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Law & Order S25 E18- The Evidence That Changed
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00:02In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups.
00:08The police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
00:12These are their stories.
00:15And now, the moment we've all been waiting for.
00:19Please welcome our final two contestants from Miss New York Metro.
00:26I know how hard it is for these young women to stand up here.
00:30I was in their shoes just a few years ago, and I am honored to be back to judge.
00:35To many of you, this pageant may seem like a zero-sum game, but it's really about connection and sisterhood.
00:44Tonight, however, we do have to pick a winner.
00:48Our first runner-up is Miss Prospect Heights, making our Miss New York Metro 2026 Miss Astoria.
01:09Remember, we're all winners.
01:17We had the Miss New York Metro pageant here last night.
01:20She a contestant?
01:21No, a judge.
01:22Janitor found her this morning.
01:30Katie Harrington, age 29.
01:34Looks like she also worked for the local news station.
01:38Must have hit the carotid artery.
01:40Yeah, she bled out fast.
01:42You got a time of death?
01:44MLI said based on temp and rigidity between 10 and 11 p.m.
01:47All right, well, let's make sure we get the scissors dusted for prints.
01:51Any witnesses?
01:52None.
01:53Place is pretty much cleared out by that time.
01:55What about the security camera situation?
01:57As far as we know, no cameras in the dressing room.
02:00I've always heard these beauty pageants were cutthroat, but...
02:07Here's the name of the
02:08What about the call?
02:11How do you see?
02:12How do you know?
02:14How do you know?
02:15How do you see?
02:17How do you see?
02:18How do you see?
02:21How do you see?
02:22It's a bad idea or not.
02:24How are you the last?
02:54you turned off all of the cameras we had 30 women backstage last night in various states
02:59of undress they wanted privacy what about security guards one guard was posted backstage he see
03:05anything apparently he was facetiming with his girlfriend at the end of the night it's usually
03:10an uneventful job we can barely fill an audience these days why's that too much competition youtube
03:15social media so there are fewer pageants these days well there used to be 10 a year now there
03:23were two that really puts extra pressure on the contestants and on the judges for sure beauty
03:28pageants are still important to these people some of these girls if they lose think their life is
03:33over we're gonna need a list of last night's contestants i'm surprised these pageants are
03:38still a thing i mean i thought we were way past that yeah i gave up on those years ago
03:42hey video
03:44just landed from outside the theater picked up someone running out the exit by the dressing room
03:49at 10 25 can you freeze it there not enough of the face visible for facial wreck that hat what
03:58is that
03:58stitching looks like they got to turn inside out to hide the monogram or something was that xlv yeah i
04:05don't think it's a brand maybe roman numerals do we have any other video of this person entering
04:09no and it was freezing that day so half the people entering the theater were wearing beanies
04:13but i have some good news found this interesting text from a kehlani arizaga be careful how you
04:22wrote there are consequences sounds like a threat to me that name rings a bell hold on
04:31yeah here kehlani arizaga missed prospect heights she was the first runner-up
04:40i've known katie since i was 15 she was like an older sister a mentor
04:46so you liked her loved her well why did you send her that threatening text last night
04:52the one that said there'd be consequences if she didn't vote the right way what are you talking
04:56about this one no you got it wrong i wanted her to vote for someone else you wanted to lose
05:05i wanted to not win why'd you do it in the first place my mom these pageants mean everything to
05:12her she says they can open doors maybe even get me a scholarship for grad school can you tell us
05:18where you were last night after the pageant eating pizza for the first time in a year got anybody who
05:24can back that up yeah a few classmates kind of turned into a party i asked katie if she wanted
05:31to
05:31join but she said she couldn't we gotta go katie's dad just got in from alabama thank you
05:44i still remember the day i helped katie move in here
05:51mom just passed katie wanted to stay at home look after me of course but uh
05:58i told her she had to follow her dreams
06:00i just knew she was meant for great things mr harrington were you and your daughter very close
06:08yeah we talked every day was she having any problems with anyone friends a boyfriend
06:15she was always too busy with work for much of a social life
06:21i encouraged her to date didn't want her to be lonely
06:29you know it was this one guy kept chasing after her like a damn dog with a bone
06:35you got her name i never made it that far never even went out on a date but
06:40he was persistent kept calling her sending her flowers got a bit much for katie if i'm being honest
06:46do you know where he worked how they met any detail will help they met at some sort of cancer
06:52fundraiser and he was a hockey player that's all i know
