Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(narrator)
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.
More blood.
(Central)
All cars in the 29 precinct,
Turn them down.
Floor's clean this way.
Go ahead.
What do you got?
(policeman)
Blood on the wall.
Psst, psst.
Something on the door.
It's locked.
(Joe)
Don't hurt me.
Don't hurt me.
[Siren wailing]
Patrol got
the call at 9:50 a.
m.
Passerby saw
a broken window, open door.
Thought it might be a break-in
till they heard shots fired.
We found two dead kids
in the gym,
naked, except for
shoes and socks.
Elliot's inside.
Did they get
the shooter yet?
Negative.
Your guy just
called for ESU and HNT.
HNT.
***'s got
a hostage.
Let the kid go
and we can talk.
We're not gonna hurt you.
I repeat,
we're not gonna harm you.
Just let the kid go.
Any other exits?
I don't know.
Where's HNT?
On their way.
Hey, my name is Elliot.
What's your name?
Look, send out the kid.
I'm gonna step
away from the door.
[Gun firing]
(Fin)
Got the kid.
The shooter's gone.
Might have gone out this way.
[Groaning]
Where are you hit?
My head.
Okay.
All right.
Everything's gonna be fine.
[Groans]
Stay with me.
(Stabler)
Gun shot wound to the head.
The kid's passed out.
Manhattan SVU,
we've got a teenage boy,
gunshot to the head.
Put a
No luck?
Lady saw a tall
white guy running,
jumped into
a car a block away.
Make, model?
Black or blue
or green, maybe.
Any word on the kid?
Elliot called.
Kid's still unconscious,
but the bullet
only winged him.
Teacher lives close by.
Came in when he
heard the sirens.
Said the boy's name
is Joe Blaine,
ID'd the victims
as Luke Rhodes
and Tyrell Dent,
school basketball stars.
Patrol's informing
their families.
(Munch)
Takes hazing
to a whole new level.
What are kids doing here
on a Saturday anyway?
Patrol found
a basketball outside,
probably shooting hoops.
Killer came up, broke a window
and forced them inside.
(Hector)
Captain.
Hector Recincto,
school security.
There's a gun missing.
(Cragen)
Where from?
My lockbox.
Confiscated it
from a student Friday.
Patrol was gonna
pick it up on Monday.
What's the student's name?
Derek Fowler.
He's in the same grade
as these boys.
(Fin)
Police.
We have a search warrant.
Hands where we can see them.
What'd I do?
(Munch)
Name.
Randy Fowler.
I'm clean,
ask my P.
O.
Shut up.
Where's Derek?
In his room.
(Randy)
Don't go
smashing down his door.
What the hell?
Where's the gun, Derek?
What gun?
The one you brought
to school on Friday.
School pigs took it off me.
Kicked my *** out.
You stole my gun?
I was gonna tell you, Dad.
I didn't use it.
I was showing off.
Where were you
this morning?
Shut up.
You don't
have to say anything.
That's right.
Listen to your pops.
You can spill your guts
at the precinct.
The kid usually
lives with Mom.
He's been suspended twice
for bringing knives to school.
Now he's graduated to guns.
School expelled him,
maybe he decided
on a quick revenge.
Or maybe one of the dead boys
saw the piece
and turned Derek in.
[Door opens]
I checked
Dad's movements.
He was drinking his breakfast
from 10:00 to 12:00
at the local bar.
(Fin)
That gives Derek time
to go out and do his thing.
[Cell phone ringing]
ME says that
there's no hairs,
no fluids on the victims,
so no DNA.
(Munch)
No *** assault?
Doesn't look like it.
Well, Perp gets his
kicks out of killing.
He could have
made those kids strip
just to humiliate them.
That was Elliot.
Joe Blaine is awake.
Get down there,
show him an array.
See if he picks out our
little buddy in there.
(Benson)
Joe, do you recognize
any of these faces?
(Joe)
He went to my school.
Did he hurt you?
You can do this, honey.
You can help them.
How'd you get inside?
Who broke the window?
He made me do it.
I cut my hand.
And who is he?
Do you know him?
[Quavering]
He has a gun.
He has a gun.
Oh, boy.
Oh, boy.
Shooting.
***, ***.
It's okay.
Tell them what you saw.
I can't.
(Benson)
Joe, did you see his face?
No, no.
No.
I don't want to.
