Disabled (Season 11, Episode 17)
Premise: A former opera singer who can communicate only by blinking is raped in her home, and SVU must sort out which of the people with her house key attacked her.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 11, Episode 17
- Starring
- Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Det. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola (Ice-T), Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), Dr. George Huang (BD Wong), CSU Capt. Judith Siper (Caren Browning)
- Guest stars
- Lisa Arrindell Anderson as Cara Raleigh, Jill Scott as Janice Raleigh, Quinton Aaron as Damien Woods, Ralph Byers as Tony Griegs, Teddy Sears as Executive A.D.A. Garrett Blaine
- Director
- Paul Black
- Writers
- Judith McCreary
Summary
“Disabled” opens when Parabus driver Tony Griegs, about to retire, and trainee Jake Gleason find passenger Cara Raleigh, 41, a former opera singer left quadriplegic and unable to speak by aggressive multiple sclerosis, on her bedroom floor. Doctors find bruises of different ages and signs of intercourse, and since Cara cannot consent, Benson and Stabler open a rape case. Cara answers questions by blinking but will not name her attacker. Her nephew, Damien Woods, says he was at a library, and her sister Janice, who cares for her at night, was with a married man. CSU Capt. Judith Siper finds no forced entry, so the rapist had a key.
Mark Hubbard, a former nurse who secretly films his clients, hands over video of Janice beating Cara with a sock full of soap bars. Janice admits hitting her sister but denies the rape, and her motel alibi holds. Executive ADA Garrett Blaine, filling in after Cabot’s departure, charges her with assault. Animal blood on Damien’s shirt comes from illegal dogfights he cleans up after, a job Griegs found him so he could repay nearly $60,000 Janice took from Cara’s account. Damien leaves his bag, with the house key, in Griegs’s car during the fights, and Cara blinks yes when Benson asks if Griegs raped her. Janice, out on bail, moves Cara into a nursing home, where she withdraws.
Griegs, it turns out, was fired by the MTA for groping co-workers and is being replaced at Parabus by Gleason, a veteran who lost an arm in Iraq. Blaine will not go forward without forensics. Damien attacks Griegs on a bus until Fin talks him out, and Siper then finds Griegs’s print inside Cara’s diaper. Griegs claims a consensual affair. Benson finds two more victims who cannot speak, including Beth Myers, who stopped riding the bus, then pushes Cara hard until she agrees to testify. Cara gets Janice a plea to a lesser assault charge with probation and a restraining order, and hands power of attorney to Damien.
Spoiler, the ending: At trial, Cara blinks yes when asked whether Griegs raped her. When the defense calls a blink too flimsy to rely on, Blaine asks her to point to the man who raped her, and she raises her middle finger at Griegs; the judge accepts it as an identification. The episode ends there, without a verdict.
Why it stands out
- Singer Jill Scott plays Janice, and Quinton Aaron, of the film The Blind Side, plays her son Damien.
- With Cabot gone after the previous episode, Teddy Sears appears as temporary prosecutor Garrett Blaine.
- Jeri Ryan returns as defense attorney Patrice La Rue, who represents Janice.