Bad Girl (Season 8, Episode 21)
Premise: A young drifter who stabbed an off-duty police officer is sentenced to death, then refuses to appeal after a religious conversion, while Schiff faces a challenger backed by an old friend and Briscoe’s daughter Cathy is arrested on drug charges.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 8, Episode 21
- Detectives
- Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Det. Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), ADA Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Isabel Gillies as Monica Johnson, Robert Vaughn as Carl Anderton, Cliff Gorman as Gary Feldman, Jennifer Estlin as Cathy Briscoe, Joe Quintero as Jesse Rosado
- Ripped from the headlines
- The story draws on the case of Karla Faye Tucker.
- Director
- Jace Alexander
- Writers
- René Balcer & Richard Sweren
Summary
The Investigation
“Bad Girl” starts with the stabbing murder of off-duty officer Dana Flynn in Riverside Park. A young man found nearby with a gunshot wound to the head, Jesse Rosado, appears to be the robber she shot, and her gold crucifix is missing. When Rosado wakes, he recalls only waiting for a crosstown bus, and that driver confirms he suddenly ran toward the park. A fellow passenger on Flynn’s bus, a pierced, tattooed fan of a techno DJ, says Rosado trailed Flynn down the park stairs, but the detectives come to believe she is lying and that Rosado was trying to help.
The witness is Monica Johnson, 19, who has a long record and a childhood in foster care marked by abuse. She slashes Curtis while attacking a rival over her boyfriend, and after Rosado’s blood turns up on her Walkman, she is charged with Flynn’s murder. Her father admits she sold him the missing cross the evening of the killing. Meanwhile, Briscoe’s daughter Cathy is caught selling stolen hospital drugs, and a Brooklyn prosecutor insists she inform on the dealer she supplies. Briscoe’s efforts to help backfire, and Cathy pushes him away.
The Trial
Judge Gary Feldman challenges Schiff for district attorney with the support of Schiff’s old friend Carl Anderton, promising to execute cop killers. McCoy rejects a plea, and Rosado testifies he saw a badge, though the defense uses his amnesia to question that. Johnson takes the stand, then abruptly admits she killed Flynn while knowing she was a police officer, and apologizes. The judge refuses a mistrial, she is convicted of first-degree murder, and the jury sentences her to death.
Johnson then waives all appeals, saying she has found faith in prison and leaves her fate to God. A civil liberties group and a Christian organization jointly ask the Court of Appeals to intervene, and McCoy, Ross and Schiff argue over whether sparing a sincere, young white Christian would make the death penalty unequal. Anderton warns Schiff that he will pay politically if Johnson is not executed.
Spoiler, the ending: The Court of Appeals denies the joint motion. Johnson gives a final television interview asking Flynn’s husband for forgiveness and is executed. Schiff predicts the case will dog him until the primary.
Why it stands out
- Briscoe’s daughter Cathy is arrested for dealing drugs, setting up her storyline in the next episode, “Damaged.”
- Robert Vaughn plays Carl Anderton, a longtime friend of Schiff who backs his opponent in the race for district attorney.