06:57any luck with the hockey player yeah i checked out katie's instagram looks like the only cancer
07:02fundraiser she attended in the last six months was the united hands leukemia gala lots of photos of
07:08her and this guy named alexander hayes look smitten hockey player rookie left winger for new york's
07:14favorite hockey team islanders not funny no choir boy you just finished a five-game suspension for
07:21smashing a stick into his opponent's head here's the best part he posted a story last night at 9 30
07:27p.m location tag puts him two blocks away from the pageant
07:38i adored katie i would never hurt her well you say adored we say stalked we talked to her doorman
07:45we
07:46know that you were sending her flowers hanging outside her building yeah to show her that i liked
07:50her that i was serious about dating her she had two extra deadbolts installed in her door look i was
07:55just
07:55trying to get a date it's called being romantic if she said yes it's romantic if she said no it's
08:02scary so what happened get tired of waiting for her to see how romantic you were maybe you stuck
08:07into her dressing room last night what we know you were near the theater where the pageant was held
08:11right around the time of the murder hey look you guys are crazy all right i was at a party
08:15last
08:15night with about 200 other people and i was there until about midnight instead of wasting your time
08:19talking to me you should look into the shady people she was dealing with at work what does
08:24that mean she told me that as a journalist she had to take big swings to go where her colleagues
08:28were
08:28too scared to go so if she was adding extra locks to her door i mean it's because of that
08:33not because
08:34of me you should go talk to her boss
08:42i wouldn't call her segments dangerous more like ambitious she was a smart woman had a great gut
08:47instinct knew how to avoid trouble sounds like you knew her well well i took her under my wing
08:51when she first started here i got her out from behind the research desk made her a field reporter
08:55i was a producer on some of her segments very nice of you well it's a tough business for women
09:00here
09:01so i thought i could help wherever possible if you don't mind when was the last time you spoke to
09:07katie
09:08um she was in the office until about 5 30 last night and then headed downtown to the pageant
09:13you speak to her after that no i stayed working for a few more hours and then i went home
09:18and you were there all night sorry just standard procedure you know the more people we can
09:24eliminate from her life the better right of course i want to be helpful yes i was home all night
09:30here is her work schedule i hope it's helpful yeah we will take a look do you know did she
09:37have a
09:38work phone of any sort yes she had several good reporters always use burners to protect their
09:45sources katie was a terrific reporter she was going to do great things
09:57hey warrant for the burner phones came through and and we got a pretty interesting text
10:03this is not okay make this right or things are going to get ugly any luck idea in the center
10:09phone's registered to a jasmine hernandez she's affiliated with the cobra 10 gang got a pretty
10:13healthy rap sheet too drugs assault weapons charges let's go talk to her
10:22yeah that's me i meant it too could you be more specific katie came up here a few months ago
10:30with
10:30that other news lady anne merrick they convinced me to help them do a segment showing gangs recruiting
10:38young girls so you were a source i connect to her to the right people doesn't explain the angry text
10:46though when the segment came out a few weeks ago there was a mistake a guy that lives here he
10:52was
10:52in some of the video they shot they claimed he was a gang member he was pissed and now people
10:58are
10:58coming after me about it all right well can you tell us where you were last night around 10
11:05work in the register at a bodega 166 and webster they got cameras everywhere if you want to check
11:19so am i good for now
11:23where did you get that hot and merrick gave it to me
11:33all right yep thank you turns out and merrick had those beanies made for the station's anniversary
11:40okay anne told us that she went home after work and never left right
11:45yeah her doorman confirmed it i don't think her doorman saw that surveillance video from her garage
11:52rear side of her building shows her leaving at 9 24 p.m wearing an xlv beanie and an outfit
11:58that
11:58matches the video we have of the killer fleeing the scene
12:02n y pd stop we're about to go live no you're not hey you can't be here warrant says we
12:07can
12:07stop aside what's going on and merrick you're under arrest for what the murder of katie harrington
12:12the hell are you talking about katie was my friend she was like my little sister
12:19earlier today veteran tv news anchor and merrick was arrested on suspicion of her arresting a news
12:26anchor is big news how's the evidence strong detectives found a beanie in her apartment
12:32identical to the one seen at the crime scene plus her dna was on the murder weapon pair of scissors
12:38found in her neck motive still not adding up so this woman suddenly bolts from her apartment walks
12:47three miles to this beauty contest and stabs her colleague in a dressing room something must have
