of the end," Marie said, "The trial starts and I'm starting to become a nervous wreck."
"You'll do alright," Elliot said as he helped her towards his desk, "While you wait around here, just sit back and put your legs up."
"It seems to me that's part of how I got into this mess," she replied as she sat down.
"Don't talk like that."
"Where is everybody?"
"Fin and Munch haven't checked back in yet and Olivia's out on a call."
Fin walked in the door looking ready to crash for the night.
"What happened to you?" Elliot asked.
"Don't ask."
The phone at Elliot's desk rang and before he could answer it, Marie grabbed the receiver.
"Special victims unit," she said, there was a pause, she looked over at Elliot, "Yes he is, who's calling, please?" Another pause, "Alright…hold on," she lowered the receiver and said, "Elliot, who's Kathy and why did you leave your cell phone at her house?"
"What?" Elliot checked his pockets, "Oh boy is my memory gone today," he went over to his desk and took the phone, "Hello? Kathy…what's going on? …She's where? Okay…okay, keep her on the line and tell her I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Okay, love you, bye."
"What was that all about?" Fin asked.
"Elizabeth…she called from some service station near the edge of town, Kathy can't get away from the house, I have to go get her."
"I thought she went out on a date," Fin said.
"She did…she got into an argument with her boyfriend after his car broke down and he said she's on her own as soon as he can get out of there," Elliot said.
"Elliot," Marie told him, "Odds are she's scared out of her mind already, don't go over there yelling at her…and don't kill her boyfriend either, just scare the hell out of him."
Elliot left and Marie was stuck talking to Fin for the time being.
"So what do you plan to do when you retire from SVU?" she asked.
"At the rate things are going I doubt I'll live to see retirement," Fin replied.
"What about Munch? What's he plan to do?" Marie wanted to know.
"Eh, a while back he got some idea about opening a bar," Fin said, "Tried talking me into it."
"Did it work?"
"…Yeah, maybe someday it'll be worth looking into," Fin responded.
"Yeah, someday," Marie agreed, "Someday after this whole nightmare is over."
"Do you see the man who raped you here in this courtroom?" Casey asked when Marie was on the stand.
Marie pointed to Ryan, "Ryan Cobb, that man over there in the bad suit."
There was a slight laughter from the people observing the trial. The judge banged his gavel a couple of times.
"Sorry, Your Honor," Marie said before he had a chance to speak.
"And what is your relationship with the defendant?" Casey asked.
"We don't have a relationship," she answered, "We…grew up in the same town back in Kansas. I didn't know him that well though…he was very weird. I'll rephrase," she said when she saw the defense attorney move to rise and object, "He kept to himself a lot. That's not a crime though, I did it all the time myself…but, he expressed very anti-social behavior, he really couldn't get along with other people. I guess the reason he came onto me is because I was the only girl in town who wasn't already taken. But I don't care for the social scene much either, and I told Ryan on several occasions that I wasn't interested. He didn't seem to listen. And it went from being just plain annoying, to very serious…he was always calling me, always asking when we could be together, why I wouldn't go out with him. And then one night he almost ran me down with his car, and he got out of the car and grabbed me and jerked me into this alley and he raped me. I fought and screamed and yelled and struggled but it did no good, he was on top of me and didn't let up until he was finished with me."
"And then what happened?" Casey asked.
"When it was over, he left, and I got up and went to the police to file a report…" she shrugged, "They never seemed to look into it when I was there. So I decided if they wouldn't look into it, then he wasn't going to be locked up and if he wasn't going to be locked up…I really wouldn't be safe if I stayed there so I left."
"And came to New York?"
"Originally I was just trying to get away from him…finally I reached the coast and realized I'd come about as far away from Kansas, and him, as I could. And I started to put my life back together…I found out I was pregnant and was planning on what to do for when my baby came around. And then…he came back into my life…I don't know how he figured out where I was but he had followed me halfway across the country…I told him I was going to report him to the police here in New York and have him arrested. He said, 'no bitch is going to interfere with my plans' and then he told me he was going to kill me long before I could ever reach the police. So I ran…earlier that day, I had spoken with a woman named Lisa Deering who had come to SVU a while back for help…she suggested this detective who might be able to help my case."
"And is that detective here in this courtroom today?" Casey asked.
"Detective John Munch, he's right over there," Marie pointed, "Ryan chased me down the street and he was catching up with me. I jumped out of the way so he couldn't grab me and I wound up in front of an oncoming car. I jumped up to avoid being hit by it and I landed on the hood and smashed the windshield. It was Detective Munch's car, he was on his way to the station. He took me to the hospital and the next morning I told him what had happened…and he arrested Ryan."
"And was that the end of that?"
"No…after I got out of the hospital, I went home…and found that somebody had broken into my home and thrown all the furniture about and smashed everything. The power was out…Detective Munch had taken me home since I don't have a car…he had come back to make sure everything was alright. He called the police and they searched the house to find any evidence of who could have done it."
"And did they?"
