all the stars | sonny carisi svu

chapter sixty-three

"hey dom? are you okay?" 

"what? yeah, i'm fine babe. no worries here." 

"we're taking the stand today, in a matter of minutes, in your niece's trial. you have every right to be nervous and upset." 

he remained quiet. 

"el, there's something," 

"detective russo?" the court officer came into the room, interrupting sonny. 

"right here." 

"208." 

"thank you." i smile at her, before i turn back to my husband. 

"what is it honey?" 

he shook his head. "nothing, don't worry about it. good luck." 

he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, whispering an 'i love you' before i walked out the door.

taking the stand, i raised my hand and swore the oath before being questioned. 

"detective russo, you have a personal relationship with the victim, correct?" barba immediately asked.

"yes. she's my niece by marriage."

"and you were present on the night of the second rape." 

"yes." 

"did she call you?" 

"she called detective carisi, while we were in the squad room getting ready to go home when she called."

"and what did you do next?" 

 "hearing her state, detective carisi and i decided to rush to hudson university. when we arrived to campus. her roommate had told us that she had been raped again."

"did the roommate name the assailant to you?" 

"no. mia made the disclosure that she was raped and who raped her to detective carisi." 

"so you saw mia that night?" 

"yes." 

"can you describe the state you found her in?" 

"she was crying. she was sitting in her bed, wrapped tightly in a blanket, sitting in fetal position."

"in your experience detective, is this reaction consistent with sexual assault?" 

"yes, it can be." 

"what happened next?" 

"she requested to speak to her uncle, detective carisi, privately so I left the room to see if anyone else could tell us what had happened before we took her to the hospital where she had a rape kit done." 

"did you talk to her after the assault?"

"yes. she told me that she had been raped."

"thank you detective." barba sat down as the defense attorney stood up. 

"detective russo, what did you mean when you said that the victim's reaction can be consistent with sexual assault?" 

"i mean everyone's reactions can be different. i've seen it in many survivors." 

"like yourself?" 

"excuse-" 

"objection!" barba stood up. "he's using his line of questioning to get into the detective's own personal life, not to mention a part of her life where she was traumatized. she's also a dedicated detective in the special victims unit for nearly five years now which would make her a professional in her field." 

"your honor, it's public knowledge that the detective was sexually assaulted at a young age and, again, a couple of years ago."

"sustained. jury, please disregard that last question. counselor, do not ask about the detective's personal experience unless it is work related." 

"so when you saw your niece in that state, you just assumed that she had been possibly sexually assaulted?" 

"her reaction was consistent with it." 

"so, she couldn't have just gotten a bad grade on a test or got into an argument with a friend. could that also be reaction to a college teenager that's upset?"

"objection, speculation."

"withdrawn. now, i wanna go back to the first alleged rape." the defense attorney says. "how and when did you hear about that?" 

"i heard about it from detective carisi." 

"who is your husband?" 

"yes."

"what did he tell you?" 

"that he had went to lunch with his sister and found out our niece was having a deposition at her college about her assault." 

"and you found out about it a couple months later?" 

"yes." 

"so, why was your niece so quick to call you and your husband that my client allegedly assaulted her the second time now that there was an investigation going on when she didn't even tell you about the first? maybe she had acquired just enough evidence from their consensual evening and then cried rape." 

"objection." 

"withdrawn. one more question, could your emotions have been running high because, not only your niece allegedly assaulted by my client, but your brother was shot and nearly killed?"

"objection!" 

"withdrawn, no further questions your honor."

"any re-direct?" the judge asked. 

"no, your honor." 

i stepped down from the bench and went to where my sister-in-law, mia, and my squad was sitting. 

"call your next witness." 

"the prosecution now calls: detective dominick carisi."