"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." "Jeremy." "Hey." "Where the hell are you?" "Breck's going to bust your balls if you're late." "Where's your boss?" "Breakfast meeting's running over, sir." "Save it." "Jeremy set up this dog-and-pony show." "I am not canceling because he's sleeping off a bender." "I'm sure he's..." "Just find him and get his ass in here now." "Jeremy!" "Jeremy, where are you?" "Breck's losing it." "What the hell, man?" "Get up!" "What is wrong with you?" "Looks like he died laughing." "Or screaming." "Neighbors hear anything?" "Patrol's still canvassing." "What have you got?" "Fluids on his body, bruising and anal tearing consistent with penetration." "Getting raped didn't kill him." "No." "He was asphyxiated." "Check out the petechiae around his eyes." "His knuckles are pretty banged up." "Could have fought back." "Time of death?" "Lividity puts it around 1:00 a. m." "Why is his mouth frozen like that?" "Something must have been wedged between his teeth before rigor set in." "Which means someone hung around for a couple hours until the body got stiff, and then yanked that thing out." "That's not all he did." "The body was moved." "All right." "Who called this in?" "His assistant, Sam Edelstein." "Huh." "He see anything?" "I didn't ask." "But he was quick to volunteer he didn't touch the body." "Got something, Detectives." "Check out the ID tag." "Jeremy Haines." "Where'd you find the bag?" "Stuffed in the garbage chute down the hall." "My, my." "Look what we have here." "Red leather ball gag, satin restraints and chaps." "At least now we know why he was smiling." "Jeremy had himself a little treasure chest." "And a play date." "So let's get this straight." "You found your dead boss cozy underneath the sheets in his jammies." "That's right." "And you never saw this before." "No." "Detective, run this for prints." "I'm sure the killer touched it when he pried it out of Jeremy's mouth." "Wait." "Wait." "I did it." "I freaked when I saw him with that thing in his mouth, so I pulled it out." "You put him in his PJs, too?" "And was he wearing the chaps when you found him?" "Yeah." "I didn't want it to get into the papers that he was into kink, so I dumped that stuff in the garbage." "Afraid that it would come out that he was gay?" "No." "He never hid it." "I mean, Jeremy was out to everybody." "Okay, so tell me, Sam, how did you get into Jeremy's apartment?" "I used my key." "Your key?" "I housesit when he travels." "What else you do for him, Sam?" "Whatever he needed." "I was his personal assistant." "Did you give him assistance in other areas as well?" "We weren't lovers." "Come on." "He liked to get choked." "Maybe you squeezed too hard." "It was an accident?" "No!" "You go to work, you wait for his boss to raise the alarm, then you go back to your love nest and you find him?" "You're wrong." "I was at work till 2:00 a. m." "With 15 other assistants." "Call them and check." "We'll be checking your alibi and your DNA." "Go ahead." "I didn't kill him." "He have a boyfriend into SM?" "He was single." "He worked so much, he didn't have time to meet guys." "Maybe it was one of his kids." "He has children?" "He volunteered at a shelter for homeless gay teens." "Last week, one of them beat him up so bad he had to miss work." "No way." "The kids loved Jeremy." "Apparently, one of them didn't." "I know my boys." "They're good kids whose parents kicked them to the curb because they're gay." "And I'm sure if we ran their rap sheets, they'd all come up squeaky clean." "Look, I'm dealing with drugs, petty theft, sex for survival." "They all got records." "But they're not criminals." "One of your angels had a beef with Jeremy Haines." "Who?" "He's not a murderer." "He's just a confused kid." "Name?" "Freddie Ramirez." "Get him." "He's not here." "He works at a gym in Hell's Kitchen." "Excuse me." "Your manager around?" "You're looking at her." "Mmm." "I'm Candayce." "You want to join my club, handsome?" "Is Freddie Ramirez working today?" "Lord." "What'd that little devil do now?" "That little devil been in trouble before?" "I can't prove it, but I suspect he's got sticky fingers." "What makes you think that?" "Things go missing from people's lockers whenever he's working." "I'd fire him, but the members love him." "He come in yet?" "Yeah, late, as usual." "And you know?" "I think he must have got into it with someone." "That baby face of his had a big old nasty bruise." "He got a temper, too?" "I'll say." "Where's Freddie now?" "Try the locker room." "Hey." "That your locker, Freddie?" "Where were you last night?" "Hanging with friends." "Doing what?" "Stuff." "Where?" "Around." "Hey, hey." "I want you to start answering my questions in complete