You are a really
talented artist, Joe.
I bet you could
draw his face.
I don't remember.
(Stabler)
Think back.
He dragged you to
the boiler room.
He had a gun.
I know you can do this, Joe.
Just give us his face,
that's all we need.
Just give us his face.
[Woman chattering
on PA system]
(Hector)
Sure, I know him.
George Waddell.
He's the janitor here.
What kind of guy is he?
He's got a temper.
Some kids messed
with him last week.
Kicked his bucket over.
George went after them
with a mop.
And, uh,
what kids were these?
There was
a bunch of them.
But you know who started it?
The kids that got shot,
Luke and Tyrell.
Call's gone out.
Now you said that you kept
the gun in a lockbox?
Yeah.
We confiscate a gun,
it goes in here till
the cops come pick it up.
(Stabler)
Who else has a key?
Only me.
(Benson)
You keep it with you
at all times?
Of course.
I keep a spare set
hidden back here.
Nobody ever comes
around this side.
Except for the janitor.
(Fin)
We know you went
to the school today.
On Saturday?
Why would I do that?
Because you wanted a rematch
with those kids
who pissed you off.
They were just
having a little fun with me.
Sure you didn't want
to teach them a lesson,
strip them naked?
Embarrass them like
they embarrassed you?
No way.
You killed
these kids, George.
I didn't kill nobody.
Sure you did.
With the gun
you lifted from
the security office.
I didn't shoot nobody
with that gun.
You seem to know
a lot about it.
I wasn't at the school.
Yeah? Well,
this puts you there.
Joey Blaine drew that,
after you tried to shoot him.
I would never hurt Joey.
You stole the gun,
killed Luke and Tyrell,
dragged Joey
into the boiler room,
locked yourself in,
then you tried to kill Joey.
Oh, yeah?
So if I locked myself in,
how come I'm not still there?
You went out
through the window.
Nobody can get
out of that window.
(Fin)
I did.
[Sniffling]
Look, man, I got emphysema.
Maybe you could wiggle
your pretty little ***
out of there.
Not me.
(Stabler)
Yeah, he could be
telling the truth.
It would have taken
half an hour for George
to get out that window.
So how'd he get out?
Detectives,
we've got ourselves a puzzle.
Fire a gun in here,
ricochet heaven.
If we trace
the bullet backwards,
it ended up
at the base of the wall.
Before that,
it bounced off the furnace
after it first hit that pipe.
The bullet impact mark
is a perfect circle.
It means the bullet
was fired straight up.
Which doesn't make sense.
Unless Joe
struggled with the shooter
and forced him to fire
straight up in the air.
Could be the reason
why the bullet only grazed
the side of Joe's head.
(Siper)
Possible.
How you doing on the prints?
(Siper)
We've got hundreds.
At least the kid's are easy,
there's blood all over 'em.
Sprayed amido black
to bring them up.
Did Joe leave his prints
on the inside door lock?
Yeah.
Shooter
must've made him shut it.
So what if
the kid and the shooter
are the same person?
Joe comes in here,
runs to the window.
It's too high,
he can't get out.
He hears us on the outside,
he put the gun
to his own head.
He shrinks from the shot,
bullet goes straight up.
He's bleeding,
he panics.
He looks for
a place to hide the gun.
Where else?
[Knocking on door]
Detectives, did you
find the guy who did it?
Where's Joe?
In his room.
Why? What's wrong?
(Sandra)
Tell me.
Tell me.
[Knocks on door]
Joe, it's the police.
Open up.
My God.
What are you doing?
What are you doing
with guns?
Please don't hurt him.
Please.
Wait.
Where is he?
I don't know,
he was just here.
I guess that's one window
he could get out of.
Elliot.
School gym.
Two bodies on the floor.
Shooter standing over them.
He planned
the whole damn thing.
It's just a drawing.
It doesn't mean he did it.
Well, if he didn't do it,
why'd he run away?
He's terrified.
He saw his friends killed.
Someone tried to shoot him.
He's afraid the guy's gonna
come back and get him.
School gym, two dead bodies,
guy with a gun.
Your kid did this.
Nope.
Drawing is
an outlet for Joey.
He drew what he saw,
not what he did.
What he saw?
This is dated July 4.
Joe did this, Sandra.
This is what he did.
You're wrong.
He's a gentle kid,
he's a really sweet kid.
