Brian Cassidy was portrayed by
Dean Winters from 1999 to 2000 and 2012 to 2014. • Portrayed by
Dean Winters • Episodes: "
Payback" – "
Disrobed", "
Rhodium Nights" – "
Above Suspicion", "
Undercover Blue", "
Her Negotiation" – "
Downloaded Child", "
Gone Fishin' – "
Chasing Demons" Brian Cassidy is a detective in the SVU during the series' first season. The youngest and least experienced member of the precinct, he has a genuine desire to put
rapists and
child molesters in
prison, but lacks the professional detachment necessary to deal with the often grisly sex crimes. He often has trouble concealing his anger and revulsion toward the cases he investigates and this creates friction between him and his colleagues, made worse when they poke fun at his relative lack of sophistication. A genuinely talented and driven police detective, he makes a real effort to learn from the other members of the precinct, particularly Munch, whom he thinks of as a sort of older brother/mentor figure. He has a brief affair with
Olivia Benson, and has trouble dealing with her after the relationship ends. Cassidy was written out of the show midway through the first season. Cragen sends him to interview a young girl who was repeatedly raped and brutalized, causing Cassidy to realize that he cannot emotionally handle the types of crimes that a SVU detective must deal with on a daily basis. Cragen then offers to assist Cassidy with a transfer to another department, narcotics. After a twelve-year absence from the show, Cassidy returns in the season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights". He is working undercover as security personnel for Bart Ganzel, the owner of an escort service. When Amaro and Rollins go to speak to Ganzel, Cassidy confronts Amaro and punches him in the face. After Cassidy is arrested, he is in the interrogation room with Amaro when Benson walks in and sarcastically greets her old colleague, explaining to Amaro how Cassidy worked SVU in another "century." Cassidy agrees to help them as long as they don't blow his cover. After Cassidy helps SVU get insight on the war between Ganzel and an opposing escort service, he has to play both sides of the law as he refuses to sacrifice his three years of undercover work. In the season 14 premiere, Bureau Chief ADA Paula Foster reveals to Detective Benson that Cassidy is working undercover for her. Benson, along with Cassidy's former SVU partner Sergeant Munch, meets with him on two different occasions to get information on the escort war. When Benson goes to Ganzel's loft to speak with Cassidy again, they walk outside to what appears to be an attempted theft of Ganzel's car. Benson gives chase to one person, while Cassidy and the car thief pull guns on each other. A patrol car pulls up, and two officers draw their weapons, as Cassidy identifies himself as police. As Benson returns to identify herself as police, the patrol officer shoots Cassidy twice. Benson calls for a bus and rides with him to the hospital, where he survives, as the bullets missed his main arteries. It is discovered that the officer who shot him was contracted by Ganzel to shoot Cassidy after Ganzel found the bugs that the DA's office had installed in his loft. Later, Cassidy and Benson share a kiss in his hospital room after Benson tells him she isn't the same person he knew years ago. In the episode, "
Undercover Blue", Cassidy is accused of rape by a prostitute while he was undercover almost four years prior. It is revealed that Cassidy is being set up by the woman and her boss to make money off a lawsuit against the NYPD and the charges are dropped. Also in this episode, Munch says that Cassidy paid the price for having a relationship with a prostitute while undercover with Ganzel, as he was demoted from detective to an officer who works nights at a Bronx courthouse. Benson and Cassidy also are forced to reveal their romantic relationship in this episode when Amaro and Munch go to Cassidy's apartment and find Benson there.
Captain Ed Tucker • Portrayed by
Robert John Burke • Episodes: "
Counterfeit" – "
The Longest Night of Rain" Ed Tucker is an officer in the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD who has frequently been assigned to question the SVU squad whenever there is an allegation of misconduct. He has appeared in 21 episodes throughout the duration of the series, starting with the season 3 episode "Counterfeit". He has opened numerous investigations on Detectives Stabler, Benson, Amaro, and Rollins and frequently feuded with Captain Cragen. Tucker was originally introduced as a sergeant, but was later promoted to lieutenant. Although he feuded with the squad for many years, Tucker slowly became an ally for Benson after she took over for Cragen as squad commander. In the season 16 finale, "Surrendering Noah", he alerted Benson that 1PP would likely not consider promoting Amaro to Sergeant now that Benson, who looks to become SVU's Lieutenant, will need a Sergeant by her side. In "Townhouse Incident" (season 17), Tucker—who has now been named the Captain of IAB—acts as the hostage negotiator when Benson and others are taken captive in a violent home invasion; he is selected at Benson's request and reveals that he was a negotiator prior to transferring to IAB. When Tucker tries to help Benson bust a sex trafficking ring with ties to the Catholic Church (and his own cousin, a priest), it is revealed that he and Benson are in a romantic relationship. In "Heartfelt Passages", Tucker tells Benson of his intention to transfer to the
NYPD Emergency Response Unit's Hostage Negotiation Team. As seen in "Heartfelt Passages", Capt. Tucker is a recipient of the U.S. Flag Bar, the World Trade Center Breast Bar, NYPD Meritorious Police Duty, NYPD Excellent Police Duty, and NYPD 150th Commemorative Breast Bar. In Season 18, Tucker wanted Benson to retire with him. Benson had mixed feelings about this. The two eventually ended their romantic relationship. In Season 21, he made a guest appearance, where he is shown to be retiring. Tucker has remarried, and has two stepdaughters. Tucker privately reveals to Benson he is dying of lung cancer, that has metastasized to his brain, causing memory loss. After Vice Officer Rachel Wilson blames Tucker for ignoring her rape at the hands of Internal Affairs Officer Gary Wald before her suicide, Tucker records a confession from Wald to make things right. Tucker also reconciles with Benson. However, before the trial, Tucker commits suicide, wanting to spare his wife from suffering due to his terminal cancer.