12:53triggered her question is what yeah well since nolan's out for a few weeks this is your case
13:06oh okay great
13:14and thank you
13:23how can i help you had a six-minute call with ann merrick the night of the murder just before
13:28she left her apartment to go kill katie harrington we want to know what that call's about
13:34i can put you in touch with new york 32's lawyers or we can subpoena you
13:41just tell us what you know now
13:46ann had been hounding me she wanted to know why she hadn't gotten the paperwork for her contract
13:50renewal so i finally called told her we wouldn't be renewing her it must have made her upset
13:58yeah she was livid she wanted to know how i could possibly justify firing her after all she's done for
14:04the station and i told her hr would discuss the matter with her i've learned to keep these calls
14:10brief you guys discuss anything else on this call she asked who was replacing her and you said katie
14:16harrington yes i regret it
14:24okay well thank you for your help mr williams
14:30there's your motive sam vengeance
14:37sam sam sam
14:41abby hi hi how are you good busier than ever
14:45oh we're overdue for dinner well don't worry you're gonna be seeing plenty of me in the next month or
14:49so
14:50what are you i am well and maryk has good taste in lawyers we'll see i gotta go i'll see
14:58you in there
14:58okay
15:06your honor we've got dna evidence that links the defendant to the murder weapon
15:10video showing her leaving the crime scene and clear motive your honor the people request remand
15:16your honor we plead not guilty and request reasonable bail my client has no criminal record
15:22strong community ties and a face recognizable in most of the tri-state area
15:28good for her but i'm denying bail anyways defendant is hereby remanded
15:38you open for a plea discussion
15:41you're asking for a plea that might be your record oh we don't want to waste anyone's time
15:47meaning what meaning she doesn't intend to dispute the fact she killed katie harrington
15:52but you just bled not guilty to murder too but manslaughter that's different we're willing to plead guilty to that
16:03no i'm not open to discussing that you're gonna have a really hard time hearing our defense
16:12i'll see you in court abby
16:17yes nolan for the fifth time i've double checked the affidavits the addresses and everything else in the damn file
16:24so you can relax
16:25okay just focus on getting better who needs an appendix anyway
16:33thank you okay i'll do my best i promise okay defense lawyer is claiming eed
16:41yeah she's saying the defendant and katie harrington had an intimate mentor mentee relationship and
16:48that the idea of katie taking her job triggered such extreme emotional disturbance that it drove the
16:54defendant to kill her nice try but that's not how eed works it's not meant to cover workplace issues
17:00exactly it's a big stretch i'm not surprised abigail donahue is uh she's aggressive i worked with her in the
17:08brooklyn dia's office yeah well unless there's evidence i don't know about this is murder too all day long
17:14no you're not missing anything yeah i think uh abigail is hoping that the jury is going to buy into
17:20the old
17:20trope that all women are prone to hysteria right
17:28at the crime scene we discovered a pair of scissors were jammed into her neck
17:32in your experience does that type of injury create a substantial risk of death yes when the carotid is
17:40severed the victim dies within minutes is it fair to say that these are the type of injuries you see
17:45from someone intending to kill yes can you please describe what you see in this video
17:54that is the defendant exiting the back door of her apartment building and what's relevant about her
18:00clothing the clothing matches video we have of the killer fleeing the scene one last question
18:06can you read the time stamp on the video 9 24 p.m about an hour before the murder thank
18:13you nothing
18:16further the back exit of my client's building the southern exit to be exact isn't that closest to
18:22where she was headed downtown yes so the suggestion that she was headed out the back door to evade
18:27detection it doesn't really make any sense does it still makes sense to me lieutenant brady did you
18:36determine where the scissors in question came from the scissors came from a hair styling kit belonging to
18:42the victim they were present in the victim's dressing room yes which means my client brought no weapon of
18:47any kind that night not that we know of hmm so she went there to kill katie but she didn't
18:57bring a
18:57weapon that doesn't make any sense either does it maybe she didn't decide to kill katie until she got
19:04into the dressing room ah so ann merrick acted in the heat of the moment i don't want to parse
19:11legal terms with you but the
19:12intent to kill can happen fast instantaneously so it doesn't mean she acted in the heat of the moment but
19:18you're the one who said that she was
19:19triggered in the dressing room objection she's badgering the witness sustained
19:25nothing further
19:33mr williams as chief executive of the new york 32 television station you had cause
19:39to speak with the defendant on the telephone approximately two hours before the murder yes