I know he's been
depressed recently,
but he couldn't have done it.
Sandra,
Joe could hurt himself.
He could hurt somebody else.
Now you need to tell us
where he is.
I already told you.
We came home
from the hospital,
he went into his room,
I had no idea that he'd gone
until you guys
came busting in.
Does he have any friends
that he would go to?
He has his art, okay?
That's what matters.
What about family,
what about his dad?
No, it's just
Joe and me.
His dad walked out
on us three years ago.
Why would Joe pick out
Luke and Tyrell?
(Huang)
Because they're athletes,
they're the kings
of the school.
Joe's a loner.
He's socially awkward.
He's been teased and bullied.
After years of humiliation,
he snaps.
Like Eric Harris
at Columbine.
Walks into the room, shouts,
"All jocks stand up.
"
And then he starts shooting.
(Munch)
This model citizen has
a confession to make.
Spill it, George.
I gave Joey the gun.
Tell them why.
He was always
getting picked on.
It was just to
scare the other kids.
I had no idea
it was loaded.
Man, if I'd known,
I never
There, thank you.
Got the LUDs
from Mom's.
Two hours after Joey
left the hospital,
someone made a call
to Metro-North line,
passenger information.
(Janace)
Computer logged
your boy' s call at 4:05 p.
m.
It also logged
the menu choices he made.
Where's he at?
Let's see.
He checked the schedule
for trains to Milford,
Connecticut.
The first he could have caught
was at 5:35 p.
m.
So my boys here checked
today's cameras from 4:30 on.
Alfonso struck gold.
(Fin)
Look.
Kind of hard
to miss, isn't he?
Psycho brat caught the 5:35.
I'll call
Connecticut state troopers.
Hang on, he's not
leaving the upper level.
(Fin)
So?
(Munch)
Out of town trains leave
from the lower level.
So he's going downstairs.
Not in that direction.
He's headed for the subway.
Staying in the city,
not leaving it.
Oh, that kid's not
smart enough to pull that
kind of stunt.
I'd say Mama's taking us
for a ride.
Sandra can't really think
she's gonna get away
with this.
One of your kids got
into serious trouble,
what would you do?
I don't know.
Yeah, you do.
You'd hire
the best lawyer that you could
and you'd tell them
to keep their mouth shut.
You know how the system works,
Elliot.
She doesn't.
It doesn't make
what she's doing right.
It makes her a mother.
There she is.
The subject's getting
into a cab,
going north on Avenue C.
(Fin)
Copy that.
Taxi dropped Sandra off here,
she went around back.
Munch followed her
on foot.
Store's closed.
She got keys?
Service entrance.
Must be where she works.
Any sign of the kid?
(Munch)
He's here all right.
Any chance of backup?
We're on our way.
Where is he?
Storeroom.
Police, don't move.
(Stabler)
Let's see the hands.
Let's see the hands.
Up.
Up.
Come on.
(Sandra)
You leave him alone.
Talk to me.
Talk to me!
(Benson)
Get out of the way.
He didn't do anything.
It's my fault.
(Joe)
Mom, Mom, help me.
Just leave him be.
Mom, what's happening?
I was bringing him in.
I was.
Was that before or after
your bus trip
to Phoenix, Arizona?
I'm trying
to protect my kid!
(Joe)
Mom!
(Benson)
Joe, why did you shoot
Luke and Tyrell?
Don't know them.
You don't know them.
You told us that you went
to school with them.
No, I didn't.
Joe.
Joe, look at me.
You're in
serious trouble here
and you need
to help yourself.
Don't want to.
Did you draw this?
Where's my pen?
I want my pen!
We'll get you one.
I know you drew that.
Now, did you
also do this?
You don't have to
answer that, Joe.
Didn't draw that.
Didn't draw that.
Joe, who's
who's this?
Who's this person here?
Zoltar.
Who's Zoltar?
No, I won't
Come on, take it easy.
Calm down.
Stop.
I won't.
It's okay.
Zoltar's gonna kill you.
(Stabler)
Are you Zoltar?
He's gonna kill you.
All right.
Come here.
Get off! He's gonna kill you!
Zoltar's gonna kill you!
We're stopping right now,
this boy is sick.
He's gonna kill you.
Zoltar's gonna kill you!
Joe's lawyer argues
that he's not competent
to stand trial.
I buy it.