sentences." "All right." "A bunch of us went to a movie." "Good." "I'm going to need the names of your friends." "What happened to your face?" "I got in a fight." "With Jeremy Haines?" "Yeah." "Bitch thought he was tough." "So you killed him?" "What are you talking about?" "Last night Jeremy was murdered." "You think I did it?" "Well, you just admitted to beating the crap out of him." "No." "You got it all wrong." "He boxed to stay in shape." "I told him he ain't fought until he used his bare knuckles." "So you two went a few rounds." "Last week." "Dude didn't know what hit him." "You go back last night for a rematch?" "I ain't seen him for a few days." "And?" "What's up?" "Got a hit on some blood found in Haines' apartment." "Belongs to a Frederico Ramirez." "Booked on assault charges six months ago." "Know him?" "You're looking at him." "He a match on the fluids, too?" "The semen sample was mixed." "Probably DNA from Haines and the perp." "I'll give you a call when we get the results in." "All right." "Heads up, Freddie." "I got some bad news for you." "I wasn't with Jeremy last night." "Yeah?" "Then why's your blood all over his apartment?" "We were hanging out Saturday night watching the Knicks." "He's got this sick plasma hi-def flat-screen." "I got a raging nosebleed." "Sure you did." "What time did you get home last night?" "Before 12:00." "House has a midnight curfew." "You can check the sign-in log." "You and Jeremy must be pretty tight if you're hanging out at his house." "Hmm?" "Something going on between you two?" "I tried." "But he shot me down." "Told me I was too young." "Besides, he said he was serious about someone." "Well, what else did he say about the guy?" "That he traveled all the time." "They'd been together a few years." "Well, that's strange because nobody else has ever mentioned it." "Jeremy said he was really famous and still in the closet." "He said the guy was psycho about his privacy." "So, Jeremy and Closet Boy are playing Brokeback Mountain." "Things get a little rough and Jeremy winds up dead." "Either way, Closet Boy is screwed." "He can't be found at his dead gay lover's apartment, so he splits." "Well..." "Hey, Liv, Elliot." "We ran down Freddie's pals." "They all backed up his alibi." "And the security camera puts him entering the shelter around 11:45 p. m." "He didn't leave after that." "Okay, So, Freddie's clear." "And so is Sam the assistant." "It's confirmed he was working in full view of a dozen other people when Jeremy was killed." "So it looks like our best bet is the mystery man." "Now all we have to do is find him." "Would you miss your boyfriend's funeral?" "Yeah, if I was famous and in the closet." "How am I going to show up crying at a gay man's grave?" "You make sure no one else is there to see you." "Pole cam." "A cop's best friend." "Take a look." "Mystery man jumped the fence at the cemetery at 3:00 a. m." "That's got to be our guy." "Come on, buddy." "Lift up your head so we can see you." "Looks like he's praying." "Wait." "Stop that." "Holy crap." "Rewind that." "What is it?" "Right there." "Stop." "Blow it up." "He looks familiar." "No wonder he's in the closet." "Do you know him?" "That's Lincoln Haver, best quarterback in pro football." "Lincoln Haver is gay?" "Dang." "I thought he was dating Natasha Gorsky, that hot supermodel." "Jeremy must have hated seeing his boyfriend splashed all over the tabloids with her." "You can't blame Lincoln for having a beard." "He gets outed, his career is over." "A bunch of players have come out." "There's Dave Kopay, Roy Simmons, Esera Tuaolo." "Hey." "He a relative of yours, Fin?" "It's Tutuola." "And those guys came out after they retired." "There's never been an openly gay football player on the field." "And Linc doesn't want to be the trailblazer." "Or lose the dough." "He just signed a three-year contract worth 40 mil." "And he's the spokesperson for PowerDrink." "That's got to be worth a pile." "Well, they can't fire him for being gay." "He could sue." "No, he can't." "All those contracts have morals clauses." "The sponsor can give him the axe if he damages their reputation." "You mean like when folks start calling PowerDrink, "PansyDrink. "" "So some football player is gay." "What is the big deal?" "Look, it is." "You've got millions of kids with these guys' posters hanging off their walls." "They idolize them." "As long as he's sleeping with women." "Lincoln Haver is my kid's hero." "Well, let's go pay him a visit." "Maybe Linc will sign an autograph for Dickie." "Hey, beautiful." "I got a cramp." "Want to rub it out for me?" "Lincoln Haver?" "Yeah." "We'd like to talk to you." "What's up?" "We'd like to discuss Jeremy Haines with you." "Jeremy?" "He was my business manager." "We