19:45would you tell the court why well i had to inform miss merrick that the network would not be renewing
19:51her contract how did you react after 22 years of annual renewals not well she became extremely upset
19:59and she accused me of sexism and ageism is that true did you fire the defendant because uh
20:09because you don't like women or because she's too old no it was performance related and i told her as
20:17much
20:17her response well she demanded to know more about the performance issue but i told her i wasn't at liberty
20:25to say more then what well she asked me who's going to replace her and i told her katie harrington
20:31and then she got even more angry thank you mr williams nothing further
20:39what was the performance issue you fired my client over ann had misidentified
20:46someone as a gang member in the segment that was a mistake that exposed the network to significant
20:52legal liability how did you know it was ann who made that mistake katie harrington told me
20:59your honor we move to admit as exhibit b an email sent by miss harrington from her new york 32
21:07account
21:08to the misidentified individual in the gang segment objection your honor we had no notice of this
21:14your honor we just got our hands on this email and it's important that we present it now
21:19because it undermines everything that this witness just testified to chambers now
21:29this was unfair surprise your honor agreed that's not how we do things in this office
21:34miss donahue your honor we just got verification of this email earlier today access to katie harrington's
21:39work accounts for weeks an abundance of correspondence this was perfectly capable of review and discovery
21:45in a timely fashion your honor i request exclusion of this evidence at this point in time since the
21:50people have been deprived of any meaningful opportunity to investigate you will see the
21:54email comes from a new york 32 account that's the news station that miss maroon's witness has been
21:58testifying about
22:02that's the case i will allow this exhibit but if this happens again miss donahue there will be sanctions
22:08of course
22:13no it's not okay abby i'm just trying to win a trial here by hiding evidence for me it's the
22:19oldest trick
22:20in the book well you never taught me that one oh can't give away all my secrets
22:32mr williams will you please read the highlighted portion of the email sent by miss harrington
22:38from her new york 32 account the misidentified individual in the gang segment i'm horrified i did
22:46this i'll remove all footage of you from our files and correct the name immediately
22:52no um no katie told me that ann provided all the footage and oversaw the identifications in that
23:00segment exactly katie harrington who the prosecution has portrayed as a hard-working beauty pageant
23:10winner turned tv reporter actually threw her mentor under the bus to save her own skin
23:20she had ann merrick who had done nothing but tirelessly champion her work
23:26since the day she started at your network fired
23:32who wouldn't feel betrayed
23:36who wouldn't feel devastated
23:40out of their mind
23:56so they're selling the victim it's the right move you think the jury's buying it
24:01i'm not certain definitely makes katie look less than saintly that's for sure
24:06what do you think i mentor a few women right i help them out i pull them up whenever it's
24:12possible and
24:12one of them betrayed me like that yes i'd be emotional too fair but i'm guessing you wouldn't
24:19slam a pair of scissors into someone's neck probably not neither would 99.9 percent of other people which
24:24is why this is murder and not manslaughter so who's their first witness an expert in female workplace
24:31trauma well i didn't know that was a field of study neither did i use that to your advantage
24:43and how would you describe the nature of the workplace relationship between female mentors
24:49and their prot茅g茅s quite intimate in what way powerful bonds form in stressful environments
24:56and spaces where women are outnumbered and the relationship provides emotional support often
25:01helping both women thrive in challenging situations and what happens if the bond is threatened or
25:07ruptured it's psychologically destabilizing given the intimacy of the relationship a betrayal
25:13would cause a shock to your core sense of safety akin to your spouse cheating on you would you say
25:19emotions dominate absolutely and based on your evaluation how did the termination psychologically
25:26affect miss merrick it was a highly traumatic event for her that the one person in the work
25:33environment with whom she had formed a strong emotional bond whose career she championed objection
25:40counsel is testifying i'll rephrase based on your examination how did the specifics of the dismissal
25:47shape her reaction i believe it was a perfect storm that triggered an extreme emotional disturbance
25:53she lost her capacity to reason when she realized what katie harrington had done to her thank you nothing further
26:03dr fitzgerald be aware that the defendant has reported on police brutality city hall corruption human
26:10trafficking and terrorist cells i am yet it is your opinion that when she was faced with
26:18what essentially is a workplace conflict she became so emotional that she lost all self-control and killed someone yes
