Law and Order: Special Victims Unit – Excavation

By: Kaylyn Bell

Maggie (Johanna Braddy) walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender remembers her and he explains she told him last time he saw her that if she ever returned to give her back her AA chip. She asks for a drink anyway and says she’s drinking because her stepfather convinced her mother to buy a condo and she has to help them move. Peyton (Joanna Whicker), her stepsister, enters and asks her to leave because she and her brother, Charles (Ryan Wellington), covered enough for her already. Maggie and Peyton arrive at their parents’ home where they are packing moving boxes. Her mother directs her and Peyton to pack the basement because a lot of their childhood items are there. In the basement Peyton finds Maggie’s old nightgown, to which Maggie remarks, “How the hell do you remember more about my childhood then I do?” Maggie finds a journal which she only reads a few lines of before getting freaked out and leaving.

Fin (Ice-T), Captain Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly) are together at the station when Maggie walks in, escorted by an officer, who directs her to sign in with the desk sergeant. Benson and Curry are walking and discussing a case when Benson spots Maggie and offers her help. Maggie states she thinks she was abused when she was eight years old by her stepfather. Benson asks if this is her first time telling someone and she says yes because she just found his writing about it.

Benson and Curry take her into a separate room inspecting the journal and inquiring further about why she thinks it’s about her and her stepfather. Maggie explains that even though she’s not named directly and can’t remember it, it is his handwriting, her yellow nightgown is mentioned and the timeline matches with her age. Maggie reveals that her stepfather is Judge Leonard Andrew, a retired federal judge. Benson explains she believes what she’s saying, but that it’s a hard case to make if she can’t remember anything so they ask if anyone in her family might know something. Maggie says it’s unlikely because her siblings were even younger than her. She says she’s close with her stepfather now, but that according to him she’s not living up to her “full potential” because of her drinking problem. When Benson brings up court Maggie asks them to forget it saying she just wanted to know if it happened, not pursue any action, but Benson says they’ll have to talk to the ADA and asks her to let them know if she remembers anything.

Carisi (Peter Scanavino) explains that this judge is revered so it would be a hard case, but Benson pushes explaining Maggie has classic life altering markers for sexual abuse including alcoholism and failed relationships. Carisi points out that those just make her a more unreliable witness and directs Benson to vet Maggie and make sure she’s not finding an excuse for her shortcomings. Benson fights for her saying she believes her, and he says he simply needs her to bring him actual evidence because of Andrew’s strong reputation.

Back at the station the squad is working on the case, looking into Maggie’s employment history, criminal record (which includes two dismissed DUIs), and her family. They learn that Maggie’s mother is a pediatrician, but her family history seems clean. Benson gets a panicked call from Peyton saying Maggie is wasted and freaking out yelling about her dad, so Benson heads to their house. Maggie is crying on the floor in her childhood bedroom telling Benson that she remembers and points to the bed. Benson consoles her and they get her to the hospital.

Fin and Bruno (Kevin Kane) meet Benson at the hospital where she explains Maggie needs stitches from her outburst and has a very high blood alcohol level. Also in the hospital Curry is speaking with Peyton explaining to her what happened. Curry asks if there was anything off with Maggie and her father’s relationship, but she says she doesn’t remember anything because she was too young, but that she never experienced any abuse herself. Their parents enter and Benson directs Bruno and Fin to fill them in while she goes to speak with Maggie. Maggie’s mother (Jessica Tuck) claims she would have known as a pediatrician if Maggie had been abused. Andrews (Brett Cullen) stops Peyton from continuing to speak with Curry and announces they’re all leaving, and they can talk to his attorneys if they have more questions. Meanwhile, Benson explains to Maggie that her family was informed she spoke with the sex crimes unit, and Maggie acknowledges that there’s no turning back now. Benson asks what upset her earlier and she says she remembers her stepfather in her room undressing her saying it was because she wet the bed, even though she didn’t. She also remembers yelling for her mom, but he told her to stay quiet because she’d be mad if she woke her. Benson asks if there’s anything from that time that may have his DNA on it, and she mentions Peyton found the yellow nightgown that’s mentioned in the journal when they were packing.

Benson arrives at Carisi’s office to update him on the new developments and explains that Andrews knows everything now. She asks if they have enough to move forward and he says only if the lab finds DNA on the nightgown, which is a long shot because it was so long ago. Andrews walks in with his attorneys and asks to speak with them both. He reads a passage from the diary and explains he admits he wrote it, but says he never abused her, then questions how much she had been drinking when she recalled this “memory.” His lawyers claim what he wrote was a fictional novel he was writing and that authors often draw aspects from their environment, but Benson and Carisi are not buying it. Andrews tells Carisi that if he had enough evidence to arrest him, he’d be in cuffs already. Carisi lets him go but ensures that Benson will keep investigating.