know he managed more than your business." "I gotta go." "Hey, hey." "Our candid camera caught you at his gravesite." "I can't talk to you here." "We understand that you're in a tough position." "Look." "I was at a team photo shoot in Miami." "I came back as quick as I could." "In the middle of the night so no one would see you." "Is that a crime?" "No, but murder is." "We found the perp's DNA all over Jeremy's body." "We're getting a court order to compel yours." "You think I killed him?" "I would never hurt Jeremy." "We were friends." "You were lovers." "We were going to go public." "When?" "It's not like we can just announce our engagement." "Because you knew you'd be booted out of football." "I've been playing since I was six." "The game's my life." "But if I had to choose, I'd choose Jeremy." "So where were you the night he was murdered?" "With him." "We had dinner with my agent and Natasha." "You had a date with your boyfriend and your girlfriend?" "That's ballsy." "My agent hooked me up with her." "How'd Jeremy feel about this charade?" "He was tired of playing games." "But I just wanted one more season." "I don't know, maybe get my shot at a championship ring." "Okay." "What happened after dinner?" "Natasha and I went out for a few drinks." "She took me to some hot new club." "Which one?" "I don't remember." "I drank too much." "But I know I went home with Natasha." "I wish he hadn't." "That night sucked." "He didn't spend the night?" "He never does." "Linc's a hit-and-run kind of guy." "Always some lame excuse." "Team curfew, early flight," ""I have to save my strength. " What about me?" "It must be tough dating a ballplayer." "My publicist pushed him on me." "I didn't know I'd be dating his agent, his teammates and his business manager." "If he'd rather screw around with boys, that's fine with me." "So you knew about him and Jeremy." "Knew what?" "Oh, no." "They were not screwing each other." "That explains everything." "Nothing wrong with these girls." "Just girls." "Sinead, it's Nat." "You are not going to believe this." "Don't do that." "He used me!" "Okay?" "Wait till the whole world finds out this big, butch football player is really just a big fag." "Listen, calm down." "I understand that you're upset, but think about what you're doing." "I am thinking about myself." "Okay?" "What about my career?" "How could I have been so stupid?" "I mean, what if..." "What if he gave me AIDS?" "Look, first of all, you can get HIV from anybody." "Did you use a condom?" "Get out." "My phone?" "Sinead, he's a homo." "Linc is an ass bandit." "Can you believe it?" "You might want to have a chat with Gary Lesley, Linc's agent." "I think my ex-boyfriend's gonna need a new job." "Natasha called 10 minutes ago." "She was on a rampage, but I shut her up." "How?" "I promised her the cover of the next swimsuit issue, got her friend Sinead on The View." "Are you sure this isn't a mistake?" "Lincoln told us he was gay." "I can't believe it." "Guy's a chick magnet." "We go out together, guaranteed I get laid." "He's played it straight his whole life." "Well, how the hell did Natasha find out?" "It was a misunderstanding." "I made a mistake." "Well, that's a pretty major mistake, Detective." "But damage control is my specialty, so I'll do my best to keep this on the DL." "Do you think he'd kill to cover up his sexuality?" "No." "Lincoln's tough on the field, but off, he's like a teddy bear." "He doesn't have it in him to kill anyone." "No way." "Lincoln Haver's semen was on Jeremy Haines and the carpet near his bed." "The sample on the rug could be old." "But the fluids on the victim were fresh." "So Linc must have gone to Jeremy's apartment after his fight with Natasha." "They have sex, they fight, Jeremy winds up dead." "Now, is there any way that it could have been an accident?" "Could he have choked on the ball gag during sex?" "That's what we're supposed to think." "But I'm sure the gag was inserted postmortem." "How do you know that?" "His hyoid bone was broken." "He was strangled." "With something cylindrical." "I found a subcutaneous abrasion in the victim's throat." "It's a diamond pattern." "The bar used to choke him had a textured grip, which left its imprint under his skin." "We're looking for a dumbbell bar." "The pattern's a perfect match." "There was a weight bench at Jeremy's apartment." "I checked with CSU." "His set is short one bar." "All right." "So Lincoln must have taken it with him." "We've got enough for a search warrant for the apartment." "We need to see Lincoln Haver." "Mr. Haver is not at home." "Do you have the keys to his apartment?" "Yes." "Great." "Then you can let us in." "I'll need permission from the management company." "Court order trumps your boss's