Captain Declan Murphy from 2014 to 2015. • Portrayed by
Donal Logue • Episodes: "
Gambler's Fallacy", "
Beast's Obsession" – "
Spring Awakening", "
Undercover Mother", "
Community Policing", "
Silent Night, Hateful Night" Captain Declan G. Murphy is first introduced working as an undercover cop who meets
Rollins when she's on a gambling binge. Shortly after
William Lewis escapes from prison, One Police Plaza appoints Murphy commanding officer of Manhattan SVU, deeming it inappropriate for Benson to lead the manhunt to recapture Lewis. Murphy's reign as commanding officer continues after Lewis's suicide at the request of One Police Plaza. Murphy is a by-the-book CO, often checking behind the detectives' backs that they are apprehending suspects correctly, and he often uses his undercover expertise to lead the direction of investigations. Murphy's strictness often causes him to butt heads with the detectives, mainly Amaro, who does not trust him. Morally, Murphy has shown himself to be flexible. When Benson faces perjury charges after Lewis's suicide, Murphy lies under oath to persuade the grand jury to dismiss, saying that Benson did what she had to do to save the girl Lewis had kidnapped. However, when Amaro is arrested for his assault on a photographer investigated for child pornography and building a torture chamber, Murphy tells Amaro that he knows Amaro doesn't value his advice, but to stand down and keep quiet, regardless of the circumstances. After the charges are dismissed, Murphy tells Benson he will do what he can, but that he would not pull strings for Amaro, as he is unconvinced that Amaro's career is worth saving. At the end of "Spring Awakening", Murphy tells Benson that he has been chosen for an undercover assignment and recommended to One Police Plaza that command of the SVU be returned to her. Subsequently, in the episode "Undercover Mother", Murphy's undercover assignment is revealed after SVU takes down a sex trafficking ring. In the seventeenth-season episode "Community Policing", Murphy returns after finding out about Rollins' pregnancy while he was "4,000 miles away in Serbia trying to take down a sex trafficking ring." Rollins reveals to Murphy that he is in fact the father of her child. Upon hearing this, Murphy lets her know that he is now here to stay, albeit temporarily; however, he gives Rollins a secret cell number, and tells her that should she need him, he will be on a plane within an hour. In the twenty-third season, it is revealed Murphy has been promoted to Captain of the Hate Crimes Division. In his reappearance, it is revealed that he has not been active in Jessie's life and laments this. During a joint investigation with SVU, he speaks with Rollins and tries to reconcile with her so he could be in their daughter's life, but Rollins is uncomfortable with this.
Deputy Chief William Dodds • Portrayed by
Peter Gallagher • Episodes: "
Holden's Manifesto", "
Pornstar's Requiem", "
Pattern Seventeen", "
Forgiving Rollins", "
Institutional Fail", "
Maternal Instincts" portrays Deputy Chief William Dodds, the tough-as-nails head of all the Special Victims Units in New York City. The former Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Units in all five boroughs, Dodds is Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Benson's politically savvy commanding officer. A former homicide detective, he is often hard on Benson and her squad, most notably during their early interactions, but ultimately respects the work that they do and frequently backs them up to the NYPD brass. He assisted the squad during their investigation into Atlanta PD Deputy Chief Charles Patton (
Harry Hamlin), who was accused of assaulting one of his own detectives in a New York City hotel, by personally interviewing Patton in the interrogation room. In season 17, he names his son, Mike (
Andy Karl), Manhattan SVU's new sergeant, and is devastated by his death in a domestic violence dispute between a corrupt corrections officer (
Brad Garrett) and his wife. As seen in "Heartfelt Passages", Dep. Chf. Dodds is a recipient of the US Flag Bar. Dodds is currently the first major character in any
Law & Order series to portray an NYPD officer holding the rank of deputy chief. Almost every prior portrayal of NYPD senior officers above the rank of captain has been that of three-star bureau chiefs, the four-star chief of department or first deputy commissioner, or the commissioner of the NYPD. In the season 21 premiere he was reassigned to the Staten Island Traffic and Safety Task Force, but not before insisting that Benson be promoted to the rank of captain. However, he states he would be back.
Sergeant Mike Dodds from 2015 to 2016. • Portrayed by
Andy Karl • Episodes: "
Maternal Instincts" – "
Heartfelt Passages" Sergeant Mike Dodds is introduced in the season 17 episode, "Maternal Instincts", as the son of Deputy Chief William Dodds (
Peter Gallagher), who transfers to the 16th Precinct to serve as Lieutenant Benson's second-in-command. He is a war veteran, having enlisted after 9/11 and served in
Special Forces. Immediately prior to his transfer, Dodds worked Anti-Crime, and before that, he worked out of the 71st Precinct. Dodds is a consummate professional and devoted to his work; as a result, he takes some time to warm up to his new colleagues but he gradually comes to respect and like them. He is shot in the line of duty while pursuing serial killer Dr. Gregory Yates in upstate New York but eventually recovers. Only a few months into his tenure, he is offered a position with the Joint Terrorism Task Force by his father but decides to stay with SVU, boldly going against the Deputy Chief's wishes (the elder Dodds had meant for his son's time at SVU to be nothing more than a career step). In "Manhattan Transfer", Dodds is made Acting Commander of SVU after Lt. Olivia Benson is relieved of her duties. In the subsequent episode, Dodds leads SVU's continued investigation into a sex trafficking ring while continuing to consult Benson. He happily returns command of SVU back over to Benson after the case is closed. In "Heartfelt Passages", Dodds is shot in the stomach during a hostage situation. He makes it through surgery, but he later suffers a stroke in the ICU and is put on life support. After its determined that Dodds is brain dead, he is taken off life support and dies. Both Chief Dodds and the entire SVU squad were devastated by his death and Olivia Benson suffers from
survivor's guilt. It is shown a few months after the tragic event that the Deputy Chief still holds Olivia responsible for what happened to his son. As Olivia herself admits, "he's not wrong". As seen in "Heartfelt Passages", Sgt. Dodds is a recipient of the US Flag Bar, World Trade Center Breast Bar, NYPD Meritorious Police Duty, NYPD Excellent Police Duty, and NYPD 150th Commemorative Breast Bar.
TARU Tech Ruben Morales • Portrayed by
Joel de la Fuente • Episodes: "
Surveillance" – "
Bully" Ruben Morales is an officer in the NYPD's Technical Assistance Response Unit who aided the SVU squad with investigations that included computer or video evidence. He appeared in 52 episodes between seasons 3–12. In the Season 7 episode "Web", Morales takes a hands on approach in the investigation of an Internet pornography site. Due to his own guilt about his nephew's rape by an online predator, Morales beats one of the suspects up in the interrogation room, threatening the detectives' case.
CSU Tech Ryan O'Halloran • Portrayed by
Mike Doyle • Episodes: "
Choice" – "
Zebras" Crime Scene Technician Ryan O'Halloran came in frequent contact with the SVU detectives when they investigated crime scenes of their victims. He appeared in 52 episodes between seasons 5–10. He was one of SVU's biggest allies until his death in the season 10 finale. He was murdered by CSU tech Dale Stuckey, who was trying to prevent O'Halloran from informing the detectives that he was the real killer of a defense attorney and young woman.
Emil Skoda • Portrayed by
J. K. Simmons • Episodes: "
The Third Guy", "
Wrong is Right", "
Honor", "
Legacy", "
Noncompliance", "
Folly" from 2000 to 2001. Emil Skoda is a
psychiatrist who works with the
New York Police Department. In addition to his own private practice, he often testifies for the prosecution as an
expert witness on whether a defendant is legally sane to stand trial. He also
profiles suspects and offers advice to the
District Attorneys regarding witnesses' and suspects' mental states. While originally appearing in
Law & Order from 1997 until 2010 in 44 episodes, and later in
Criminal Intent in 2002 for only a single episode, he also appears in
SVU, once in the first season "The Third Guy", before making recurring appearances in the following season, ending until "Folly". Unlike his predecessor, Dr.