At the precinct, the squad is updating Benson on their discussions with the family. Bruno enters with great news that the lab found traces of DNA on the nightgown, so they call Carisi as they officially have a case. Carisi meets with Andrews in his office again where two officers arrest him.

At Andrews’ arraignment he pleads “not guilty” and bail is set at $50k. Carisi meets up with Fin and Bruno after and encourage them to dig deeper into the family members because one of them could know something. Fin and Bruno speak with Charles again and ask if he can be a character witness for Maggie. He’s hesitant and they explain not to think of it as testifying against his father, but as testifying for his sister. He says no and that because of Maggie’s alcoholism she could be lying and just trying to tear the family apart.

Benson is with Maggie in her apartment, helping pour her liquor down the drain. Maggie explains Andrews used to financially support her until her second DUI, which Benson warns the defense could use against her to say she’s trying to get money from him out of revenge. Maggie goes silent thinking about all the things the defense could twist to use against her. Maggie confesses she used to sexually fantasize about him which Benson says is completely normal and is a way for victims to take back control. Maggie says she probably shouldn’t say that in court and continues doubting people will believe her. Benson comforts her and tells her to just tell them who she is.

In court Benson testifies and brings up the journal which she reads an entry from. She addresses the yellow nightgown and the recovered DNA and explains it’s not uncommon for victims to not remember their abuse at first. Outside the courtroom Benson checks in on Maggie who asks how Peyton’s testimony is going. Maggie is getting worried about whether people are believing her and Benson coaches her to just focus on what she’s going to say to her stepfather on the stand. Benson says she knows she can do it, and if she needs, to just look at her in the gallery and block everyone else out.

Maggie testifies what she remembers and that she fully believes the journal is an account of her abuse. Andrews’ lawyer asks if she actually remembers the sexual acts described. Maggie replies, no, just him taking off her nightgown and lying about her wetting the bed. His lawyer then asks about her drinking on the day this memory was recovered to try to discredit her statement. Andrews is called to the stand next. He stands by his claim that the journal is a simple case of an author “writing what he knows” and explains it was partially inspired by cases he’d seen at work, as well as things in his personal life. He says Maggie is just trying to blame her troubled life on something and if he’s to blame for anything, it’s failing to support her enough. Carisi questions why he never wrote any of the book or told anyone about it if he was serious about being an author. He says his wife knew and Andrews’ lawyer requests for Ms. Andrews to be called to the stand, which the judge allows. Dr. Andrews explains her husband has expressed regret for not following through on his literary aspirations and that she knew about – and encouraged – his novel. She says it didn’t upset her that the character resembled Maggie because she knew it wasn’t as she never found any signs of sexual abuse. Dr. Andrews says as a pediatrician she would have known and reported it. When asked if her children ever brought anything up to her about abuse, she says “absolutely not,” but in the gallery Charles looks frustrated and abruptly exits. Fin and Bruno follow him out and ask if he wants to talk about anything. He says his mother just lied on the stand, and that he saw his father coming out of Maggie’s room multiple times. Charles says that when he asked his mom about it, she told him he dreamt it. He expresses that he feels bad for being too young to do anything about it, so Bruno encourages him to do something now.

Silva (Juliana Aidén Martinez) and Velasco (Octavio Pisano) execute the subpoena on Dr. Andrews’ office and bring their finding to Carisi and the squad. They find Dr. Andrews did have a file on Maggie that suggests she knew about the abuse but kept it hidden after speaking with her husband.

Benson and Carisi request to talk with Dr. Andrews and her lawyer, and they confront her about her knowledge of the abuse and her lying on the stand. Her lawyer defends she was just “keeping her family together” and Dr. Andrews blames Maggie saying she was always seeking attention. She admits her husband did confess to her after she approached him about it. She explains she was the one that told him to write it down so if he did it again, she would have evidence to report him. Benson angrily asks why she didn’t go to the police the first time and she says she didn’t want to be left alone. She furthers that the journal worked, and successfully ensured he was never “unfaithful” again, once again implying that her eight-year-old daughter seduced him.

Benson is in her office when Carisi enters and says Andrews changed his plea to guilty. Carisi unfortunately wasn’t able to charge Dr. Andrews with anything, despite her role in the abuse, because he had a hard enough time getting past the statute of limitations on her husband’s case. Benson points out that at least she receives some punishment as she’s lost her husband, kids, and won’t be able to practice medicine anymore. Benson tells him that she spoke to Maggie again, and she thinks she’ll be okay. Carisi says, “I guess that’s the power of truth? It’s getting harder to find these days.” Benson replies, “Finding it is easy, compared to the other half of the job, which is speaking it.”