okay." "Let's go." "Try running to daddy, faggot." "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "I need a bus at 352 Franklin now." "They're gone." "His secret's out." "The doctor said they fractured your skull." "Mmm." "I'm lucky." "I've had a lot worse happen on the field." "You remember what happened?" "I was walking home." "Heard a car." "Guy yelled, "Get the faggot. "" "Something hit my head." "I tried fighting back." "There were too many of them." "Did you see their faces?" "Yeah." "Anything that might help us ID them?" "No." "I was facedown on the ground." "Lincoln?" "Thanks." "Lincoln?" "He's out." "That was Fin." "Haver's apartment came up empty for the murder weapon." "How screwed up is this?" "Our perp is now the victim." "All right." "We'll hand off the gay-bashing to Bias Crimes, and we'll focus on the homicide, huh?" "Hey." "Good job, Detectives." "For what?" "For almost getting Linc killed." "I'm filing suit against you individually and the NYPD for negligence." "What?" "You outed Linc, and then he gets attacked a few hours later." "What, you think that's a coincidence?" "Natasha must have talked." "No way is she giving up the chance to be every teenage boy's wet dream." "She called her friend Sinead right in front of us." "They both swore that they didn't leak to Sportsman Larry." "The shock jock?" "Yeah." "He told five million listeners that Linc is, quote, "a big flaming faggot. "" "So you think that we told him." "Yeah." "He's crashing." "I need O2 and an ambu bag." "Everybody out!" "Now!" "Hey, man, welcome back." "I'm Sportsman Larry." "The topic tonight, "Sissies in Sports. "" "It's bad enough queers aren't satisfied being hairdressers these days." "Now they want to get their hands on our balls?" "This is offensive, and I'm not talking linemen." "Come on!" "Football is America's game." "It's sacred, like the Good Book." "There's no place for gays in either one." "You dig?" "Haver wants to come back, cool." "Put him in a skirt and let him shake his pompoms." "What are we running here?" "We've got potential for locker room scandals, sexual harassment lawsuits." "Come on!" "The tabloids would have a field day." "I'm Sportsman Larry." "Give me a call." "I want to know what you're thinking." "What the hell did you two do?" "Not what you think." "Tell that to the gay rights groups picketing 1 PP." "We never talked to Sportsman Larry." "Well, somebody did." "The brass is demanding a full investigation." "You're joking." "I wish." "That was the hospital." "Linc Haver's in a coma." "The press is going to go to town." "IAB is waiting." "You're up first, Olivia." "We dumped your phones, Detective." "Do you recognize this number?" "Yes." "In the past five days, you've called it 12 times." "Whose number is it?" "Kurt Moss." "What does Mr. Moss do for a living?" "He works for The Ledger." "But you knew that already, didn't you?" "What time did you call Mr. Moss last night?" "10:14 p. m." "And what did you do earlier in the day?" "My partner and I interviewed Lincoln Haver and several other witnesses in our homicide investigation." "And what did Mr. Haver reveal to you during his interview?" "That he and Jeremy Haines were lovers." "Did you call Mr. Moss that night and tell him Lincoln Haver is a homosexual?" "Absolutely not." "Then can you explain why you called a newspaper editor that late?" "I can assure you that it had nothing to do with Lincoln Haver." "I find that hard to believe, Detective." "I think you tipped off your friend Moss and gave him the story." "You're wrong." "I would never jeopardize a case by leaking it to the media." "Your calling Moss and his gossip columnist printing the story is just a happy coincidence." "So the gossip guy is a fan of Sportsman Larry." "He hears the news and he writes the story." "The paper went to press before Larry's broadcast." "Now, explain why you called Mr. Moss last night." "We've been dating." "Who knows about it?" "No one." "So you're creating this fictional booty call to save your own ass." "He's my boyfriend." "And you're his source." "What happened?" "Tucker took my gun and shield." "What the hell for?" "Ask him." "Suspended?" "With pay, pending investigation until further notice." "You're a son of a bitch." "Your partner has been sleeping with an editor at The Ledger for months." "Get out of here." "Well, you obviously don't know Detective Benson as well as you think." "I know she'd never torpedo a case." "Forgive me if I question your judgment, but you didn't even know she was screwing the paperboy." "Where you going?" "You know where I'm going." "Kurt Moss." "You must be Elliot." "Olivia has a picture of you two in her living room." "Well, she's been suspended." "Internal Affairs thinks she leaked the