"Not right away…it was late and I had to find a place to stay for the night. Detective Munch told me he knew of a place where I'd be safe for the night, so I went with him."
"To a hotel?"
"No."
"To a motel?"
"No."
"To his home?" Casey asked.
Marie took a second before answering, "Not really his home…his official home is a small apartment that he described as not being suited for more than one person. He had this small house in the town, barely furnished, very impersonal, but a place he could go to get away from things, like the phone ringing and people bothering him."
"But the house is in his name and the two of you did spend the night there?"
"Yes…and I know it sounds terrible…and I don't want to get Detective Munch in trouble because he's the first cop I met who gave a damn about my case…but I'm under oath and I won't lie under oath. Yes, I spent the night with him at his house…I slept on the couch, and he spent the night pacing around checking the windows at every noise."
"Why didn't he take you to a hotel or a safe house for the night?" Casey asked.
"Objection," Patrick Bowman, attorney for the defense, rose to his feet, "Leading the witness."
"I'll rephrase, did Detective Munch ever mentioned why he was taking you to his house instead of a more…appropriate place?" Casey asked.
"Well Detective Munch is a…he's a real…he's…well…he's what you'd call a nut," Marie answered.
Munch sat up in his seat and looked shocked and mildly offended by that comment, and more so by the laughter of the spectators behind him. The judge banged his gavel again and everybody shut up.
"Would you care to explain what you mean?" Casey asked.
"Other people think people like he are weird because of all the theories they have. People like him and myself prefer the term 'realist'…we anticipate the reality of things most people turn a blind eye to. He works with the police so he knows more about it than I do."
"Knows about what?"
"About, dead bodies being found in hotel beds, guests being recorded from cameras hidden in the walls…you can pay $150 a night and you're still not alone, or safe," Marie said, "Those stories are always in the news…and I'm the only person who was present at the attack who will tell the truth so it's vital that I stay alive and well. So, Detective Munch took me to a more…neutral area where there was a better chance of my right to privacy being preserved."
"And the next day, did CSU uncover anything in your home?"
"Just a bunch of Ryan's prints which I guess means he went to my house after he chased me, because when he confronted me, we were outside on the sidewalk, and I never let him in the house. We didn't know that initially though, the police contemplated the possibility of Ryan having an accomplice, somebody else walking around free at the time. They found no proof of that however."
"Do you honestly believe the defendant would've killed you if he'd had the chance?" Casey asked.
"Objection," Patrick rose again.
"Overruled," the judge decided, "The witness will answer."
"Yes, I do," she said.
"Why's that?" Casey asked.
"Because after he raped me, he said if I told anybody, he'd kill me."
"And do you believe that was his intention on the night in question?" Casey asked.
"He chased me to the point I could either let him catch me or I could dive out into late night traffic…I think he knew full well what the likely outcome of that would be," Marie said, "He disappeared right after I hit the car, and went right on to his job as though nothing had ever happened."
"No further questions," Casey stepped down, hoping they had covered all bases.
Patrick Bowman got up and strode over towards the witness stand. "Miss Baron, you've given sworn testimony to this court today that my client," sticking his arm out he gestured to Ran, "Raped you."
"Yes."
"You also testified you went to the police to report it…but you neglected to mention going to the hospital immediately afterwards."
"That's because I didn't go to the hospital."
"Oh, and why is that?"
"Because your client was an orderly in the hospital…it didn't exactly seem the wisest thing to do going to where the man who rapes you and threatens to kill you, works, to tell everybody he works with what he did."
"So, if he were a policeman you wouldn't have bothered to file a report either?" Patrick asked.
"Rapes by the average Joes are hard enough to get any attention to, let alone an arrest or a conviction," Marie answered, "Can you tell me offhand how many rapes committed by policemen are ever taken seriously, investigated and result in any convictions?"
He looked at her with a look that clearly said he wasn't expecting that remark.
"You testified that when my client allegedly raped you, you screamed and struggled."
"Yes."
"Did anybody come running to help?"
"No, people generally don't want to get involved in what appears to be spousal spats. 'Fire' is a more appropriate thing to yell because people come running to put out a fire, but if I did that then I suppose you'd be scrutinizing me for calling for help under false pretensions."
"So, there were no witnesses to this alleged rape?" Patrick Bowman asked.
"There were no eyewitnesses to Kitty Genovese's murder either. Do you mean to imply that she wasn't really murdered?"
"Your Honor," he said.
"Withdrawn," Marie replied.
"You can't withdraw, only an attorney can," he told her.
"Well then you might want to withdraw your whole dialogue thus far because you haven't done so well to make your case look good," Marie said.
There were some nervous chuckles from the spectators who couldn't resist. The judge banged his gavel again and warned everybody to be quiet or be held in contempt.
"She'd make a good attorney," Munch whispered to Olivia, "She's terrific at making the defense look like an ass."
"I just hope she doesn't get the whole thing declared a mistrial," Olivia replied.
