Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Part 33 (2019)

Philip Winchester: ADA Peter Stone

Quotes 

• Peter Stone : Liv, what the hell's going on down there?

  Olivia Benson : Excuse me?

  Peter Stone : When I walked into that courtroom this morning, I had a no-lose case. Now, two witnesses later, I am treading water and gasping for air.

  Olivia Benson : So Carisi got creative.

  Peter Stone : He got creative? He's a cop! He's supposed to get on that stand and tell the truth. That's it.

  Olivia Benson : Did he lie?

  Peter Stone : Liv, come on. You and I both know the truth comes in many colors.

  Olivia Benson : So maybe Carisi picked the one that he could live with.

  Peter Stone : I knew it. I knew you were behind this. You wanna do me a favor? You keep your bleeding heart out of my courtroom.

• Peter Stone : This is a very simple case. The defendant, Annabeth Pearl, hosted a dinner party with her husband, Thomas, at their apartment on West 26th Street. Three people ate New York strip, baked potatoes, and creamed spinach. Three hours later, when the guests had left and the dishes were loaded into the dishwasher, Annabeth put on her nightie walked into the den picked up the gun that was sitting on the coffee table, and shot her husband, Thomas, three times while he was watching TV. The detectives assigned to this case will tell you how they arrested Annabeth less than an hour later at a local eatery with the murder weapon still in her possession. They'll tell you how, without provocation, she confessed to the murder. Now, the defense will play on your emotions. They'll tell you about a bad marriage, an abused wife, but what they can't tell you is that Thomas ever hit Annabeth or that she was ever in imminent fear of physical harm. This is a very simple case. Annabeth Pearl is guilty of murder in the second degree.

• Peter Stone : [to Annabeth]  Did your husband ever hit you, Mrs. Pearl? Did Tommy ever hit you?

  Annabeth Pearl : No.

  Peter Stone : Did he ever rape you?

  Annabeth Pearl : We had sex lots of times when I didn't want to.

  Peter Stone : Did you tell him that?

  Annabeth Pearl : No. I was too scared.

  Peter Stone : So in six years of marriage, you never once said "I'm not in the mood," "I have a headache" or "I... I just don't want to."

  Annabeth Pearl : No.

  Peter Stone : I'm sorry, Mrs. Pearl, but that's not rape.

  Stella Russell : Objection!

  Judge : You know better, Mr. Stone.

  Annabeth Pearl : That man was raping me from the moment I said "I do"!

• Dominick Carisi Jr. : There was an EMS team on the scene. They determined that she sustained no physical injuries. They also said that she was in shock.

  Stella Russell : Did the paramedic indicate how long she was in shock?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : They didn't say anything about that, but it's it's possible that she was in shock before she fired that weapon.

  Stella Russell : Before?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Yeah, it's not unusual...

  Peter Stone : Objection.

  Judge : It's your witness, Counselor. Overruled.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : It's not uncommon for a victim to go into survival mode once they've been threatened. She may not have known what she was doing.

  Stella Russell : One more thing, Detective. This isn't exactly what the room looked like when you went into it, is it?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Uh, no. The television was on.

  Stella Russell : I'm confused. The apartment's not that big. If the TV was on when you walked in the front door, I think you would have heard it.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Well, the TV was on, but the volume was muted.

  Stella Russell : Almost as if Tommy and Annabeth spoke before she shot him.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : I wouldn't know about that.

  Stella Russell : But they might have, right? In fact, it is possible that Tommy said, "I love you, sweetie."

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Yeah, it's possible. It's also possible he said, "You ruined my dinner, bitch. Now I'm gonna kill you."

  Peter Stone : Your Honor!

  Stella Russell : Nothing further.

• Peter Stone : [to Olivia]  Did you have the opportunity to interrogate the defendant after she confessed to killing her husband?

  Olivia Benson : I did.

  Peter Stone : Did she express remorse for what she did?

  Olivia Benson : You have to understand, under the circumstances...

  Peter Stone : Just please answer the question.

  Olivia Benson : Taken out of context, her words can be misconstrued.

  Peter Stone : Lieutenant, you just reached out and put your hand on the Bible and swore to tell us the truth. Did the defendant, Ms. Annabeth Pearl, express remorse for what she did?

  Olivia Benson : No.

  Peter Stone : What, if anything, did she say in that regard?

  Olivia Benson : She said that... she said that she was glad that her husband was dead and that she'd prayed about it for years.

• Odafin Tutuola : Jerry Griffin. He's the bartender at the Tatum. He met me outside in the front. He told me Annabeth Pearl was inside with a gun.

  Peter Stone : Mr. Griffin knew her personally?

  Odafin Tutuola : Ms. Pearl and her husband lived across the street. It was their local joint.

  Peter Stone : What, if anything, did you do then?

  Odafin Tutuola : I went inside. I saw Ms. Pearl sitting alone covered in blood, with the gun sitting in front of her on the table.

  Peter Stone : Was there anything else on the table?

  Odafin Tutuola : Yeah, what looked like a wedding ring.

  Peter Stone : Huh. Thank you, Sergeant.