Elizabeth Olivet, little has been revealed about Skoda's personal life. One exception occurs in the episode "Burned", in which he compares a teenage suspect to his own son and admits that he enjoys
rollerblading and
Nintendo. Skoda is also far more skeptical of defendants
pleading insanity than Olivet, and quicker to believe they were faking to avoid prison. In more than one episode, both Skoda and Olivet are hired to evaluate a suspect, and argue over the appropriate diagnosis. The two doctors have radically different training and education: Olivet is a
clinical psychologist with a
Ph.D. earned through graduate studies and a research-based
dissertation; whereas Skoda is a physician, a
doctor of medicine specializing in psychiatry. Skoda also has differences in philosophy with Captain
Donald Cragen, with whom he argued passionately on cases. As has often taken place in the
Law & Order franchise, Simmons first appeared as a different character—Jerry Luppin in the Season 4 episode "Sanctuary" as a guest appearance. Simmons also played another character in
Law & Order continuity—Colonel Alexander Rausch in the
Homicide: Life on the Street Season 4 episode "For God and Country", a continuation of the
Law & Order Season 6 episode "Charm City".
Elizabeth Rodgers • Portrayed by
Leslie Hendrix • Episodes: "
Payback" – "
Misleader" Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers was a recurring character in the
Law & Order franchise. She was the medical examiner on
SVU throughout the first season and has since been replaced by Dr. Melinda Warner. She also had a recurring role on
Law & Order and
Law & Order: Criminal Intent and appeared in one episode of
Law & Order: Trial by Jury and
Exiled: A Law & Order Movie.
Rebecca Hendrix from 2004 to 2006. • Portrayed by
Mary Stuart Masterson • Episodes: "
Weak", "
Contagious", "
Identity", "
Ripped", "
Philadelphia" Dr. Rebecca Hendrix is a former police officer who was at the police academy with Detective Benson. She left the force to become a psychiatrist. She initially appears for three episodes in the series' sixth season, to replace series regular
BD Wong while he was performing in Broadway's
Pacific Overtures. Within the series, it is said that Wong's character
George Huang is on special assignment with the FBI back in Washington. Neal Baer stated that the character also gave him an opportunity to introduce a conflict between Benson and Stabler and said "Stabler hasn't always felt warmly toward psychiatry, but he does warm up to this character—who has been both a cop and a shrink." Masterson reprises the role in the seventh-season episode, "Ripped", where she helps Detective Stabler come to terms with unresolved issues in what Baer called "an emotionally devastating scene". She makes a final appearance in the eighth season, episode "Philadelphia".
FBI Agent Shannah Sykes • Portrayed by
Jordana Spiro • Episodes: "Zone Rouge" – "Marauder" FBI Agent Shannah Sykes is an FBI agent who is temporarily assigned to SVU on loan. Benson described her as an "East Coast expert on child abduction."
Elizabeth Donnelly was portrayed by
Judith Light from 2002 to 2010. • Portrayed by
Judith Light • Episodes: "
Guilt" – "
Cold", "
Persona", "
Zebras", "
Behave" Elizabeth Donnelly is SVU's Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney from seasons 3 to 6. In the District Attorney's office, she serves as the supervisor for ADA Cabot and her successor Casey Novak. Donnelly is elevated to judge in season 7. In the season 10 episode "
Persona", Donnelly takes a leave of absence from her role as a judge and resumes her previous role as an Executive ADA to prosecute a cold case she was involved with in 1974, when a battered woman (
Brenda Blethyn) murdered her husband. She admits to Benson that she was somewhat responsible for the woman absconding from custody and therefore took on the case due to "unfinished business." Her role in the escape leads to mishaps in the justice system being termed "doing a Donnelly" for many years to follow. This episode calls attention to the difficulty Donnelly experiences as a woman working in the justice system. But the revelation that the fugitive had been pregnant at the time of her crime leads Donnelly to what, for her, is an act of leniency. She leaves the office, yet again, and returns to the role of a judge.
Michael Cutter • Portrayed by
Linus Roache • Episodes: "
Scorched Earth", "
True Believers", "
Lost Traveller", "
Father's Shadow" Executive ADA Michael Cutter from seasons 18-20 of
Law & Order is promoted to Bureau Chief ADA of the Special Victims unit, where he is supervising ADAs Alexandra Cabot and Casey Novak. Both Cabot and Novak were previously supervised by Bureau Chief ADA Elizabeth Donnelly, before she was elevated to judgeship in season 7. The season 13 premiere, "
Scorched Earth", was Cutter's first appearance on
SVU, in which he helps Cabot with her prosecution of an Italian diplomat accused of raping a hotel maid. In "True Believers", Cutter takes the lead in a case where a college music student (
Sofia Vassilieva) is raped at gunpoint by a drug dealer. Defense attorney Bayard Ellis (
Andre Braugher) accuses the NYPD of
racially profiling the defendant, who is African-American, and reveals that Tutuola and Rollins frisked three identical suspects - all of which result in Cutter losing the case. In the episode "Lost Traveller", ADA Cabot is forced to call on Cutter after defense attorney Marvin Exley (
Ron Rifkin) tells her to "call her boss" to work out a deal for his client. In "Father's Shadow", Cutter is the lead prosecutor when a reality show producer named Fred Sandow (
Michael McKean) is accused of raping young first-time actresses. Cutter's office does not drop the charges, even when the producer's son takes his father's girlfriend and her daughter hostage and demands that his father be set free.
Sonya Paxton was portrayed by
Christine Lahti from 2009 to 2011. • Portrayed by
Christine Lahti • Episodes: "
Unstable" – "
Hammered", "
Turmoil", "
Gray", "
Pursuit" Sonya Paxton is
SVUs
Executive ADA who temporarily replaces Alexandra Cabot for four episodes in season 11, starting with the season premiere,
"Unstable". Paxton works in the
Manhattan District Attorney's office under the authority of
Jack McCoy (
Sam Waterston;
Law & Order), as an Executive
Assistant District Attorney. A member of the DA's office for over 25 years, she has a
black-and-white view of the law, and makes sure all procedures are handled "
by the book." Working in the
appeals bureau, she was the first to get a
capital conviction in New York when the then m-newly elected Governor
George Pataki brought back the death penalty in 1995. McCoy sends Paxton to SVU to "clean house" in the "he-said, she-said unit" due to too many convictions being overturned. However, things start out rocky as she butts heads with the
SVU team, particularly
Detective Stabler. In the second episode
"Sugar", she and Stabler get into a heated argument after Paxton calls the suspect's lawyer after he declines his right to counsel twice. In the fourth episode
"Hammered", Paxton is prosecuting a case where a man drank heavily and murders the woman he met at the bar. The defense blames
alcoholism for the murder during the trial. Intending to use a computer-generated video mockup of the crime, Paxton accidentally plays a version in which the defendant's face is superimposed onto the attacker. Paxton is embarrassed and meets Benson and Stabler at a bar where she is seen drinking. The following morning, she arrives 45 minutes late to the mistrial hearing, appearing distraught and blaming a "
fender bender".
