Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)
Snitch (2007)
Mariska Hargitay: Detective Olivia Benson
Quotes
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Dr. Melinda Warner : [during the murder victim's autopsy] The scarring is from an improperly healed female circumcision.
Elliot Stabler : She was mutilated.
Dr. Melinda Warner : Along with 150 million other women in Africa, The Middle East and parts of Asia.
Olivia Benson : Because men think cutting a woman to shreds will prevent her from being promiscuous.
Dr. Melinda Warner : Done safely, they lose all sexual sensation, but too many die from infection.
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Chuckwei Bothame : Are you going to interrogate me In front of my dead wife?
Olivia Benson : Your dead wife is a 15-year-old girl you mutilated.
Chuckwei Bothame : The circumcision was her decision.
Elliot Stabler : You didn't force her?
Chuckwei Bothame : You don't know Nikki. You can't force her to do anything.
Olivia Benson : Well, somebody forced her into the river.
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Elliot Stabler : There's no evidence that Chuckwei had more than three wives.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : That's comforting.
Olivia Benson : We've moved them to a motel, but the families expressed some concern about being seen coming or going.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : Chuckwei can't leave. The others shouldn't unless they have to.
Olivia Benson : Well, there's seven people living in one room. I mean, Sara goes to work, the children go to school...
Elliot Stabler : We'd like to station a car outside their motel.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : If I only had the money. This office has $1.2 million to protect thousands of witnesses for the entire fiscal year.
Olivia Benson : I thought that convicting King was a top priority.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : It is. Which is why we're giving Chuckwei a pass on the polygamy.
Olivia Benson : I'm not a fan, either, but the man Is putting his and his family's life on the line.
Elliot Stabler : All for a trial that's already cost him his wife. I mean, what guy in his right mind would ever become a witness in this system?
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : I wish I could do more, but every dollar I spend on Chuckwei, I'm taking away from another witness's safety. Every one of them wants more protection.
Elliot Stabler : Okay, so what do we tell them?
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : Next time, to witness a federal crime. They know how to treat their witnesses.
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Elliot Stabler : Chuckwei screwed us. We should lock him up for perjury, contempt and polygamy.
Olivia Benson : Don't you think he's been through enough?
Elliot Stabler : Since when did you become his defender?
Olivia Benson : Well, you just said that he lied under oath to protect his family. Now, I can't imagine that's easy for a devout Christian.
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Elliot Stabler : [to Chuckwei] You're under protective custody until the trial's over.
Chuckwei Bothame : What about Almani and the children and Sara?
Olivia Benson : Unfortunately, witness protection only extends to immediate family.
Chuckwei Bothame : But they are my family.
Elliot Stabler : In this country, immediate family means your wife and your children.
Chuckwei Bothame : Almani, Sara and the children: they are my immediate family.
Olivia Benson : Nikki was your wife.
Chuckwei Bothame : Yes, and so are Almani and Sara.
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Elliot Stabler : [about Chuckwei] Maybe he'll take a plea. Poor guy could get one to three off each count.
Olivia Benson : Poor guy? I find polygamy degrading. His third wife was a 15-year-old that he married over the phone.
Elliot Stabler : Yeah, to save her from religious persecution in Africa.
Olivia Benson : Only to mutilate her in America.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : Please tell the jury what happened.
Chuckwei Bothame : I was walking home from work on 168th Street when I saw a man beat a boy with a metal pipe.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : [shows a photo of the victim] This is the victim, Damon Moore. Is he the boy you saw?
Chuckwei Bothame : Yes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Danielson : And the man who beat him to death, is he in this courtroom?
[in a moment of silence, Chuckwei stares at King, who stares back; afterwards, Chuckwei points at him]
Chuckwei Bothame : That is the man. There.
Dennis King : He's a liar. The cops are makin' him lie!
Matthew Braden : Dennis, shut up!
Chuckwei Bothame : No! NO!
[jumps out of his seat]
Chuckwei Bothame : You murdered that boy in front of a crowd of people! And in front of GOD!
Dennis King : [storms out of his seat, topples the table, and charges at Chuckwei] You're a dead man! You're a dead man! Ya hear me?
[Stabler grabs King and pins him to the ground]
Judge : Order! ORDER! Get the jury out of here! Court officers!
[the court officers grab King]
Dennis King : Get 'em off! Get off me!
[to Chuckwei]
Dennis King : You're dead! Your family's dead! Everything you love is dead! You're dead!
Judge : Take the defendant to lockup!
[Benson and Stabler walk up to Chuckwei]
Olivia Benson : Are you okay?
Chuckwei Bothame : Yes. I'm no longer afraid.
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Olivia Benson : Chuckwei is a polygamist. He's breaking the law.
John Munch : Not in Nigeria.
Elliot Stabler : If it's legal for a man to have three wives over there, what's he supposed to do when he moves here?
John Munch : Well, in France, they make allowances for pre-existing multiple marriages for African immigrants.
Olivia Benson : We're not in France. That's why we had to arrest him.
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Chuckwei Bothame : [after he discovers a threatening note] Tomorrow, Obie Bothame will be beaten to death in front of his mother, brothers and sisters. I won't risk my family's safety.
Olivia Benson : We got the D.A.'s office to put security cameras at the motel.
Sarah Flint : That's not enough to protect us. King knows where we are.
Chuckwei Bothame : No, stop! Stop! No more police, no more investigating. It's over.
Olivia Benson : We'll keep you safe. The D.A.'s office gave us these body alarms. They're a direct line to us.
Chuckwei Bothame : And what about after the trial, huh? What if King is acquitted?
Elliot Stabler : The only way he walks is if you let him.
Chuckwei Bothame : I know men like King. In Nigeria, they kill thousands. They think they are above the law. I came to America because it is a land of dreams. I need it to stay that way.
Elliot Stabler : Well, how can it if you don't talk? Now, you don't wanna go back to the motel. I understand that, fine. Go home. I'll stay with you.
Chuckwei Bothame : You would do that for us?
Elliot Stabler : Look, I need you safe. I need your testimony.
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Elliot Stabler : [to Braden] How do you sleep at night?
Matthew Braden : Sorry?
Elliot Stabler : You can't win with the truth, so you let your client intimidate good people who stand up to him?
Matthew Braden : If anyone's intimidating witnesses, it's the police and your D.A. You coerce, you plea bargain, you threaten them with criminal charges unless they testify.
Olivia Benson : You know that's not true.