Kid could be acting.
He's not acting.
He's having a psychotic break.
The question is,
was he psychotic before
he killed those two boys?
Sandra gave me
his school reports.
They mention moodiness,
irritability,
lack of attention.
These are all signs
of depression.
He's probably got
Attention Deficit Disorder.
ADD doesn't turn
kids into murderers.
No, but you've seen
his journals.
His mom is right.
He's a really creative kid
with an elaborately
dark fantasy life.
Unfortunately, today,
something tipped
fantasy into reality.
So he really believes
that he's Zoltar?
I once treated a kid
from a Special Ed class.
Whenever I asked
him a question,
he got under a desk
and barked like a dog.
Did he think
he was a dog? No.
(Stabler)
Just blowing off steam.
Right.
It was
a displacement activity
to release his anxiety.
And that's what
Zoltar does for Joe,
it creates an escape.
The question is,
what made him turn violent?
Oh, George Waddell
gave him a gun.
That gave him
the means to kill,
but that's not enough
to trigger
a psychotic episode.
Okay, so what does?
Alcohol, uh, drugs,
uh, lack of sleep,
any other stressors.
Okay, look, I feel
real sorry for Joe,
but I feel more sorry
for the two kids he killed.
Now, we want
a confession here, Doc.
How do we get one?
You let him rest.
You get him something to eat,
get him a paper and pencil,
and you try again later.
When did you last sleep, Joe?
Wednesday.
This is Saturday.
That was three days ago.
I can't sleep.
I can't sleep!
I get bad dreams.
Are you taking
any pills, Joe?
I don't want to.
It's okay.
Why don't you want
to take the pills?
Because of
the voices in my head.
I can't hear anything else.
They're talking so loud,
they're screaming.
Stop it.
Please tell them to stop.
Please stop it!
[Panting]
Please tell them to stop!
Okay.
Shh.
Please!
Please stop it.
Joe,
what are the voices
telling you?
They're telling me
to do things.
You mean Zoltar?
No one messes with Zoltar.
Kids mess with you?
All the time.
They laugh at me.
They pull down my pants
and call me a shrimp.
But Zoltar punished them.
(Stabler)
With the gun?
[Panting]
They're running,
and I'm shooting,
there's blood everywhere.
But they just won't die,
not till I get close.
***, ***!
They finally stop.
I heard sirens.
I ran to hide.
I went to the boiler room,
but the window was too high,
so I put the gun to my head.
I don't remember any more.
Can I see my mom now?
Well, there's your
confession.
You want to try him
in family or criminal court?
He's only 13, but the ***
was premeditated.
The DA will insist
on charging him as an adult.
We'll arraign on Monday.
Barry.
Alex.
Great to see you.
(Alex)
What are you doing here?
Mr.
Moredock has
taken Joe's case.
But this is a *** case,
there's no
constitutional issue here.
Really?
What about the freedom
to refuse medication?
Fourteenth Amendment
guarantees the right
to privacy.
What are you
talking about?
It seems Joey's school
made him take Aptril,
a psychotropic antidepressant.
That's your defense?
"Some pills made him do it.
"
Barry, he confessed to killing
two of his classmates.
You're wasting your time
and Mrs.
Blaine's money.
Mr.
Moredock is
doing this for free.
(Moredock)
Before you scoff, Alex,
consult
the Physicians' Desk Reference
for the known side effects
of Aptril.
Abnormal dreams,
anxiety, insomnia
I suffer from
anxiety and insomnia.
I don't go out
and shoot people.
I'm pleased to hear it, Alex,
but you should also look at
the National Drug
Administration's
labeling enclosure for Aptril,
which lists mania as
one of its side effects.
How can you try
a child for ***
when he's got this poison
running through his system?
How did you get so
well-briefed on this subject?
You can thank the doctor
who called me about this case.
What doctor?
Your forensic psychiatrist,
George Huang.
What were you thinking,
turning this case
over to Barry Moredock?
I'm concerned
about Joe Blaine.
I knew Moredock
would share my concern.
So it wasn't enough
you had to call him in,
you also handed him
his defense?
I'm not against the use
of psychiatric drugs
to treat children.
I just don't think they should
be used as an instrument
of school policy.
Then publish an article.
You had no business
interfering in my case.
Thousands of children
are being forced
to take powerful drugs without
psychiatric supervision.