Judge Barry Moredock (
John Cullum) asks if she needed medical help, but the defendant points out that she is drunk. Moredock orders Benson to come with a
breathalyzer, which reveals her blood alcohol level is .082, resulting in a
mistrial. Moredock orders Paxton to seek treatment. At the end of the episode, she returns to the SVU precinct and apologizes to the team, stating that she intends on making amends to each and every one of them. She later appears in the season 11 episode
"Turmoil", meeting ADA Cabot outside the courtroom after Cabot discovers she is being investigated by the state bar. Paxton tells her to watch out for Benson and Stabler, because they are only loyal to each other. In season 12, Paxton makes a surprise return to SVU and serves as the Executive ADA in the ninth episode (
"Gray") to prove to the DA that she hasn't lost her 'winning ways'. Paxton and Stabler go at it again, with Stabler telling her to "go have a drink." In the seventeenth episode (
"Pursuit"), she returns again to help an old friend, Alicia Harding (
Debra Messing), who is being stalked. Paxton tells the SVU squad that she has been working to find Harding's missing sister for decades, as it was her case. She also tells them that she started drinking in part because she felt responsible for the killer having never been caught. She releases confidential case information to Harding, which puts Harding in danger. Benson and Tutuola go looking for Paxton at an
Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to reprimand her for giving out the information. Benson makes a shocking discovery when entering the women's restroom – Paxton is bleeding to death on the floor. As Benson tries to help her, Paxton says "It's okay, I got him," and she dies in Benson's arms. M.E.
Melinda Warner (
Tamara Tunie) discovers a hair in Paxton's throat, which she got by biting her attacker—which ultimately helps solve the case. Christine Lahti was originally slated to guest-star in a single four episode-arc as Paxton while producers found a permanent replacement for outgoing ADA Cabot. Lahti could not commit to a permanent role, since she resides in
Chicago, while filming of
SVU takes place in
New York City.
SVU executive producer
Neal Baer revealed that, "She's [Paxton] from Appeals and she's tired of having rape cases overturned because of misidentifications. She's coming to clean things up." She returns again in the eighth episode of that season to "clash" with Cabot. Lahti again returned to
SVU for two episodes, in the series'
twelfth season. In response to Lahti's return, Baer stated, "We're bringing back characters we love this season." Lahti's character was written out of the series by way of death; such is a rarity for those who work with the SVU team on the show, with only a few other characters encountering a similar fate, including CSU technician
Ryan O'Halloran (
Mike Doyle) in the
tenth season, and Sergeant
Mike Dodds (
Andy Karl) in the
seventeenth season.
TV Guide described the character as an "overbearing", "nasty" alcoholic. Myra Fleischer of the
Washington Times labelled Lahti's character as a "bitchy alcoholic".
WPIX described Paxton as an "ADA with a dark side" who has "serious control issues and several skeletons in her closet". On the day of the airing of the episode "Hammered", Lahti stated that Paxton is the person that "everyone's loving to hate", and that hopefully the viewer's perception of her would change after the episode, sympathizing with the character's drinking problem.
Previously.TV, while noting the misleading representations of lawyers on television, commented on the realism of Paxton's alcoholism storyline, contending that it "could happen, as alcoholism among lawyers is an issue." In an interview with
HollywoodOutbreak.com, Lahti said she believed that her character struck a huge chord in the show, "...when those episodes were airing, everywhere I went, people came up to me and said how much they hate me", others approached Lahti and praised her, saying, "We love that you’re so mean to Stabler (
Christopher Meloni). We’ve been waiting for someone to stand up to him."
David Haden from 2011 to 2012. • Portrayed by
Harry Connick Jr. • Episodes: "
Official Story", "
Father's Shadow", "
Hunting Ground", "
Justice Denied" Executive Assistant District Attorney David Haden joins the show in the season 13, "Official Story", with a four-episode arc. Referred to as the executive assistant to the District Attorney, or the DA's "number two", Haden is a dedicated prosecutor who is assigned a case with Benson and the SVU squad when the CEO of a private military contractor is confronted by
Occupy Wall Street protesters and later found drugged and sexually assaulted in a park. A much larger crime and conspiracy in Iraq is unveiled, with a rape occurring overseas and the rape kit being kept hidden. Haden and the SVU detectives are threatened by the CEO (
John Doman), but Haden dismisses the threat, telling Benson, "This is what I live for." Although Benson is at first wary of Haden, they are both surprised to find they work well together. As the case develops, so does their relationship, as they share dinner and a kiss at the end of the episode. In the following episode, "Father's Shadow", Haden offers to take Benson to dinner, but she respectfully declines, saying she is still on duty and joking there would be a possible conflict of interest. Later, Haden shows up at the scene of a hostage situation, in which Benson is trying to talk a teenage boy down from killing his younger sister. After Benson finally convinces the boy to give her the gun, Haden comforts her and offers to take her home. In "Hunting Ground", Haden and Benson's relationship becomes romantic as they work together to catch a
serial killer; they are shown on a date and later sleeping together. In "Justice Denied", Haden becomes involved in an SVU case in which it appears that Benson had coerced a confession out of a man eight years earlier and the real rapist is attacking women again. After defense attorney Bayard Ellis questions their relationship and threatens to expose them, Haden and Benson have to decide how they are going to handle the case without having their judgement clouded. At the end of the episode, after the real rapist has been caught and the wrongfully imprisoned man released, Cragen informs Benson that the District Attorney has decided to form a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate past cases and ensure no one is wrongfully imprisoned. Cragen says that the DA's office will be starting with sex crimes, and that Haden has been appointed as the Bureau Chief of the unit. Benson and Haden meet for drinks and decide that they have to end their relationship and pretend like it never happened. In the 13th-season finale episode, "
Rhodium Nights", Defense Attorney Marvin Exley (
Ron Rifkin) tells Benson that Haden may not be the person he claims to be, hinting that Haden is corrupt. It is revealed in the season 14 premiere that Haden's name came up on the wire tap in the investigation of an escort service. At the end of the episode, after several members of the DA's office are arrested for bribery and corruption, including Bureau Chief Paula Foster (
Paget Brewster), Amaro tells Benson that Haden resigned from the office.