Lincoln Haver story to you." "Uh..." "Who did?" "Come on." "I'd go to jail to defend my source." "I'm not going to ask one of my columnists to give up one of his." "You're just going to hang Olivia out to dry." "You two have worked together for a long time." "There must be a reason why she didn't tell you about me." "Hey, pal." "Her personal life is her business." "I'm here trying to save her job." "Now, if you care for her, you'll help me." "What do you want?" "Tell IAB Olivia wasn't the source of the leak." "What are you doing here?" "I'm trying to convince your boyfriend to give you a hand." "I don't need help from either of you." "I think you do." "I could sign an affidavit saying you're not the source." "It's not going to work." "It's not enough." "They want a warm body." "And he can give them one." "Look, I'm sure you know about the skeletons in the NYPD's closet." "All you've got to do is remind IAB they should stay on your good side." "I'll talk to them." "Nice meeting you." "Why didn't you tell me you were in trouble?" "I can handle it." "That's the problem." "You're so used to taking care of yourself that you can't let anybody else in." "Kurt, this isn't about us." "If you say so." "If I say so?" "What's that supposed to mean?" "Why is it you won't move in with me?" "I gotta go." "And I'll call them at IAB." "Thanks." "Yeah." "It worked." "Suspension's been lifted." "Your man came through." "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him." "I'm just glad you have someone." "I mean, you could have said something, you know." "I just wasn't ready." "Lincoln Haver is out of his coma." "1 PP wants him locked up." "So yesterday he was the victim of a hate crime, and we were getting grilled." "And today the media has moved on." "The brass doesn't want a murderer getting special treatment because he's gay or a football player." "We hear you're going to be okay." "Yeah." "All those years lying about who I am, afraid of the future," "that if anyone found out I was gay, it would wreck my life." "I outed you." "I'm sorry." "It was bound to happen." "Do you have any leads on his killer?" "Lincoln, we're here to arrest you." "You have the right to remain silent." "If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." "I told you." "I was at Natasha's the night that Jeremy died." "Till she kicked you out of bed because you couldn't get it up." "So you went to Jeremy's for a little TLC." "Where you had sex with him?" "It's your DNA on his body." "I remember going to his apartment." "Then it's all a blur." "You were drunk." "You started arguing." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Come on." "You remember now, don't you?" "I woke him up." "You started fooling around." "Until Jeremy smelled Natasha's perfume on me." "And that pissed him off." "We fought." "You lost control." "Jeremy died." "God." "What did I do?" "Well, you tried to cover it up, make it look like an accident." "I didn't want to hurt him." "I loved him." ""Docket ending 1266." ""People v. Lincoln Haver." "One count murder in the second degree. "" "Mrs. Balthus?" "How does your client plead?" "Not guilty." "Bail, Counselor?" "$2 million." "That's outrageous, even for Miss Novak." "The defendant is one of the highest paid players in football." "He's rich, but obviously not a flight risk." "For God's sake, he just woke up from a coma." "You have my sympathy, Mr. Haver." "And I'll have your passport." "Bail is set at $1 million." "Next case." ""Docket ending 3419... "" "We have DNA, access to the apartment, motive and Lincoln's confession." "Your client doesn't even have an alibi." "My client doesn't know what happened that night." "He's confused." "What?" "He confused committing murder with a little slap and tickle?" "Go ahead, Casey." "Make fun of a guy with a serious brain injury." "The jury will eat that up." "Hey, no jury's ever going to hear your half-assed theory." "I think they will." ""Football made him do it. "" "That's almost as good as the Twinkie Defense." "No, it's even better." "Mr. Haver has suffered eight concussions since college and probably several more that weren't properly diagnosed." "Most athletes who get concussions don't go out and commit murder." "Repeated head trauma has irreparably damaged his brain." "He was not responsible for his actions." "Give me a break." "I'll give you the facts." "Lincoln has dementia that prevents him from forming the necessary intent to be guilty of murder." "And you can prove your client has this condition?" "Definitively only on autopsy." "Well, that's convenient." "Here's convenience." "Your detectives overlooked Lincoln's obvious impairments, his headaches, his memory loss, even a coma." "Your Honor, the defense is grasping at