Before you crucify Joe Blaine,
maybe you should hear
what your
detectives found out.
What? Now you're working
on Joe Blaine's defense too?
Alex, you weren't there.
This kid is
seriously troubled.
We spoke to his
school counselor.
She said that Joe was
exceptionally creative,
yet extremely disruptive.
They suggested counseling,
medication,
but Joe's mother
always resisted.
She said he was special,
needed special treatment.
In the end the school insisted
that he see their shrink.
So that's who
prescribed Joe the Aptril.
Apparently not.
Mom wanted a second opinion,
so they went to see
a Dr.
Engles.
All right.
Find out when Dr.
Engles
started Joe on the Aptril.
Then I can decide
if I should take this defense
as seriously
as Dr.
Huang seems to.
Come on, detectives,
you know I won't discuss
a patient with you.
Fine,
we won't discuss him.
Just tell us
what you prescribed.
That amounts
to the same thing,
and gets the same answer: No.
Your patient
just shot and killed
two of his classmates.
The shooting at IS 41?
That was Joe?
(Stabler)
Yeah.
Did you prescribe
the "happy pills"?
I didn't prescribe him
anything.
Well, he said
he was taking Aptril.
He didn't get it
from me.
(Benson)
Well, he and his mother
came to see you.
And agreed to try
a course of psychotherapy.
I thought Joe was
bright and willing enough
to be treated
by therapy alone.
Obviously, you were wrong.
We'll never know.
After the second session,
Joe's mother called
and said I was not
on her HMO's list
of approved doctors
and they were refusing to pay
for the therapy sessions.
Would the HMO have
paid for the meds?
Of course.
Therapy takes
countless hours,
costs thousands of dollars.
Prescribing meds
costs a fraction of that,
and takes five minutes.
So why not
prescribe the Aptril?
It's a standard medication
for children with depression,
but I avoid
prescribing meds if I can.
Why?
Because, frankly,
we still don't understand
what impact these
powerful drugs
have on developing brains.
So this whole drug defense
is a fake?
Well, Joe's mental problems
aren't a fake.
Both doctors who saw him
agreed he was depressed.
Moredock can
hardly blame Aptril
if Joe wasn't taking it.
I faxed over Joe Blaine's
tox screen.
Negative for
narcotics and alcohol,
but not for
phenyl oxypropylamine.
Aptril?
That's the baby.
How recently
did he take it?
Well, based on
the plasma concentration,
ME says he took a pill about
But if a doctor didn't
prescribe Aptril,
how did Joe get it?
I mean, a 13-year-old can't
just buy it over the counter.
Might have got it
from school.
What do you mean?
Well, you've got millions of
kids taking psychiatric meds.
School nurse stations
have more drugs
than some hospitals.
But they're not
handed out like candy.
Good as.
And the drugs
are being traded.
I've heard of college kids
snorting Ritalin
just to help
them through exams.
Or to get a good buzz
and too stupid to know
they're burning
their own brain out.
Well, I know one person
I could ask.
Did Dr.
Engles
give you the Aptril?
I didn't want it.
He said I'd feel better
just by talking.
But you stopped seeing him
after two sessions.
Did you go see
another doctor after that?
No.
(Alex)
All right.
Did a school nurse
give you the meds?
Is there a purpose
to this fishing expedition,
Alex?
If you and Joe are claiming
that Aptril made him a killer,
I think we should know
where he got it.
Joe?
I don't know.
Well, if you won't
tell me,
I can only assume
that you got it yourself.
Maybe you bought it
from a kid at school,
maybe from the janitor,
George Waddell.
I'm not sure what
you're trying to achieve here.
I think it's pretty clear.
No doctor
prescribed the Aptril.
Joe took it himself.
Not because he wanted
to get better,
but because he wanted
to feel good.
If that's the best
you can do, Alex,
I think we're gonna
have a nice, short trial.
Let's go, Joe.
(Dr.
Petrus)
Serotonin is
one of the brain's
chemical messengers.
It governs our moods.
If it's reabsorbed
into the brain too quickly,
people can have
feelings of depression,
worthlessness, fatigue.
And reuptake inhibitors
such as Aptril
can block
this reabsorption?
Yes, they boost
levels of serotonin
and can
relieve depression,
giving a sense of
general well-being.
Thousands of lives have been
improved by the drug.
(Moredock)
So what's the bad news?