Jo Marlowe in 2010. • Portrayed by
Sharon Stone • Episodes: "
Torch" – "
Shattered" ADA Jo Marlowe is drafted by DA
Jack McCoy in season 11 after ADA Alexandra Cabot takes a leave of absence to help rape victims in the Congo. She is a former police lieutenant and Detective Stabler's partner approximately four years before he paired with Detective Benson. She first appears in the 21st episode of the season, "Torch", in which McCoy directs her to handle a case in which two young girls were killed in a fire. Stabler and Benson show up at the crime scene and Stabler is shocked to see his old partner and more surprised to know she now works for the DA's office. Benson believes Marlowe only took the job as SVU's ADA so that she could work with Stabler again. In the following episode, "Ace", Marlowe and Captain Cragen clash over the way to handle a case in which a baby-trafficking ring is discovered and a young woman and her baby are in danger. Marlowe orders Benson and Stabler to catch the ring's leader in the act, while Cragen wants ESU to take the perp at his warehouse. Cragen remarks to Marlowe, "You're the boss in court counselor, not here." Marlowe leaves the precinct only to have Cragen follow her outside, where he reminds her of "why she really retired" back in 1995: when she was a lieutenant she had sent two undercover detectives who later died in an attempt to arrest a drive-by murderer. Marlowe responds it was a "Command decision." Cragen's detectives do arrest the ringleader, while Cragen saves the young woman in the warehouse. Marlowe is able to convict the leader by using his delivery doctor's testimony, which he delivered in the judge's chambers for protection. In the season 11 finale, "Shattered", Marlowe is taken hostage, along with Detective Benson and Dr. Warner, in the morgue by Sophie Gerard (
Isabelle Huppert), the distraught mother of a dead boy. Gerard shoots Dr. Warner and Benson and Marlowe must take action to save her life. In talking the mother down, Marlowe says she knows what it is like to be in pain as she reveals that she was diagnosed with an "aggressive" type of cancer and had a
bilateral radical mastectomy a year before taking the job at SVU. Marlowe makes Gerard drop the gun by picking up the dead boy and saying that he needs his mother and handing him to her. ADA Gillian Hardwicke replaces Marlowe as SVU's permanent ADA at the beginning of season 12.
Entertainment Weekly reviewed Stone's performance as a "great presence", and having "had to revive her best ... tone to sell hokey lines" in a series it described as "mawkish and overwrought."
Sherri West • Portrayed by
Francie Swift • Episodes: "
Bullseye", "
Behave", "
Delinquent", "
Smoked", and "
Double Strands" Sherri West is brought in as a temporary ADA to start season 12. West first appears in the second episode, where she is the prosecutor on a case where a pedophile is kidnapping and raping young girls. When the suspect is brutally beaten in the SVU holding cell by an officer, West assures the judge that violence against the defendant will not occur again. West next appeared in the third episode, "Behave", in which Benson works with to get justice for a rape victim named Vicki Sayers (
Jennifer Love Hewitt), and to ensure that Bill Harris (
James Le Gros), her rapist, is put away. West returns in the 23rd episode, "Delinquent". When SVU detectives find a teenage boy named Hunter Mazelon (
Sterling Beaumon) naked and asleep in a young woman's bed, West tells them that she can't charge him with a sex crime but he can be charged with burglary and criminal trespassing, among other charges. When Hunter says during his arraignment that Stabler molested him after handcuffing him, West's case is in jeopardized, since there was also no actual victim. West manages to get Mazelon to allocute, which he did falsely, but Stabler wished for West to call for a recess. Tutuola and Stabler comment about how they have been “burning through ADAs” and maybe West cut the deal to cover Stabler so that they would like her. In the season 12 finale "Smoked", a rape victim is murdered days before her trial is set to start. West is called again and pushes Benson and Stabler to find the victim's murderer. Benson and Stabler, with West's help, discover the murder was orchestrated by the rapist, a friend, and a greedy
ATF agent. West never gets the chance to convict anyone, however, the victim's daughter kills all three defendants in the SVU squad room, before Stabler is forced to shoot her dead. In the fourth episode of season 13, "Double Strands", West appears back in the SVU precinct, but now as a defense attorney; it is revealed that the firm that hired her "offered her a better deal."
Gillian Hardwicke • Portrayed by
Melissa Sagemiller • Episodes: "
Branded" – "
Bombshell" Gillian "Gill" Hardwicke is SVU's primary ADA in season 12. She is a Brooklyn
ADA who transfers to
Manhattan SVU due to her great admiration for detectives Benson and Stabler. She replaces Mikka Von (
Paula Patton), who had been fired after only one case with the SVU team. Hardwicke has a 92% conviction rate as she stated in her premiere episode,
"Branded". She often gets into conflict over cases with Benson and Stabler; with Benson over a case where a woman was raped as a teenager and she began seeking revenge on her attackers, branding them with hot clothes hangers. She and Benson also clash when Vivian Arliss (
Maria Bello)—who gave custody of her son Calvin (
Charlie Tahan) to Benson—is a suspect in a string of burglaries. Hardwicke and Stabler get into conflict over a case where presumably, a boy named Nicky Roberts (
Al Calderon), shot and killed his abusive stepfather; she is eventually forced to drop the case because both Nicky and his mother Sandra (
Drea de Matteo) admit to killing him, creating
reasonable doubt for both of them. In "Penetration", Hardwicke convicts a man who raped
FBI Agent Dana Lewis (
Marcia Gay Harden) while she was undercover, on orders from Brian Ackerman (
J. C. MacKenzie), the leader of a
white supremacist group who is angry at Lewis for killing his son Kyle in the season 7 episode "Raw". In her final episode, "Bombshell", Hardwicke attempts to convict twins Cassandra (
Rose McGowan) and Doug (
Ryan Hurst)—who are also in a sexual relationship—for their involvement in a man's brutal stabbing along with fraud crimes in New York and Miami. They are released on bail due to lack of evidence, which leads to Doug's murder by Cassandra's former lover Jerry Bullard (
Tom Irwin). Hardwicke is mentioned in the episode "Reparations" as Tutuola says she is at a convention in Miami, before ADA Casey Novak returns as their temporary prosecutor. West then assumes the temporary ADA role for the final two episodes in season 12. Melissa Sagemiller had previously been on
SVU in season 1 episode "
Russian Love Poem", portraying a rape victim. Sagemiller said about her character's personality: "She's tough... she has a heart, she just gets what she wants." Sagemiller also added, "She sticks to the letter of the law, sometimes to a fault, but in the end I think she always does the right thing." From season 7 through 12, the SVU ADAs work without a Bureau Chief supervising their work, and are watched more closely by the District Attorney. In season 13, Executive ADA Michael Cutter (
Linus Roache) is transferred from homicide to take over Donnelly's former role as supervisor.