straws." "There's no evidence Lincoln Haver is cognitively impaired in any way." "And there's no proof he isn't." "Have your psychiatrist examine the defendant." "Maybe he can shed some light on Mr. Haver's brain." "Do you ever have headaches?" "Yes." "How often?" "Sometimes every day." "Can you describe them?" "It's like my head's in a vise, someone's stabbing me in the eye." "I'm going to ask you to perform a few simple tasks." "Memorize these three words." "House, pencil, green." "House, pencil, green." "Got it." "Where you were born?" "Englewood, New Jersey." "Who was the first president of the United States?" "George Washington." "How many states are in the US?" "50." "When were you born?" "May 27, 1976." "What are the three words that I asked you to remember earlier?" "Pencil, boat..." "Damn it." "This is crazy." "Why can't I remember?" "Lincoln's immediate and long-term memory are intact, but his short-term memory is impaired." "Could the beating have caused this?" "No." "I'd say it was the result of repeated head injuries." "So he's brain damaged." "This is Lincoln's MRI." "These spots are lesions from multiple concussions that can cause seizures." "I ran an EEG, and Lincoln has evidence of a seizure disorder." "Can seizures cause blackouts?" "Absolutely." "So, Balthus can claim that's why" "Lincoln doesn't remember killing Jeremy." "Maybe not." "When did he sustain his last concussion before the murder?" "Last year." "He was clotheslined on the three-yard line against Denver." "Then he couldn't have had a seizure-related blackout the night of the murder." "Those usually occur within 48 hours of the injury." "Well, it's too bad for Balthus we're in the pre-season, her brain damage defense doesn't hold up." "Hang on, Casey." "It's not that simple." "Repeated head trauma can cause memory loss, depression and Alzheimer's-like dementia." "It's not uncommon in boxers, hockey and football players." "So you're saying there is a chance" "Lincoln isn't responsible for his actions." "Yes." "So, tell me, Mr. Haver." "What happens after you've been knocked out on the field?" "I have real bad headaches." "I get dizzy, lights hurt my eyes, and I forget stuff." "Give me an example." "Last year, I got my mom sideline seats for the Chicago game." "I kept looking for her, but she never showed up." "Why wouldn't your mother come to see you play?" "She said I told her not to." "Said I called screaming that she's a jinx." "I love my mom." "I have no idea why I did that." "Nothing further." "You confessed to the murder of Jeremy Haines, so you must remember something about that night." "The detectives confused me." "I remember fighting with Jeremy." "I don't remember killing him." "Were you ever violent with Jeremy?" "We argued sometimes, but I never hit him." "What was your last fight about?" "Me coming out of the closet." "Football is my life." "You'd lose your career if you came out, right?" "But that's what Jeremy wanted." "He pushed and he pushed, and you were afraid that your secret life would be exposed." "I didn't care." "We were in love." "But you love football more." "You just said it's your life." "No." "Jeremy came first." "That's why I married him." "You're married?" "In Canada." "A private ceremony." "I can show you our license." "I got blindsided today." "How did you miss their big fat gay wedding?" "What does being married prove?" "Straight guys kill their wives all the time." "Yeah, but Lincoln's not your typical wife-beater." "He's sympathetic." "He was gay-bashed." "He almost died." "He's still a murderer." "His DNA was all over the body." "And Balthus is using her bogus brain-damage defense to distract the jury, and it's working." "The women on the panel want to hug him and make it all better." "But you can't blame them." "He does look good in a suit and tie." "Yeah." "And with that marriage license, he can play the grieving widower." "How the hell am I supposed to rebut that?" "Good question." "I just got a notification." "Balthus is calling Elliot as a defense witness." "Did Lincoln Haver seem disoriented when you interviewed him?" "No." "He wasn't confused or unclear about the questions you asked him?" "No." "Really?" "You interrogated him hours after he came out of a coma." "We asked Mr. Haver some questions." "Questions?" "They sounded more like suggestions." "Didn't you, in fact, supply my client with most of the details found in his confession?" "We discussed what he did that night." "And he told you he didn't remember what happened." "At first." "Then he got his memory back." "And you kept bullying a sick man, making suggestions, coercing a false statement." "I quietly and calmly asked him questions." "Mr. Haver had just come out of a coma." "He was in a weakened and