26:30as a preeminent expert in the field of workplace trauma have you ever been called to testify in a murder
26:37trial
26:40no well do you know of any instance in which a perceived betrayal of a senior
26:46female employee by a junior employee resulted in murder as i said this would have been a perfect storm
26:52yes or no doctor no so if an emotional reaction like that has never happened before
27:00it's impossible to call it reasonable isn't it
27:07i suppose so but i have nothing further
27:18miss maroon
27:22miss maroon mr harrington hi
27:27how are you um how are you feeling you know it's not easy sitting in there i want to know
27:34what all
27:34this means i think that doctor there's stuff about how and america's some sort of mental issue
27:40well they're saying that the defendant was so overcome with emotions that she
27:47didn't have legal intent to murder and if the jury agrees then they can't put her away from rarner
27:56correct but then what happens well then she'd be convicted with uh men once class b violent felony
28:07the sentence is five to twenty five years five years
28:14they're stabbing my daughter in the neck
28:19katie was 29 years old that woman stole her life
28:27no five years is not okay
28:3220 years ago there were only a handful of women doing on-air reporting everyone doubted that we
28:38could handle real stories my bosses handed me baking contests nanny scandals but i wanted to report
28:46real news so i found my own features woke up at 5 a.m worked till 10 p.m you
28:52made sacrifices i didn't have
28:54time for relationships marriage children but um it was worth it i loved my job and you excelled at it
29:02you won several local emmys three quite a feat so when you got the phone call from mr williams at
29:11new
29:11york 32 that your contract was not going to be renewed how did that feel totally blindsided i'd thought
29:19that i was on the path to national anchor and suddenly a lifetime of work and sacrifices
29:28gone now it it was terrifying why blame katie harrington i had taken katie under my wing i wanted
29:37to make it easier for her than it had been for me so what did you do to support her
29:43i did what i had
29:45always done for all the young women that i had mentored throughout my career and there have been
29:49dozens i advocated for them and nurtured their professional development miss merrick i want to show
29:56you some documents that were admitted to evidence will you please tell the jury what this is um this is
30:07a letter of recommendation that i wrote for katie's hudson fellowship application and would you mind
30:13reading just the highlighted portion please katie harrington is a brilliant reporter with a great
30:19future ahead her work in our office has been nothing short of dazzling i recommend her without
30:25hesitation and would do anything to help advance her application would it be fair to say that you
30:30were devoted to katie harrington absolutely so what did you think when mr williams let you know that he
30:39was replacing you with her i was uh i was confused he said that i was getting fired because i'd
30:49made
30:49a big mistake and i had no idea what he was talking about and then i remember that katie had
30:54misidentified someone in the gang segment and she had told me that she was terrified that it was
30:59going to get her fired so when he told me that she was replacing me i thought that she had
31:06laid the
31:08blame on me what did you do next i went to find katie to ask her how the network got
31:13the idea that
31:14i had made that major error what did she say she said she panicked
31:21and told them that that it was my mistake then what
31:32before i knew it katie was dead
31:36it it was it was it was a blur
31:43katie did not deserve that
31:48i know that now
31:52but on that night in that moment i just
31:59i i i i didn't think i did i didn't think i just i just reacted it's just
32:06like i said it was just it was such a blur
32:30donahue is trying to turn their work relationship into something much more deep
32:34and personal kind of like a husband and wife makes sense that's where most of these eed cases live
32:40spouses catching their partners in bed with someone else hell of a lot different than losing your job to
32:45a protege what i don't get though what now they're trying to paint and merrick as the world's most
32:52amazing mentor right a selfless devoted woman who lived to help everyone around her if they haven't
32:58called any of those so-called mentees to testify to any of this it's strange right so talk to some
33:06of these women the defendant allegedly mentored see what they have to say
33:12i owe a lot to ann merrick i was a total novice when i started at the station and she
33:19was really
33:20helpful and kind until i got hired by msn then what
33:30she she wasn't happy about me getting that job was upset that i didn't tell her that i'd interviewed
33:36for it that i didn't get her opinion then i found out the real reason she was so upset
33:45she applied for the same spot and when you say she wasn't happy can you be more specific
33:54she she literally grabbed me by my collar and said if i ever double-crossed her again she'd kill me
34:04she had this look in her eye i think she really meant it
34:22so
34:28being
34:31abby
34:319
34:32Hey, come in.