Sister Peg • Portrayed by
Charlayne Woodard • Episodes: "
Silence", "
Chameleon", "
Loss", "
Criminal", "
Identity", "
Pure", "
Underbelly", "
Smoked" Sister Peg is a Catholic
nun who lived and worked in New York City. Most of her work involved helping and protecting prostitutes, and so she came into contact with SVU detectives Stabler and Benson. In the season 6 episode "Pure", she was kidnapped by the murderer that the SVU detectives were trying to capture after they came in contact in the SVU squad-room. She was beaten up by a pimp in the season 8 episode "Underbelly", after trying to help one of his girls. She was killed in the season 12 finale "Smoked" by the young girl who fired a gun in the SVU squad-room with the intention of killing the men in holding who murdered her mother.
Bayard Ellis in episodes "
True Believers", "
Spiraling Down", "
Child's Welfare", "
Justice Denied", "
Monster's Legacy" & "
Perverted Justice". • Portrayed by
Andre Braugher • Episodes: "
True Believers", "
Spiraling Down", "
Child's Welfare", "
Justice Denied", "
Monster's Legacy", "
Perverted Justice" Defense Attorney Bayard Ellis is introduced in season 13's "True Believers". He is said to be a high-powered defense attorney who has turned his attention to the underprivileged and minorities, which in turn makes him a civil rights champion. In "True Believers", he defends a black man who is on trial for attacking a girl in her apartment, and cites poor police procedure and the victim's creditably to get a not guilty verdict. At the close of this episode, he has a discussion with Detective Benson on the steps of the courthouse. After Benson blasts him for shaming the young girl on the stand, he tells her that she needs an escape and gives her his card, telling her to come by one of his daughter's softball games. In the episode "Spiraling Down", Benson gives Ellis' card to the defendant's wife, whose husband is a former football star who suffers from diminished capacity. He defends the former football star and receives a not guilty verdict. Benson also calls on Ellis when her half-brother is in need of legal help after his kids have been removed by the city. Benson and Ellis have become close, which creates conflict in the episode "Justice Denied", as Ellis defends a man who Benson coerced a confession out of eight years earlier. Executive ADA David Haden, the prosecutor who is re-investigating the case and Benson's love interest, is confronted by Ellis about their relationship and threatens to expose them if they didn't do the right thing. Benson asks Ellis to give her some time to find the real rapist, which she does, or she will tell the District Attorney about her relationship with EADA Haden. Ellis returns in the season 14 episode, "
Monster's Legacy", when Detective Benson asks him to look into the case of Reggie Rhodes (
Mike Tyson), who is scheduled to be executed after being convicted of murder in Ohio. Benson is able to get Rhodes to admit that he was abused when he was a child by the head of a camp in New York, which allows Ellis to argue that Rhodes' original defense attorney never presented that during the trial. Ellis uncovers a massive cover up by the lead prosecutor in the original case, who withheld photographic evidence of Rhodes being sexually assaulted by the man he murdered. Ellis subsequently convinces the judge to spare Rhodes from execution. Ellis is next seen in the season 16 episode, "
Perverted Justice", when he comes to Benson and SVU asking them to reinvestigate a case he is working for Project Innocence. With the help of the now-retired Captain Cragen, Ellis is able to vacate the original charge against his client for raping his daughter decades earlier.
William Lewis • Portrayed by
Pablo Schreiber • Episodes: "
Her Negotiation" – "
American Tragedy", "
Psycho/Therapist", "
Beast's Obsession", "
Post-Mortem Blues" in eight episodes of season 14. William Lewis is a serial rapist and murderer who had gotten away with numerous counts of rape and murder because of mistakes in the system made by different police jurisdictions. In the season 14 finale, Benson and ADA Barba pursue justice for Lewis' victims and attempt to get him locked up for good; but again, Lewis walks on a technicality. He later breaks into Detective Benson's apartment and tortures her before later abducting her and bringing her to at an isolated location, killing a traffic cop and his own defense attorney's parents on the way. Benson breaks free of her restraints and beats him within an inch of his life. Lewis is shipped off to a hospital and is later charged and brought to trial (
SVU: "Psycho/Therapist") for his assault and abduction of Benson. Lewis represents himself and maneuvers to force Benson to take the stand and tell everyone what he did to her and what she did to him; crippling him in one leg, damaging numerous internal organs, and even deafening him in one ear. Benson lies and denies that she had him restrained, that he had broken free and she had to harm him to subdue him; this drives Lewis into a rage during his cross testimony with her. Lewis is found not guilty on the rape charge but guilty on the kidnapping charge, as well as assault of a police officer. He goes away to prison but before the trial ends, he bribes a juror to use drugged baked goods for them to make him sick and have a way to make a jailbreak. Lewis then pursues Benson again, killing and raping people in his path and abducting a little girl, Amelia Cole (
Lily Pilblad) to make Benson come to him at an abandoned quarry where he abducts her again. He is about to attempt to rape Benson again, but when Benson refuses to show him fear, he decides to force her to play a game of
Russian roulette with him. It winds up where Olivia has to take the last bullet, thinking he is about to kill her; he stands beside her and quickly shoots himself in the head with his left hand, making it seem as if she shot him; this is his final revenge. The charges against Benson are later dropped, however. The last thing Lewis tells Benson is that his death will be the last thing she will see before she dies. At the Kings County morgue, Benson asks if she can take one last look at Lewis' dead body in order to achieve closure. In subsequent seasons, Lewis' name becomes a kind of code for an intensely dangerous situation and Benson reveals that her trauma and ordeal with him will always be a part of her. During a heated exchange with Amaro, he pointedly asks her whether she can ever forgive Lewis; she does not answer and he apologizes.
Barry Moredock • Portrayed by
John Cullum • Episodes: "
Appearances" – "
Possessed" Barry Moredock, a judge, originally appeared as a defense attorney in the episode "
Appearances", on a case in which a
child pornography maker is put on trial for giving instructions on how to kill via a story on his company's website. He works on another case with Cabot in the episode "
Manic", where a child kills two high school students and is given medication from his mother due to an illegal marketing campaign by the major pharmaceutical company Tauscher-Leto. In the seventh season, he works as a defense attorney on a case with
Casey Novak as ADA in the episode "
Raw", where he defends a
Neo-Nazi group. In the season 9 episode "
Blinded", Moredock and Novak work on a case together in which a violent,
schizophrenic artist kidnaps and rapes two girls. Starting in the episode "
Babes" to present, Moredock is a judge. His first case (seen) is the case of a homeless boy burned to death by a high school student. In the episode "
Smut", he is blackmailed when SVU is notified about a video he was sent by an acquaintance showing a dolphin humping a woman on his personal file server, which could be classified as pornography. Moredock recuses himself from the case, in which a rapist claims he was driven by pornography to sexually assault women. He reunites with Cabot in the episode "
Lead" as the judge presiding over the case of a developmentally disabled man who killed the pediatrician who molested him as a child. As the trial goes on, it is discovered that the defendant suffers from
lead poisoning caused by Chinese-made products. In the 2009 episode "
Hammered" Moredock presides over the case of a heavy drinker accused of killing a woman during an alcoholic blackout. When ADA
Sonya Paxton shows up to court drunk, he orders her to get alcoholism treatment. In "
Possessed", Moredock drops a
statutory rape case because the statute of limitations had run out, even as he states that he finds the defendant, an elderly
pedophile, repulsive.
