Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Competence (2002)

Stephanie March: ADA Alexandra 'Alex' Cabot

Quotes 

• Alexandra Cabot : If the court finds Katie competent to care for her child, her rapist's defense lawyer is going to argue that she was competent enough to consent to sex.

  Elliot Stabler : She doesn't even know where that baby came from.

  Alexandra Cabot : It doesn't matter. Once she's found competent, all the defense is going to focus on is that she never said no.

  Olivia Benson : So the case is lost before we've collared the rapist?

• Alexandra Cabot : [to Rebecca]  You're jeopardizing the rape case.

  Rebecca Tolliver : Oh, no, you are. You and Scott Lucas. You should be talking to him.

  Alexandra Cabot : Lucas will drop his challenge to your guardianship if you agree not to terminate Katie's pregnancy.

  Rebecca Tolliver : I can't do that. Katie needs this abortion and to have her tubes tied so that this doesn't happen again.

  Alexandra Cabot : What about what Katie wants?

  Rebecca Tolliver : I know that you think I'm cruel, Miss Cabot, but I love my daughter. Maybe I should have let Katie take sex education, but I knew she couldn't understand.

  Alexandra Cabot : Why do you need Katie to be so dependent?

  Rebecca Tolliver : I have sacrificed everything to be a good mother.

  Alexandra Cabot : Including Katie's right to lead her own life.

• Alexandra Cabot : The DNA results came back. Congratulations, Mr. Cheney. You're having a boy.

  Trevor Langan : We'll take sexual misconduct.

  Alexandra Cabot : No way your client walks on a misdemeanor.

  Trevor Langan : Come on, Counselor, you don't want to embarrass Katie in court a second time, do you? She never said "no," she enjoyed it, she kept coming back for more.

• Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : [to Cabot]  It's no problem. This clearly compromises the integrity of an ongoing criminal investigation. I'll make the subpoena go away.

  Alexandra Cabot : I'm not sure that's a good idea.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : It is if you want to take Katie Tolliver's rapist to trial.

  Alexandra Cabot : Katie's mother wants her to abort the baby. Maybe that is something Katie should decide for herself.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : You want to be a crusader for victims' rights, go work for Social Services. Your job is to prosecute crime.

  Alexandra Cabot : Katie has already been victimized once. My testimony can prevent her from being victimized a second time.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : You represent the People of the State of New York, not Katie Tolliver. Whether Katie gets to keep her baby is between her and her mother.

  Alexandra Cabot : I do have a duty to the victim.

  Bureau Chief Elizabeth Donnelly : To convict her rapist. She's found competent, you're going to lose. Cheney's lawyer will get her to say she knew what she was doing, that she liked it. He'll destroy her on the stand. Don't let this happen.