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"Phobia"
L&O, Episode 11.13
Production number: E1313
First aired: 14 February 2001
  th of 456 produced in L&O  
th of 456 released in L&O
  th of 1271 released in all  
Briscoe Phobia
Written By
Wendy Battles, Lynn Mamet & Kathy McCormick

Directed By
David Platt

Detectives Briscoe and Green investigate the beating death of a gay man and the kidnapping of his adopted son.

Plot[]

A couple walking by see a dead body and call the police. Detectives Lennie Briscoe & Ed Green arrive discovering the victim was beaten to death, the victim was gay, and his adopted son has been kidnapped. Briscoe & Green are alerted to a ransom demand and respond quickly, only to find out it was a merely an opportunistic seltzer delivery man who was at the scene of the crime.

The police find out about the adopted child's drug-addicted mother and track her down by going through a woman who smuggles abused wives out of town. The mother may have lied about being abused to get help. The mother is found on a bus and gives up the killer as the baby's biological father, Robert Kelley, who is subsequently arrested.

McCoy prosecutes the case by trying to show that Kelley did it as a hate crime by yelling a slur during the beating, which Kelley denies. He claims he just wanted his baby back and that the adoption agency never had his consent. With McCoy's only witness being the mother, it's a tough sell, but soon the jury comes back with a "guilty" verdict, convicting him of the murder as a hate crime.

It ends with the victim's husband being approached by the mother who tells him that she hopes her child knows about her and the victim's husband saying she might tell him herself.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Anita Van Buren: Well, what kind of idiot arranges to pickup ransom money in a van with vanity plates?
Lennie Briscoe: An idiot whose vanity plate read "HOSE MONKEY".

Susan Powers: My dealings with the police have been a joke.
Anita van Buren: Well, you haven't dealt with me, Miss Powers.

We were like any couple with a kid. Early to bed, early to rise. The only restaurants we went to had paper placemats on the tables with crayons.

–Donald Albers

Background information and notes[]

  • The episode title is a reference to the homophobia Celia Goddard and Robert Kelley displayed towards Donald Albers and his partner Bradford Mendell.
  • * This episode was later adapted into the Law & Order: UK episode "Dependent".

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

Heron Motor Sports
143 Second Avenue
Monday, January 3

Department of
Children & Family Services
Tuesday, January 4

455 West 19th Street
Wednesday, January 5

4 5 6

Office of
Jerry Vaylor
869 Broadway
Thursday, January 6

Supreme Court
Trial Part 38
Thursday, February 24

Supreme Court
Trial Part 38
Friday, February 25

Previous episode:
"Teenage Wasteland"
"Phobia"
Law & Order
Season 11
Next episode:
"A Losing Season"
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