In an FDA-approved trial
of Aptril,
its maker,
Tauscher Leto,
found that a significant
percentage, 1.
8 percent
in fact,
of those taking the drug
suffered a manic reaction.
How many people might be prone
to this manic reaction?
Current estimates are
that between
three and four million
children and adolescents
currently take
at least one psychiatric drug.
that's that's
between 50,000 and 70,000.
Yes.
So between 50,000 and 70,000
children and adolescents
might at any time be subject
to these manic reactions,
might feel omnipotent,
invincible,
violent?
Yes.
Thank you, Dr.
Petrus.
Dr.
Petrus,
as a child psychologist
and psychopharmacologist,
you must be very familiar
with FDA-approved drug trials.
Yes.
This trial that you quoted,
how many people were involved?
I mean,
actually taking Aptril?
Uh, 190.
That doesn't seem
like a very large number.
Was that the only trial
that Tauscher Leto did?
There were others.
And did they get
the same incidence
of manic reaction?
No.
Isn't it true that
in order to have reliability,
a scientific experiment
must be capable of being
replicated?
Yes.
Yet the results of this trial
have not been repeated.
There's a wealth of
anecdotal evidence
Dr, Petrus, I thought you were
here as a scientist,
not as a storyteller.
Your Honor.
(Alex)
Nothing further.
It's like I was in a red fog.
The blood was
pounding my ears.
The medication made
you feel this way?
Yes.
Like nothing
could stop me.
Nothing could hurt me.
So you killed
those boys?
Yes.
And afterwards,
how did you feel?
Like I wanted to die.
I put the gun to my head,
but my hand was
shaking too much.
Did you want to take
this medication,
this, uh, Aptril?
No.
I didn't want everyone
to know I was such a screw-up.
But still you took it.
Why was that?
Because if I didn't, they said
I'd have to leave my school.
Thank you, Joe.
(Alex)
Joe, did you do this drawing?
Did you draw this?
Yes.
Dead bodies in a gym,
a masked man with a gun.
What does it mean?
Nothing.
It's just a drawing.
When did you draw it?
I can't remember.
You dated it, Joe.
It's July 4.
That's two months
before you were referred
to the psychiatrist.
So doesn't that mean
that you had thought
about the shooting,
planned it even,
long before anyone ever
mentioned Aptril to you?
Objection.
Are the boy's
creative processes on trial
here, Your Honor?
Overruled.
Answer the question.
I thought about it.
But I never would
have done anything,
not without the drug.
(Alex)
Who prescribed
Aptril to you?
L I can't remember.
You can't remember because
no one prescribed it to you.
Who gave it to you?
I don't know.
You said you
didn't like Aptril,
you didn't want
to take Aptril.
How could you not know
who gave it?
I told you, I don't know!
The truth is,
you did want to take Aptril.
You wanted to find out
how it made you feel.
No!
You can't tell us
where you got it
because you bought it,
or stole it at school.
No!
Then how did
you get it? Tell me.
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
Where did you
get the medication?
Stop it.
Leave him alone, okay?
Just leave him alone.
I gave it to him, okay?
It was me.
(Alex)
Sandra, why did you lie to us?
I told Barry Moredock.
He said Aptril was the issue,
not where it came from.
So it was your Aptril?
Prescribed by a doctor?
No, it came in the mail.
You sent off for it?
Ordered it on the Internet?
What?
No, it just arrived.
It arrived just like that?
When?
Right after
I'd heard from my HMO
that they weren't going
to pay for Joey's therapy.
I'd just started a new job
and Joey was causing all sorts
of trouble at school
and I kept getting
these phone calls,
my boss was on my case.
And his counselor calls
and tells me
that they're gonna expel him
if I don't medicate him,
and then this
package arrived.
With the Aptril.
Just the Aptril?
No letter, no nothing?
No, there was a letter.
This is on
Tauscher Leto letterhead,
signed by a Dr.
Carl Medwin.
Who's he?
That's my doctor
from about three years ago.
He recommends you try
this new, weekly version
of Aptril.
Had he ever prescribed
Aptril to you before?
Yes.
I got depressed
when my husband walked out.
It helped me.
So that makes it okay
to give it to Joey
even though
he didn't want to take it?
I love my son, okay?
I would never do anything
to hurt him.
He was going to get thrown
out of school,
I was going to lose my job
So you forced this stuff
on your son
so you could get
to work on time?