Kathy Stabler • Portrayed by
Isabel Gillies • Episodes: "
Payback" – "
Delinquent" – "
Return of the Prodigal Son" Kathy Stabler was Detective Elliot Stabler's wife: they got married when they were both 17. The two are separated for some time in seasons 6 through 8, but Kathy shows up in the squad room in the season 8 finale "Screwed" and tells him that she needs him to come home because she is pregnant. In the season 9 episode "Paternity", Kathy and Detective Benson are involved in a car accident while Benson was helping Elliot by bringing Kathy to the doctor for a check-up. Kathy is pinned and unconscious when Benson wakes up and calls for help. Benson is tasked with helping EMS stabilize her as they cannot get into the car. Kathy is extracted from the car by firefighters and placed in the ambulance, where she goes into labor and delivers a baby boy before she becomes unconscious again. Elliot, who had been upstate retrieving a perp, arrives at the hospital and embraces Kathy and his new son, Elliot Jr. Kathy and Elliot have five children together: Maureen, Kathleen Louise, twins Richard ("Dickie") and Elizabeth ("Lizzie"), and Elliot Jr. ("Eli"). Kathy returned to
L&O:SVU after a 10-year hiatus along with her husband, Elliot. In "Return of the Prodigal Son," she is approaching a rental car she intends to drive when a bomb goes off and she is caught in the blast radius. She is taken to a hospital and, while there, goes into cardiac arrest, eventually dying from a ruptured spleen incurred from the bombing.
Ken Randall • Portrayed by
Ernest Waddell • Episodes: "
Haunted", "
Strain", "
Venom", "
Outsider", "
Screwed", "
Conned", "
Learning Curve", "
Intersecting Lives", "
Send In The Clowns", "
Down Low in Hell's Kitchen", "Wolves In Sheep's Clothing" Kwasi Tutuola, or, as he prefers, Ken Randall, is Detective Tutuola's son and is first mentioned in "Counterfeit", where Fin stated he loved old cop weapons. Fin stated that Ken is 18. He is introduced in the season 6 episode, "Haunted", in which Tutuola is shot after trying to prevent a robbery. Ken reveals to his father that he is openly gay in the season 7 episode, "Strain". In the season 7 episode, "Venom", Ken is arrested after he was found digging in a vacant lot while he was intoxicated. It is discovered that Ken was searching for the woman and baby that his half-brother, Darius, said he had killed. This puts heat on Tutuola within the squad, as he fights to exonerate his son and prove that Darius is a murderer. When Darius cons SVU into getting his confession without his lawyer present, the case continues in the season 8 finale, "Screwed". Ken returns to try to help his father and the rest of the detectives find evidence to convict Darius. While being questioned on the stand, Ken's mother is forced to reveal that Darius was a product of rape by her own father. This news left Ken stunned that Darius is also his uncle. Afterwards, he and his father mutually cut ties with Darius for his actions. During the season 13 episode, "Learning Curve", Ken asks for Sergeant Munch's help in revealing to his father that he is getting married. But before Ken is able to tell his father, his fiancé is brutally attacked. While at the hospital, Munch tells Tutuola that the man is Ken's fiancé, which makes Tutuola determined to find the attackers. Eventually, Alejandro recovers from his injuries and he and Ken marry. As of "Intersecting Lives", Ken and Alejandro are expecting a child, having found a surrogate; to Ken's surprise and relief, Fin is excited about becoming a grandfather. During "Send in the Clowns ", Ken and Alejandro visit Fin at his job for his birthday. They are shown to have been successful in adopting a baby boy named Jaden, who Fin dotes on to his coworkers. In "Down Low in Hell's Kitchen", Ken assists SVU in tracking down a serial rapist attacking gay men outside a bar.
Simon Marsden • Portrayed by
Michael Weston. • Episodes: "
Philadelphia", "
Florida", "
Screwed", "
Child's Welfare", "
Murdered at a Bad Address" Simon Marsden is Detective Benson's half-brother whom she discovers through a DNA kinship analysis. He caused extensive trouble throughout season 8 for Olivia and the entire squad after Olivia seeks him out at his New Jersey home. She discovers he is being investigated by police for stalking, but in the season 8 episode "Florida", it is revealed he is being set up by the police captain after Simon holds her hostage. Because of Benson's involvement with a "fugitive", she is suspended for some time, which is made known in the season 9 premiere "Alternate". Simon makes his return in season 13, when he pleads with Detective Benson to help him after his children are removed by the city (Benson is visibly shaken when Simon says that their father was a better parent to him, than he was to his own kids). Benson enlists attorney Bayard Ellis to act as Simon's lawyer, but she is shocked when Captain Cragen alerts her that Simon has kidnapped the children from foster care. Simon reappears once again in Season 21, where he attempts to patch things up with Benson and meet her adoptive son Noah. She invites him to lunch with Noah, but is enraged when he does not show up and leaves him an enraged voice mail. Benson later learns he had died of a drug overdose.
Maria Grazie Amaro in ten episodes since season 13. • Portrayed by
Laura Benanti • Episodes: "
Spiraling Down" – "
Above Suspicion", "
Military Justice", "
Thought Criminal" Detective Amaro's wife, Maria, is introduced in the season 13 episode "Spiraling Down". She is serving in the armed forces and stationed in Iraq. In "Spiraling Down", Amaro video chats with her about the father of a victim in one of his cases, who served overseas with her. They have somewhat of a tense conversation, as she does not like the tone he is using with her, after he asked why he has never heard of this man. After returning to New York City in the episode "Official Story", she heads back overseas on a new assignment. In the episode "Valentine's Day", she is once again back in New York and shows up in the squad room after Amaro was late for their Valentine's Day dinner. At the end of this episode, Amaro watches his wife enter an unknown brownstone, and he has the increased suspicion that she is having an affair. In the following episode, "Street Revenge", Amaro sees her meet for lunch with the same military friend who appeared in "Spiraling Down". Amaro drives to Philadelphia, where her friend lives, punches him, and tells him to stay away from his wife. Maria discovers this and comes into the squad room in a rage, knocking folders off his desk. They begin to argue in front of the squad, until Cragen tells Amaro, "not here", and they go into the bunk room. Amaro reveals his suspicion and she says that she is not having an affair and that the brownstone he saw her enter was her psychiatrist, before she storms out of the room. In the season 14 premiere, after Amaro delays talking to her about their issues, he finally begins to apologize when she tells him that she has taken a job in Washington D.C. and she is taking their daughter with her.
