Elizabeth Donnelly
From The Law & Order Wiki
| Elizabeth Donnelly | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Title Judge | ||
| First Appearance SVU: "Guilt" | ||
| Last Appearance SVU: "Zebras" | ||
| Played by Judith Light |
Elizabeth Donnelly is a Judge working in Manhattan, New York City.
Contents |
[edit] History
Elizabeth Donnelly's career in jurism stretches back at least thirty years. As an Assistant District Attorney, she gained a reputation for toughness - some would call it bullying - and won most of her cases. One notable loss during those early days was her case against Carolyn Cresswell, a woman who had murdered her abusive husband. Cresswell fled during what was supposed to be a meeting to discuss a plea bargain. This incident humiliated Donnelly and she vowed to bring Cresswell to justice. She still considers that case her one colossal failure, and blames it for having negatively marked her career.
After a couple of years as a Bureau Chief (or Executive Assistant District Attorney), Donnelly was elevated to judgeship. While in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, however, she served as the supervisor of Alexandra Cabot and her successor, Casey Novak. Donnelly has presided over numerous cases Novak has prosecuted.
[edit] Donnelly Versus Other ADAs
Donnelly had several heated arguments with her Assistant District Attorneys, and it has been speculated that she is vicious against them because they enjoy success, whereas her own career along those lines has been marked mainly by that one colossal failure. However, on one occasion when Cabot lied to her detectives about having a search warrant in order to convict a serial child molester, Donnelly let her off with a one-month suspension. (SVU:"Guilt") In the case against Jeremy Brice and Zachary Connor, she even had to take Cabot's place in the courtroom, because of her ADA's personal opinion regarding the case. (SVU:"Juvenile")
[edit] Donnelly as a Judge
Though a judge, Donnelly represented both Casey Novak and Detective Elliot Stabler when a man suing for custody of his child opted to sue them for alleged conspiracy and assault. The suits were dropped, however, following the man's arrest on kidnapping charges. (SVU:"Haystack")
During the case against a police officer accused of rape and murder, Novak withheld documents in violation of the Brady Rules. She had been informed that DNA samples from a rape suspect were too degraded to provide anything more than a partial profile, resulting in Judge Donnelly having her called before the Bar association, who disbarred Novak. (SVU:"Cold")
[edit] A Second Chance
Several months later, after an abused young wife named Mia Latimer was shot dead by her husband, Carolyn Cresswell surfaced as Linnie Malcolm, Mia's neighbor and sole confidant, and Donnelly came out of retirement to prosecute her. She sought the maximum penalty for Cresswell's crimes, but relented when Cresswell explained - to Donnelly's surprise - that she had fled because she was pregnant with her former husband's child, and desperately wanted an abortion, which would not have been available in prison. Donnelly claimed that it was a dramatic, and harsh, reminder of why she had even chosen to practice law in the first place, and worked to get Cresswell a minimal sentence. (SVU: "Persona")
[edit] Poisoned
Some months later, the SVU caught a murder case in Central Park. An extreme paranoiac named Peter Harrison had killed a young mother in the park, and had left a lot of evidence. However, during the processing of that evidence, CSU technician Dale Stuckey had made a mistake on the paperwork for the murder weapon that would have allowed Harrison's attorney to claim that the police had planted Harrison's prints on the weapon. Though this in itself would not necessarily have gotten Harrison off for the crime, it created a situation whereby any attempt to prosecute Harrison might have set a precident for other criminals to challenge the DNA evidence against them, and thus the DA's office chose to dismiss the case. Donnelly was the judge that day, and Stuckey attempted to protest the decision to drop the charges. Donnelly loudly and publically berated him for his incompetence.
Never on the firmest emotional ground to begin with, Stuckey snapped and began killing people associated with Harrison in an attempt to have new charges brought against him. Donnelly was one of the unluckey targets, and received a shot of potassium chloride that had been hidden in a chair in her house resulting in her near death. however Elliot and Olvia were able to take her to a hostipal where they were able to save her. (SVU: "Zebras")
[edit] Cases Tried (as Judge)
- People vs. Regan Michaels, Luke Young, and Matthew Schroeffel (SVU: "Responsible")
- Ordered the defendents not to associate during the trial.