No!
Did you talk to a doctor,
a nurse, anyone?
Yes! Doctors,
teachers, psychiatrists,
everyone said
he should be on Aptril.
So, why didn't you
get a doctor to prescribe it?
Because I didn't
want him to get labeled.
Those records will follow you
your whole life.
I came home
from work one day
and there it was,
sitting on the stoop,
Aptril, like some
kind of gift from God.
I gave it to him.
I thought, you know,
it would make him better.
No one will know,
and everything's
gonna be okay.
The pharmacy that
sent Sandra the Aptril
says it was legitimate.
A licensed physician signed
the prescription,
all they did was
mail out the meds.
But is there a crime here?
Well, it's pretty ***.
Sending powerful
prescription meds by mail,
blind, is more than ***.
Tauscher Leto just
gave me the runaround.
The spokesman for the CEO,
Dean Reynolds,
categorically denies
that his company
would ever engage
in any unsolicited mail-out
of their fine
pharmaceutical products.
How do they explain
the use of their letterhead?
Ah, yes, a rogue sales agent
who will be disciplined
as soon as he's identified.
They didn't send this stuff
out of the goodness
of their hearts.
They were marketing it
to people
that they knew
might use it.
It's your call, Counselor.
I don't think
a doctor would sign a letter
to a patient he hasn't seen
in over three years
without some
kind of incentive.
Let's find out
who's paying Dr.
Medwin.
(Dr.
Medwin)
It's my signature,
but I didn't write the letter.
(Alex)
Did you even read it?
Not until now.
You know, Doctor,
aren't you
the least bit pissed off?
I mean, they could have
used you to advertise
crack ***
and you wouldn't
have had a clue.
The Tauscher-Leto
sales rep told me
the letter would be used
to market an improved weekly
form of Aptril,
and that samples
would be sent
only to those of my patients
who had already taken
the drug.
How many of these letters
did you sign?
Maybe two dozen.
Did you also give the company
copies of your patient lists?
Only those with
a history of depression.
(Alex)
With or without their consent?
I did not consult them.
Ah, what the hell, you make
a couple of easy bucks
off their
medical problems, right?
I got paid nothing.
They guaranteed
a three-month supply
of essential drugs
for my clinic.
Most of these patients
have no insurance.
If I don't help them,
no one will.
So you made
a deal with the devil?
If it means
giving poor patients
the medicine
they can't afford, then yes.
Anyway, Aptril is
a well-established drug
with an excellent record
for treating depression.
So what harm could it do?
That's what one
of your patients
who received it thought.
So she gave
the Aptril to her son,
who had a psychotic episode
and shot two
of his classmates.
Oh, my God.
What's the name
of this Tauscher Leto
sales rep?
Jane Wellesley.
(Stabler)
Ms.
Wellesley?
Yes?
(Stabler)
I'm Det.
Stabler, NYPD.
This is Assistant
District Attorney Cabot
I'm sorry,
I have nothing to say.
How do you know
what we're going to ask?
Why did you send
prescription drugs
through the mail?
I told you
I have nothing to say.
Did Tauscher Leto know
what you were doing?
Please, you're
in my way.
These your kids?
Give me that.
How'd you feel
if someone sent
a package
of prescription drugs
to your home
and your girls
decided to try them?
That would
never happen.
Something very much
like that did happen.
Every sample we sent out
was to a carefully selected
patient with a genuine need,
together with a letter
giving precise instructions.
Not precise enough,
otherwise a 13-year-old
wouldn't have taken them
and executed
two of his classmates.
I have an appointment.
Excuse me.
(Alex)
Did you say, "We sent out"?
So it wasn't just you.
Tauscher Leto did know.
[Knocking on door]
I need your advice.
Lie down on the couch.
Not that sort of advice.
What's up?
I think that Tauscher Leto's
direct marketing tactics
were responsible
for Joe's manic episode,
which led to his shooting
Luke and Tyrell.
The company disclaims
all responsibility,
all the sales reps
are taking the Fifth.
The trial restarts tomorrow,
and I think I'm going to win.
And I'm
I'm not sure I want to.
Then plead Joe out.
How does that get justice
for Luke and Tyrell?
It doesn't.
You can't help them,
but you can help Joe.