34:38I got the email about Sarah Chase.
34:42Are you kidding me?
34:46Well, it's relevant information, Abby.
34:49Your client doesn't like it when her mentees succeed.
34:54Yeah, of course, she didn't kill Sarah Chase, but she sure as hell threatened her.
34:58Anne Merrick is a woman of a certain generation.
35:02She had to put on armor in order to survive a male-dominated profession.
35:07She threatened vengeance when she thought other women crossed her.
35:09That's one way to put it.
35:11The other?
35:11She acted like a man.
35:13She used male language.
35:15She flexed verbal muscle, telling people not to mess with her.
35:20If a man said, I'm going to kill you, in this context, we wouldn't even blink, let alone use it
35:26as evidence to prove intent.
35:32Look, Abby, you put on a solid defense.
35:39Solid defense?
35:42You know what I mean?
35:45I want to plead this one out, Sam.
35:49Man one is the right result here.
35:52Like I said before, I don't think this is EED.
35:55We have because of existing sexist case law.
36:00That's why men have successfully been using EED for crimes of anger and rage.
36:06But women, we can only use it if we're traumatized because the law doesn't allow us to be angry.
36:13This is a chance to move the case law forward.
36:16I can't tell Katie Harrington's father that the person who killed his daughter is going to be out in five
36:21years.
36:23You owe me this.
36:25I what?
36:27I got you this damn job.
36:31Yes.
36:32You definitely helped.
36:36And I'm grateful for that.
36:38I did you a favor.
36:41And now I'm asking you for one.
36:48Please.
36:53I haven't had a good result in a while.
36:59I need this, Sam.
37:16Any luck finding other rebuttal witnesses?
37:20Working on it.
37:23Everything okay?
37:29Did you ever have a mentor?
37:32Yeah, a few.
37:34Did any of them ever ask you to repay the debt?
37:39No.
37:40And no mentor worth her soul would ever ask that of you.
37:57Please call your next witness, Miss Maroon.
38:05Miss Maroon.
38:07Your next witness.
38:12Your Honor, the people call Sarah Chase.
38:32Miss Chase, was the defendant your supervisor and mentor at New York 32?
38:41She was.
38:42And is it true that you left five years ago for a better position in cable news?
38:47Yes.
38:48Sarah, can you please tell the court what Ann Merrick said to you when you told her about your new
38:53job?
38:57She grabbed hold of my collar and said if I ever double-crossed her again, she'd kill me.
39:17Members of the jury, have you reached a verdict?
39:20We have, Your Honor.
39:23On the count of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant guilty.
39:40Members of the jury, thank you for your service.
39:44We are adjourned.
39:47Miss Maroon.
39:48You're welcome.
39:58Abby.
40:00Come on, Abby.
40:04God, Abby.
40:07I'd like to explain.
40:10We're done here.
40:17Good work, Sam.
40:22You did a great job.
40:37She's famous, right?
40:39Lots of family drama.
40:41The father is super weird.
40:42You were hiding something.
40:43Are you suggesting I had anything to do with it?
40:46Are you trying to help the man who killed your daughter?
40:49Law & Order, new next Thursday on NBC and Peacock.
40:55The victim was a fighter.
40:57Something went sideways.
41:01You ever seen anything like this?
41:02This is a first.
41:04SVU, new next on NBC and Peacock.
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