suggestible state." "He would have confessed to killing Kennedy." "I can assure you he didn't confess to that." "He had brain damage." "Your psychiatrist said so." "Well, Your Honor, I'm not a trained psychiatrist, so..." "The brain injury made him confess." "It didn't make him violent." "I've seen Lincoln Haver play football since he was in college." "He's always been violent and aggressive." "And the minute Lincoln Haver's name came up in your investigation, you made him your prime suspect because he's a violent football player." "He's a victim of your stereotype." "He is not a killer." "Your Honor, the People request a recess." "What for, Miss Novak?" "To bring in a video monitor." "Popcorn and a movie, Miss Novak?" "The People will be introducing footage of Lincoln Haver." "Objection." "Prejudicial." "The Defense opened the door when she brought up Detective Stabler's alleged bias against football players." "You did, Miss Balthus." "And Miss Novak is entitled to walk through it." "Now, we've all watched Lincoln Haver play football." "But you haven't seen this." "Now, I subpoenaed practice footage." "Keep our eye on Number 12." "That's Lincoln Haver." "Now, this is just a friendly team practice." "There's no game-day pressure." "Now look what happens when a teammate accidentally jostles Lincoln's throwing arm." "That's my arm, you little pissant rookie!" "What are you trying to do?" "Rip it off?" "You ever try that again, I'm going to kill you!" "Now, that, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that's the real Lincoln Haver." "Has the jury reached a verdict?" "We have, Your Honor." "Will the defendant please rise?" "On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find the defendant?" "Guilty." "Do you want another one?" "I can't." "I just broke up with Kurt, and you said you'd be there for me." "I am." "Eli's driving Kathy crazy." "I'm kidding." "Go home." "Hey, Olivia, your case is on TV." "Turn it up, please?" "Lincoln Haver's conviction is a tragedy for his team." "But I hope Duane Fitzgerald here will be a great replacement." "He's a hell of a quarterback with a great future." "Hopefully, Duane won't do anything to jeopardize that." "Just promise me that I won't catch you making out with your boyfriend in a restaurant bathroom." "Gary said he didn't know Lincoln was gay until after the murder." "Then how could he have caught him in the bathroom?" "How'd you find out Lincoln is gay?" "I already told you." "Natasha called me after you outed him." "Did you suspect anything the night the four of you had dinner?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "We found the murder weapon in your apartment." "You saw Lincoln kissing Jeremy in the restaurant bathroom." "That must have freaked you out." "It would have freaked me out." "All those years of hard work making Lincoln a star, and there he is with his tongue down another guy's throat." "Were you jealous, Gary?" "It made me want to puke." "Going at it in the bathroom like a couple of horny teenagers." "Did Lincoln see you?" "No." "Jeremy did." "So I went to his place to talk some sense into them." "He tells me Linc had just left." "So what'd you do?" "I begged him to give Lincoln up." "Then you know what he tells me?" "He tells me that they're getting married." "He tells me they're having a huge party, and they're going to just come out to everybody this summer." "Then he tells me to go out and find a new cash cow because Lincoln's retiring." "And you lost it." "So you grabbed this dumbbell..." "Hell, yeah, I lost it." "I lost it." "I was so angry." "The stupid little fairy is ruining everything." "So you choked him." "I didn't..." "I just wanted him to shut up." "I didn't mean..." "I didn't..." "I didn't mean..." "I didn't mean to kill him." "So you found the sex toys, you dressed him up, used the gag to make us think that it was rough sex gone bad, and you leaked it to the media." "I worked my ass off for years getting him promotional deals, commercials, salary increases, and this freaking boyfriend wanted to take it all away." "Love sucks." "Yeah." "Doesn't love..." "Screw love!" "He's a football player." "He's a piece of meat that I sell to the highest bidder." "How many good years you think he's got left?" "Five?" "What, 10?" "If there's a miracle." "I just..." "Why couldn't he have just waited a couple years?" "Why did you confess to killing Jeremy?" "I was there." "I remember fighting." "I thought I must have done it." "Thanks for getting me released." "Any chance you'll be playing again?" "The team docs won't let me play." "They say I have permanent brain damage." "I'm sorry, Lincoln." "I had it all." "A career, someone I loved." "Football gave me everything." "And then took it all away."