Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Contrapasso (2017)

Raúl Esparza: ADA Rafael Barba

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Quotes 

• Rafael Barba : [during his closing argument]  Jason assaulted Evelyn, Evelyn assaulted him back. That sounds fair to me. Sounds like justice at work. To be just, it has to be fair. I mean, that's what Ms. Rivers asserts. You know, I can't really disagree with that. In purely pound of flesh terms, Mr. Karr certainly gave up a hell of a lot more than he got. Fair? Not a chance. To be totally fair, you should give Jason one of Evelyn's breasts. An arm, maybe. That's only fair. And as we have now decided, that means it's just. Jason Karr forcibly raped Evelyn Bundy when she was little more than a child, but to tack a prison sentence on Mr. Karr's already gargantuan suffering would tip the balance of justice in Ms. Bundy's favor, and hey, there's no way that's fair, so there's no way that's just. A man whose store burns down rushes out, buys some gasoline, a book of matches and sets the house of the arsonist on fire. Hey! It's fair, so that means it's just! A man whose children have been murdered buys a gun and splatters the brains of the killer's children all over their bedroom walls. It's fair. It's just. Why bother with cops or courts? If it's fair, it has to be just! Let the blood flow in the streets, I say! Oh, wait, you don't like it? I say get a bigger pair of boots.

• Rafael Barba : [to Olivia]  Listen, I'm considering offering a deal. Karr does the same four years Evelyn Bundy agreed to.

  Olivia Benson : You proved forcible rape. If she cut off his finger, if she poked him in the eye...

  Rafael Barba : It shouldn't make a difference. We don't live in a vacuum. I can assure you, the seven guys on that jury, they feel Karr's pain.

  Olivia Benson : And if Karr wasn't castrated, if he had cancer...

  Rafael Barba : It's not the same thing.

  Olivia Benson : It should be. Why do we do this, Rafael?

  Rafael Barba : Because the next girl who gets raped needs to know that that person is us. No matter what.

• Olivia Benson : The three women got together twenty years after high school and within a few hours, one of their teachers was found castrated in a hotel room.

  Rafael Barba : What's the presumed motive?

  Odafin Tutuola : It wasn't for giving 'em all C's.

  Olivia Benson : Given the nature of the injury, there's a sexual motivation behind it.

  Amanda Rollins : Explains why Karr won't talk.

  Rafael Barba : Yeah, I can't prosecute the assault unless the victim makes an ID.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Okay, well, how about we charge the three women with obstruction?

  Rafael Barba : For asserting their Fifth Amendment rights?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : After they lied to us and obfuscated our investigation.

  Rafael Barba : Obfuscate. Yummy.

  Olivia Benson : Hold on, Rafa. An obstruction charge would certainly leverage some cooperation. If you can't prove the crime, prove the cover-up.

  Rafael Barba : You'd have reasonable cause for an arrest, but my advice is get Jason Karr on board, or this train is going nowhere.