"You told police that my client, before this alleged rape occurred, sent you several harassing emails."
"Yes."
"And why didn't the police recover any?"
"When I left home, I didn't take my computer with me and I didn't get a new one. I let my account expire because I didn't want to see anymore messages from him."
"Well this doesn't look very good for your own case, now does it?" Bowman asked condescendingly, "You don't have said emails, you don't have any witnesses to the attack, you don't even have a medical report that can tie my client's DNA to your pregnancy."
"In a few weeks they'll be able to test the baby's DNA against the father's, a court order can draw up Ryan's DNA and confirm he did this to me," Marie said.
"Even if that were true, it only proves that you two had sex, not that he raped you."
"Well maybe you could explain to me why I would be so stupid as to sleep with a person I've made it perfectly clear to I don't like and have no desire to have any sort of relationship with. And you can forget the age old story of I was drunk or we both were drunk and one thing led to another because if you had bothered to check with the people in my hometown you'll find that there was never any alcohol kept in my house, and I never frequented any liquor stores or bars and anybody and his brother could tell you I never attended any raves or high school parties where everybody got blind stinking drunk on cheap beer. I don't drink, never have and never will. And I've also never taken any mind altering drugs, I don't take recreational drugs to relax and I don't take any medicinal drugs for my physical or mental wellbeing. I've never been to any psychiatrist who ever prescribed anything for me and no pharmacist back home would tell you I ever bought anything from them but some aspirin and lotion for dry skin."
"Your Honor," he turned to the judge, "Permission to treat as a hostile witness."
"Permission denied, she's answering your questions."
"With more questions? It's…"
"It's my courtroom, Mr. Bowman…and if you don't have anything else to cross-examine the witness with, step down."
The defense was starting to look licked, but he wouldn't accept defeat just yet. Trying very hard to keep a straight face, he continued, "Miss Baron, would you describe for the court, your relationship with Detective John Munch of the Manhattan SVU department?"
"Oh that's easy," Marie said, "He's one of the cops who handled my case."
"And yet you seem to speak so highly of him in particular."
"Well it's not every cop who will drive to the hospital, the person who crashes through their window."
"Isn't it true, Miss Baron, that your relationship with Detective Munch runs far deeper than that?"
"I don't understand," Marie replied.
"Since your initial meeting with Detective Munch, it's been said by several eyewitnesses that you express very…outgoing behavior towards him in particular, the way several flirty women just seem to string some men along."
"Objection," Casey said.
Bowman ignored her and continued, "Might it be safe, and downright truthful to say that you strung my client around in the same manner?"
"The Supreme Court found that a victim's sexual history has no relevance to their attack or any other elements of the case, I fail to see how a victim's social behavior can do so either," Marie replied, starting to look a little uncomfortable and seem a bit short of breath.
"Isn't it true that you just put on a big, helpless, act for everybody to buy into and that you are really a deceitful, conniving person who enjoys nothing better than ruining the reputation of an innocent man?"
"Innocent man nothing, he raped me and tried to kill me and he told me he was going to kill me."
"And there are no witnesses to corroborate any of these stories, not one single, solitary person who will speak up in your defense even though you claim to have led such a Puritan life."
"Is Mr. Bowman testifying?" Casey asked.
With every word that the defense attorney sputtered, Marie started to look sicker and sicker.
"There never was a rape, there never was an attempt on your life, you invited my client into your home, and after he left you ran out into traffic of your own accord in an attempt to frame Mr. Cobb for your own psychotic actions!"
Marie opened her mouth but instead of responding, she threw up on Bowman. There was an eruption of noise from the spectators of the court. Lennie sat up front with the other detectives, laughing his head off at the sight, and even Elliot had to agree with him that this was one of the more humorous sights he had seen in a courtroom in a long time. Meanwhile Olivia and John jumped out of their seats and rushed over to help Marie down from the stand and off to the restroom while the judge banged his gavel and ordered the courtroom to shut up, and announced they were in recess until tomorrow.
"Well counselor," Lennie said as Casey came over towards them, "So far I'd say everything's going smooth."
"What the hell was all that about?" Elliot asked.
"I don't know," she replied, "It would seem though that he's got something up his sleeve."
"Well do you think he found somebody in her hometown who was willing to speak against her?" Lennie asked, "For that matter do you think it's even true?"
"Probably just a bunch of guys she knew who are trying to have their field day in the spotlight," Elliot said, "She said she never was much of a sociable person, she probably blew off a bunch of guys and they were pissed at her for it and now see their chance to get even."
"Whatever's going on, we have to find out what it is," Casey told him, "When we spoke to the people in her hometown nobody had anything to say against her."
"Well, I guess he just dug deep enough to find the worms," Lennie said.
"I hope so," Elliot replied, "I hope we haven't just been taken on one long, embarrassing ride here."
"You've worked with enough liars you should know by now if she's telling the truth or not, shouldn't you?" Casey asked.
"You're a lawyer, shouldn't you?" Elliot replied.