Plead him out,
and he'll get time
in a psychiatric institution
where his treatment
will be decided by doctors,
not insurance
and drug companies.
That's justice.
Your expert witness
imploded on the stand
and Joe's drawings show
a clear intent to kill.
Take the deal.
I think I'd rather take
the win.
All right.
Let's say you do win
and Joe walks.
What happens then?
What do you mean?
Sandra, you do acknowledge
that Joe has problems?
Yes.
They're not all his fault.
(Alex)
But they are the reason
that we're here.
If Joe is released,
then what happens?
He is dumped right back
into the same
hopeless situation.
HMOs that won't pay
for his treatment,
schools that demand
he go on medication.
How is he ever
going to get better?
(Moredock)
What do you propose, Alex?
Joe pleads guilty
to manslaughter.
He goes
to a psychiatric institution
where he gets
the proper treatment.
Do you understand
what she's saying, Joe?
Yes.
You have to decide
what you want to do.
Wait.
We're not going
to do this right now?
We have to.
The trial starts
again tomorrow morning.
No, I have to think
I have to talk to Joe.
Mom, it's okay.
You know
what you want to do?
I want
to get better.
[Knocking on door]
Alexandra, did you do a deal
with Joseph Blaine?
He pled guilty to man two.
Man two.
For double ***.
I think you let
that oily-tongued
Tennessee weasel
Barry Moredock,
outmaneuver you.
Mitigating circumstances
came to light
during the trial.
What mitigating
circumstances?
A particularly
egregious instance
of corporate greed.
Corporate greed
is the beating heart
of America, Alex.
I'm not accountable
to corporate America.
But you are
accountable to me,
and I won't let
two innocent boys die
without punishing someone
for their ***.
Do you believe
this bleeding-heart nonsense
that Aptril made
Joe Blaine kill?
Tauscher Leto
put that medication
into Joe Blaine's hands,
substantially diminishing
his responsibility
for his actions.
So who's guilty?
I don't know yet.
Then find out.
And I don't care
how high you have to go.
(Alex)
Jane.
Jane.
Don't you
give up?
There's someone
I want you to meet.
I'm not talking
to anyone.
Just two minutes
of your time.
Jane, this is
Joey Blaine's mother, Sandra.
Ms.
Wellesley,
you sent Aptril to my home.
You told me it was safe.
I gave it to my son.
That was your fault.
You shouldn't
have given it to him.
Why?
Because Aptril can cause
psychotic episodes
in children?
Did your letter
warn Sandra of that?
Those reports
are unproven.
No.
My son proves them.
L I didn't come here
to attack you.
I know what I did.
I know what my kid did,
and I have to live with that.
But you and your company,
you have to share
some of the guilt, too.
The letter gave you
clear instructions.
You didn't follow them.
I'm sorry.
You have children, don't you?
Yeah?
Can you imagine
what it's like to know
your own kid is a murderer?
Two boys are dead,
their families are destroyed,
and I keep asking,
"Why didn't I do
something to prevent it?"
How could
I fail my own kid?
Please,
if you love your children,
please don't let these people
destroy any more lives.
What do you want from me?
(Reynolds)
In 2000, direct-to-consumer
marketing of pharmaceuticals
was worth over
$1 billion in the US alone.
That figure can only rise,
and we're going
to rise with it.
What's this,
a hostile takeover?
Funny man.
Are you Dean Reynolds,
Chief Executive Officer
of Tauscher Leto?
I am, and you are?
Police.
This is Alexandra Cabot
of the DA's office.
What are you
doin' here?
Uh, this memo approves
a direct marketing scheme
wherein Aptril would be mailed
directly to patients' homes.
Do you recognize
your signature, Mr.
Reynolds?
Where did you get that?
(Alex)
This approves
of giving doctors
off-patent meds free of charge
in exchange for patient lists.
Is that
your signature?
I don't have to
listen to this.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we'll resume later.
And this third memo
threatens employees
with breach of contract
lawsuits if they talk
to either the press
or law enforcement
about the Aptril
direct-mailing scheme.
Is that your signature?
That's enough.
I'm calling my lawyer.
Tell him to meet you
down at our lockup.
Dean Reynolds,
You are under arrest
for reckless endangerment
and for criminal diversion
of prescription medication.
You've the right
to remain silent.
But I haven't done
anything.
Stop it,
you're hurting me.
Take some Aptril,
that'll make you feel better.