Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Guilt (2002)

Stephanie March: ADA Alexandra 'Alex' Cabot

Quotes 

• A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : [about Kessler]  He is as bad as his client. Hoping the victim is too traumatized to testify. He's lucky I didn't knock his teeth down his throat.

  Captain Donald Cragen : [smiling]  I'd pay real money to see that.

• Roger Kressler : Linda Cavanaugh never consented to any search. The Assistant District Attorney lied her way in by claiming the apartment was a crime scene.

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Sam Cavanaugh's alleged suicide attempt was never investigated.

  Judge Lena Petrovsky : Ms. Cabot, you're not going to sell that here. Don't even try it.

  Roger Kressler : This was a blatant Fourth Amendment violation, sanctioned and indeed carried out by the People. Therefore, any evidence found must be suppressed.

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Mr. Barnett's Fourth Amendment rights were not violated. Linda Cavanaugh's certainly were, but she isn't the defendant. Mr. Barnett is. He has no standing to contest a search of someone else's home.

  Roger Kressler : Are you actually arguing that you can march in like the Gestapo and search any private residence?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : I am arguing I can search any private residence that doesn't belong to your client.

  Judge Lena Petrovsky : While I deplore the Assistant District Attorney's actions, I am forced to agree that the illegal search of Linda Cavanaugh's residence is a civil tort. The defendant's privacy was not violated, and therefore, he has no legal standing to contest the search. Motion to suppress the evidence is denied. Miss Cabot, I scarcely know where to begin. The liberties you have taken. The disdain you have shown toward the law in this court are highly unethical and a disgrace to your position. Be assured I will recommend your office to look into your actions. And you have done yourself a real disservice in my courtroom. I won't forget it.

• A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : [to Stabler]  I try the cases I am handed by this squad. You don't like the evidence I've got, find me some more. I can't do your job, too.

  Elliot Stabler : You can't do my what?

  Captain Donald Cragen : Out of line, Alex.

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : [to Cragen]  I am not out of line and I don't work for you! You work for me at my discretion. Your sole purpose in this process is to bring me a case I can prosecute, not one I have to fix.

• A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Mrs. Cavanaugh, I'm here to inform you these premises are considered a crime scene and subject to search by the police.

  Linda Cavanaugh : What crime?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Your son's alleged suicide attempt. Until we can prove otherwise, we are required to treat it as an attempted homicide.

  Linda Cavanaugh : Right. Maybe someone stuffed the pills down his throat. Maybe I did it. Is that what you're saying?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Mrs. Cavanaugh...

  Linda Cavanaugh : I'd let you talk to him yourself, but he can't speak. He's in a rehabilitation hospital. Know when he's coming home?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : I am not here to upset you.

  Linda Cavanaugh : Never.

  [slams the door, but Cabot slams it open] 

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : The only reason I am here is to find evidence against the man who hurt your son. I am more than willing to accept blame for what happened to Sam, but do not let Roy Barnett get away with what he did.

• A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : [to Donnelly]  I take full responsibility for my actions.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : Of course. You did it for the greater good, the safety of society. Bull. You did this for you.

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : I did this for hundreds of Barnett's future victims.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : One. One victim. Sam Cavanaugh. Did it work? Did it assuage your guilt?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : No. I don't think that's gonna happen any time soon.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : I got news for you. It won't happen. Ever.

• Sam Cavanaugh : [to Cabot]  I remember this one time, Roy picked me up early from school. He always says people need a break once in a while. We went over to the piers and he took me on one of those tour boats that go all around the city. It was really freezing and I didn't have my coat, so he gave me his. And then when it got dark, all the lights in the city came on. I'd never seen it like that. It was really cool. Then when we got back, he bought me a burger and took me home. He wasn't all weird and stuff. He didn't try anything. I think that was one of the best times I ever had. How sick is that?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : It's not sick. That's what he wanted you to think. He wanted to make you like him because he knew what he was doing was wrong.

  Sam Cavanaugh : So he never really liked me? Yeah, I guess that's what I thought.

• A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : [to the detectives after Mrs. Cavanaugh refuses to allow the police to search her house]  Did you tell her what we were looking for?

  Elliot Stabler : Well, before or after she started yelling for security?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Does it matter? Write her a note and slip it under the door. Leave a message on the answering machine.

  Olivia Benson : Do you really think she cares about helping us make our case?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : Make her care.

• A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : [to Donnelly]  All I'm saying is these cases are never slam dunks, Liz. Assuming you can even find the victims, they rarely want to testify.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : I don't need you to tell me how the Special Victims Bureau works. I haven't been gone that long.

• Roger Kressler : [Cabot and Kressler meet with Judge Petrovsky after Sam Cavanaugh suffers from a drug overdose]  The complaining witness is no longer available and the prosecution cannot meet its burden of proof.

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : He's been incapacitated for 12 hours, Your Honor. He's not dead. The motion to dismiss is premature.

  Roger Kressler : Devastated by hypoxia. This leaves little room for interpretation.

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : So you're a doctor now?

  Judge Lena Petrovsky : Hold on. Is the boy going to recover or not?

  A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot : There's no way to answer that.

  Roger Kressler : She's not a doctor either.

  Judge Lena Petrovsky : Mr. Kressler, it's not particularly attractive to be so happy about this tragedy, so let's kill the enthusiasm.