Other minor characters in episodes "
Snitch", "
Merchandise" & "
Dirty". in episodes "
Lost Reputation", "
Above Suspicion" & "
Twenty-Five Acts". •
Abbie Carmichael, portrayed by
Angie Harmon (episodes: "
Payback" – "
Entitled" In season 1, ADA Abbie Carmichael, from
Law & Order, prosecuted SVU cases for six episodes. •
Detective Kenneth "Ken" Briscoe, portrayed by Chris Orbach (season 1) is the nephew of
27th Homicide Precinct detective,
Lennie Briscoe (
Jerry Orbach, Chris is his son). is a detective assigned to Manhattan's Special Victims Unit under the command of Captain Donald Cragen. His partner is Detective Monique Jeffries, and works closely with Detectives Benson, Stabler, Munch, and Cassidy. He was in the episode "Entitled" with his uncle, Lennie. It's been unknown what happened to Ken Briscoe as his last on-screen episode was "
Contact". The character was set to return after more than twelve years in the season 14 episode "
Manhattan Vigil" in flashback scenes. However, during final editing of the episode, Dick Wolf reported the character's scenes had been removed. •
Stan Villani, portrayed by
Ron Leibman (episodes: "
Repression" – "Ridicule" is an Executive Assistant District Attorney. He is briefly assigned to oversee SVU cases and to sit co-chair with A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot by District Attorney
Nora Lewin. •
Bureau Chief Muldrew, portrayed by
John Schuck (episodes: "Outcry", "Haunted", "Storm", "Screwed", "Signature", "Inconceivable", "Anchor", "Shadow") is the
NYPD Chief of Detectives who served as
Captain Cragen's commanding officer. •
Christine Danielson, portrayed by
Gloria Reuben (episodes: "
Snitch", "
Merchandise" & "
Dirty") is the Homicide Bureau Chief ADA (a role Cabot had a year prior, in
Conviction) prosecuting a case in which a Nigerian
polygamist's wife is killed, and the husband fears that his testifying in a crime may have led to his wife's demise. Danielson returns in the twelfth season, this time as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. To assist in the first conviction of a child trafficking case in the New York area, she
deputizes Benson and Stabler as
U.S. marshals. Danielson returns again in the season, to help Benson investigate the murder of a corrupt Brooklyn ADA. •
Captain Steven Harris, portrayed by
Adam Baldwin (episodes: "
Lost Reputation", "
Above Suspicion", "
Twenty-Five Acts") is the Special Victims Unit interim captain who is installed by the Public Integrity Bureau Chief ADA Paula Foster for the first three episodes of the 14th season while Cragen is suspended. A by-the-book commanding officer, Harris warns the SVU detectives not to investigate Cragen's murder case, which they ignore, and criticizes the way
Detective Tutuola dresses, citing the business attire dress code. When
Detective Cassidy is shot while undercover in a hit arranged by his own boss, Harris backs Olivia during the Internal Affairs investigation. In "Twenty-Five Acts", Harris gives a nod to Amaro's request to work a case solo, pairing Benson with Rollins. He departs at the end of the episode, as Captain Cragen returns from suspension. •
NYPD Lab Tech Colin Bennett, portrayed by Max Baker (episodes: "
Justice Denied," "
Brief Interlude," "
Criminal Pathology," "
Know It All") is an NYPD Crime Lab technician known as Fin's "rope guy," Bennett specifically specializes in types of rope found at crime scenes. He is first introduced in "Justice Denied" where a rapist strikes during Fleet Week and uses an M.O. specific to a perpetrator that Benson had arrested in 2004. Bennett helped analyze the knots that were tied in the differing crime scenes. In the season eighteen episode "Know It All", Bennett and ADA Barba are blackmailed by a rapist to make his case and the evidence disappear. Bennett makes an attempt to lead the SVU detectives astray with his "findings" during the investigation until Detectives Tutuola and Rollins discover the truth, as Bennett attempts suicide due to the guilt of tampering with the case. •
Kim Rollins, portrayed by
Lindsay Pulsipher (episodes: "
Friending Emily", "
Deadly Ambition", "
Maternal Instincts", "
Heightened Emotions", "Eternal Relief From Pain") is Detective Amanda Rollins' sister, who comes to New York in the season 14 episode, "Friending Emily". She frequently interrupts Amanda while she is working an abduction case, and at the end of the episode, Amanda draws her gun on Kim's ex-boyfriend, who is in her apartment with Kim, telling him to get out. Later in the episode "Deadly Ambition", Kim returns to New York, beaten and pregnant with her ex-boyfriend's baby. When Amanda hears screams from inside her apartment, she finds Kim's ex-boyfriend attacking Kim, and Amanda shoots the man as he pulls a gun on her. After her initial interview with IAB Lt. Tucker, Kim changes her story to further implicate Amanda, including revealing a life insurance policy on the ex-boyfriend with Amanda's name on it. Kim says she did it to make it look like an accident, but it leads to Amanda's arrest. When Detective Amaro records Kim admitting to him that she set Amanda up, IAB drops the charges against Amanda and pursues Kim for the murder, only to find she has skipped town. Kim returns in season 17, as a suspect in an assault and robbery of a musician. Her criminal involvement coincides with their mother being in New York to throw Amanda a baby shower. Their mother sides with Kim, as they blame Amanda for her getting arrested and charged. •
Detective Frank Bucci, portrayed by
Nicholas Turturro (episodes: "
Part 33", "
Can't Be Held Accountable", "
Must Be Held Accountable"), is a detective who has crossed paths with the SVU in many of their investigations. He is also the father of two girls, Ivy and Milly. He first appears in "Part 33" testifying during the trial of Annabeth Pearl. He reappears in "Can't Be Held Accountable" asking the Special Victims Unit for help when Steve Getz grooms his daughters. Bucci is shocked and horrified when his daughters defend Getz, and he is later assaulted by two men hired by Getz to deliver Bucci a warning. When Getz is let go by Judge Joe Ellery, Detective Bucci snaps and barges into Amanda Rollins's therapy session, taking both her and her therapist Dr. Alexis Hanover hostage, demanding Getz be charged. ==Crossover characters within the
Law & Order universe==