Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Monogamy (2002)

Stephanie March: ADA Alexandra 'Alex' Cabot

Quotes 

• Alexandra Cabot : [to Richard Manning]  You held your own child in your hands, your own living child. Did he cry? Did your son cry before you killed him?

  Dr. Richard Manning : [in tears]  He only cried a little. He only cried a little.

• Detective Elliot Stabler : [to Cabot]  Tell me that looked worse than it actually was.

  Alexandra Cabot : If you think it looks like we just lost our murder conviction, you're right.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Warner said exactly what you wanted her to say and you let Manning's lawyer sandbag her. Why didn't you stop him?

  Alexandra Cabot : Because he's right, Detective. We can't prove how and when that baby died beyond a reasonable doubt and if you want to blame me for that, go right ahead.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : So we got nothing?

  Alexandra Cabot : Barring an outright confession the child was alive, he gets three-and-half to nine for the assault, out in two unless he gets off entirely on extreme emotional distress. I wish I could do more, Elliot.

• Detective Elliot Stabler : At seven months, a baby moves inside of the mother. The only reason that baby is dead is because he bashed its skull in. Now, I don't care if you call it a person or not, that's murder.

  Alexandra Cabot : That argument could also be used to condemn legal abortion. Do you want me to charge every doctor who performs an abortion with murder?

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Abortion is different. It's the mother's choice.

  Alexandra Cabot : We're not talking about the mother's rights. You want to charge for homicide with the fetus as victim, you give the fetus rights. Do you want to go down that road?

  Detective Elliot Stabler : It's not the same thing.

  Alexandra Cabot : In the eyes of the law, it is.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Well, the law needs to change.

  Detective Olivia Benson : I don't know, Elliot. You can't have it both ways. A fetus is either a life or it's not.

• Detective Elliot Stabler : You saw that baby. Olivia, you saw that baby. This guy's gonna walk.

  Alexandra Cabot : And I don't like it any more than you do, but this is very dangerous territory and I am not prepared to dismantle reproductive rights on an inconclusive case.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : We're going to let a murderer get away to preserve a political ideal. I don't even know what I'm doing here!

  Donald Cragen : Take a break, Detective.

  [Elliot leaves the room]