Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

- 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.

- Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

who are we to judge another?

By what metric should we praise or condemn?

Well, I may be but a lowly, lowly lawyer,

but, uh, one thing that I can attest to

is that tonight's man of the hour

is a consummate force of good.

Now, I'm sure that we can all agree

that in a sea full of judges with oversized egos, this guy--

this guy's got the largest.

No, but seriously, ladies and gentlemen,

I want you to join me in welcoming to the stage

your Judge of the Year, the Honorable Warren Fels.

Come on. Give it up.

Come on. Look at this. - Thank you.

Are you serious? What--what--

- It's a brutal world out there.

Mm-hmm.

- And an absolutely silent night in here.

Oh!

You just jinxed it.

Oh, come on, I'm a cop.

I'm not superstitious. - You'll see.

- So in '03, we almost made it through

an entire shift without a peep.

And then John Munch had to open his mouth

and prove to all of us that there was

no such thing as a jinx.

The call came in ten seconds later.

- All right, well, maybe tonight's the night.

You just double-jinxed it.

No, I did not.

- What color? - Red.

- Crime Stoppers just sent us a tip.

Jinx.

- I've learned three things in all my years

on the raised bench.

Number one,

looking down at the court,

I know each and every one of you that has a bald spot.

Number two, looking up at you--

you better remember to trim those nose hairs.

I was raped by the devil.

- But most importantly, the bench is raised

so that all can see justice.

He may claim to be good,

but he uses his position for pure evil.

- But in no way should a judge be viewed greater

than anyone else in the court.

- On November 15th, in his robing room,

he tore my underwear off with his teeth,

and then he forced himself inside of me.

- Like Albert Einstein said, "Blind belief in authority

is the greatest enemy of truth."

And the aim should always be truth and justice.

- That devil's name is Judge Warren Fels.

- No, no, the speech was great.

It was great. Just the--the Einstein quote.

- Oh, don't tell me Sonny Carisi

is questioning Albert Einstein.

- No, I just thought you could have gone with Francis Bacon.

"Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority."

- All right, well, how about this one?

Hank Williams,

"Mind your own business."

Congratulations, Judge of the Year.

You deserve it.

Thanks, Dominick.

- All right. - Get home safe too.

- Uh, but I think Public Enemy said it better than Einstein.

"Don't believe the--"

No!

Why? Why?

You're okay. Hey.

Hey, you're okay. You're okay.

I need an ambulance right now.

I'm in The Belmore Hotel, in the garage.

Gunshot wound to the chest.

Send it. All right, I got you.

I got you. Just stay with me.

Stay with me, okay? Come on.

He was late teens, early 20s.

He was about 5'10", and sandy blond hair.

He had blue eyes.

He was wearing a black jacket, blue hoodie, black jeans,

white canvas sneakers.

- Okay. - And he had a gun.

But he was the one who looked scared, Liv.

Thank you so much.

- Hey. - Hey.

What--what--what did they say?

What are they saying? - He's going into surgery.

And they think that the bullet somehow missed

everything major, thanks to you.

Thanks to me?

The guy got shot in the chest, Amanda.

I was too damn slow.

Stop it.

Stop.

Thank God he's okay.

- So, Carisi, how well do you know Judge Fels?

I know him really well.

I mean, the guy was--

he was one of my law professors.

He mentored me.

And he's married, right?

No, no.

His wife died last year. He's a widower.

- Okay. - Okay.

Well, what was that?

What--why are you detective-ing him?

He didn't shoot himself.

There's an accusation.

To SVU?

Against Warren Fels?

No. No, no, no, no.

- And now there's an attempt on his life.

He's a good guy.

No, no, no, no. Listen, listen.

I love you both, but he didn't assault anyone.

And I trust your judgment.

I trust your perception.

But what, Liv?

- But if we have one motto at SVU...

Never say never.

Look, you two go home.

We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out.

Warren Fels.

69 years old, 12 years prosecutor.

He rose to the head of the Homicide Division,

appointed by the governor to the Supreme Court

and most recently, chief judge

of the Trial Division in Queens.

And currently... - He's in the ICU.

He's out of surgery, but he's not up yet.

- The accusation came in as an internet tip

through Crime Stoppers.

- The alleged assault took place on November 15th.

- And Fels was the presiding judge

for Saturday night arraignments,

but nobody on the docket matches the woman in the video.

- Saturday night arraignments are known to draw

a certain clientele.

Hold on.

I knew I recognized something. - What?

Here.

There. There.

See her home screen?

- That's the app for Midnight Page.

Exactly.

Midnight Page is what?

- It's a marketplace for hiring escorts.

So she is a sex worker.

Well, you can filter by preferences--

so female, white, brunette, 20s, green eyes.

- You have the Midnight Page app on your phone?

- Hey, buddy, if you wanna catch a worm,

you gotta dig in the dirt.

Okay.

Okay, here she is, ElsaXXX.

Let's make a date.

I'll copy her.

Martini?

Is it dry or dirty?

It's water with a twist.

- Okay, good. I don't drink either.

Water, twist.

I'm waiting on someone.

Elsa, right?

You're not in any trouble, but no one else is coming.

I made the appointment with you.

Who are you?

I'm here to help you.

- It happened in his robing room.

He tore off my underwear with his teeth

and then forced himself inside of me.

- Okay. And this was on November 15th?

Yes, November 15th.

- You know, I gotta say, we don't have a record

of you appearing in Judge Fels's court

that evening.

It happened.

Okay.

- He forced himself inside of me.

I can see it right now happening in my head.

- Elsa, listen, all I want for you is justice, okay?

Can you tell me your real name?

Elsa Clark.

- How do you feel about coming down to the station with me?

We can file a report.

You work for him, don't you?

Who, Judge Fels? No.