Law and Order
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Casey Novak (born September) is an Assistant District Attorney on for the Sex Crimes Bureau.

Background

It was revealed in early season 5 that Casey graduated from Harvard Law School and used to clerk for judge Mary Clark. She initially joined the Manhattan DA's office in the Investigations department in the White Collar division.

On SVU

Casey replaced Alexandra Cabot in the episode "Serendipity" after Cabot joined the Witness Protection Program. She was shown to be a persistent and tough ADA. Elizabeth Donnelly later states that she has a 71% conviction rate. At first, she did not get along with the SVU detectives, particularly Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson, who saw her as arrogant and distant. Eventually, however, she learned how to be more of a team player, and became close to the SVU squad.

Her first case dealt with a child rapist and Casey ended up saving one of the victims herself, figuring out that the rapist, Peter Nestler, was a fisherman and later where he stashed the girl. She then carries the victim to safety herself while Nestler is arrested. At the end of the episode, she asked Arthur Branch if she could have out of the job because she couldn't let go of what happened to the little girl she saved. Branch denied the request, saying that at first he wasn't sure if Casey was right for the job, but the fact she was affected by the case showed him that she was perfectly suited for it.

In the episode "Night", Casey was brutally attacked by the brother of a victim of serial rapist Gabriel Duvall; she was beat so severely that she had to go to intensive care.

In the season 6 finale, "Goliath", is a supporter for the Troops saying that her father was a door gunner on a huey in Vietnam. He was in 3 chopper crashes and received a purple heart, a U.S. military decoration awarded to members of the armed forces who have been wounded in action.

Casey Novak was attacked in the courtroom twice, once when she was held at gun point in the season 7 episode "Raw" and the other is when she was choked in the season 9 opener, "Alternate".

Casey revealed in "Influence," that she was once engaged to a schizophrenic man, but he refused to take medication, and she eventually left him. The last time she'd heard of him, he was homeless. The topic was mentioned again in "Blinded", when Olivia Benson accused Casey of letting her guilt over the experience cloud her judgment regarding schizophrenic sex offender Saul Picard. In this episode, Jack McCoy learns that Casey's former fiancé, Charlie, attacked her when he was off his meds, and she used her job as an ADA to make sure no abuse charges were laid. She tells Olivia that six months before, Charlie was killed in an accident, carrying her business card in his pocket. She expresses guilt, wondering if he'd still be alive if she'd stayed with him. She is also a Catholic, as stated in the season 8 episode "Haystack."

In the season 9 finale "Cold", her conduct during the trial of a police officer accused of raping two illegal immigrants leaves her facing a lengthy suspension. In the season ten episode "Confession", Novak's replacement ADA Kim Greylek asserted that Casey Novak was disbarred for her actions. It was later revealed that she was not disbarred; she only had her license suspended for three years. She returned to the DA's office, but her trustworthiness was challenged on her first case back as she needed a conviction to restore her reputation.

In the episode "Mean", while cross-examining a teenage murderer, Casey reveals her birthstone is sapphire, making her month of birth September.

ADA Novak returned as a recurring character, along with ADA Cabot, in Season 13. She was last seen as the lead prosecutor in "Valentine's Day", in which she goes up against Defense Attorney Marvin Exley, who is defending a woman who seems to have fabricated her own abduction.

Trivia

  • She is currently the longest ADA in Law & Order franchise with 112 episodes + the episode she appeared in Law & Order: Trial by Jury
  • Novak is a redhead, although she had her hair dyed strawberry blond and blond for some of her appearances.
  • She is Catholic.
  • Actress Diane Neal remarked on Twitter that there was sexual tension between Casey and Detective Benson.
  • She is ranked as a Senior ADA, as stated in the season 8 episode "Haystack".
  • She lives on the Upper West Side.
  • She was once in a relationship that led to domestic violence, as she revealed to Benson in season 7.
  • Casey has been physically assaulted five times in the series. (Twice in the courtroom, once in her office, choked by the lady, and held at gunpoint)
  • ADA Casey Novak has been in more episodes than any other SVU ADA.
  • She is possibly of Slovak descent.
  • Was censured for violating Brady law.
  • Novak was born in September, as revealed in the season 5 episode "Mean", when she cites her birthstone as Sapphire.
  • Her father was a doorgunner in the Vietnam War, and once took down a huey.
  • Her initial return was cemented by a conviction, albeit a rocky one.
  • As of season 13, her tension with Benson seems to have escalated, witnessed particularly through their fight in the first episode she appears in.
  • Her appearance in Law & Order: Trial by Jury was minimal

Appearances


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