February 18, 2004
Episode Title Unknown
In this episode (), a passed-out woman is discovered bleeding and ill in an emergency room waiting room. Doctors determine she recently gave birth to a baby, but the baby can't be found. Logan and Briscoe are called in to help. They learn that the woman arrived at the hospital via a taxi, and they initially suspect her cab driver with abducting the child. Soon, however, they trace her journey back to a hotel, where she apparently gave birth to the child with her boyfriend. After much running around, they track down the boyfriend, who indeed has the baby. They then begin trying to puzzle out what happened.They learn that the woman had offered the baby to various couples for private adoption, but as they dig deeper, they learn that she defrauded at least one couple, and took a lot of money from them without intending to actually give them the baby. In the meantime, the baby disappears from the hospital where it was being tended to. It turns out another woman, who felt she had the legal right to the baby, abducted it, because she had also arranged an adoption with the woman.
Eventually, the detectives and prosecutors determine that she had offered the baby to several couples, and had accepted many thousands of dollars from them in exchange for the baby. Stone and Kincaid determine that this is fraudulent behavior, and charge her with larceny. But then they learn that the woman threatened to abort her baby if she didn't get the money she asked for. Stone argues that this amounts to extortion, since it involves the threatening of another "person." Of course, he has to establish that the baby legally qualifies as a person.
Before they can prove that her extortion scheme was intentional, they need witnesses, but the new adoptive father of the baby refuses to testify, because he is afraid the woman will attempt to get her baby back in retaliation. Finally, Stone convinces him to tell the truth, and he gets the womans devoted (and handsome, by the way) boyfriend to roll on her and confess to his involvement in the whole scheme, implicating her in the process. Even with this evidence, however, the prosecutors have an uphill battle with the jury.
Posted by adm at February 18, 2004 12:30 AM
Comments
It sounds a lot like Breeder in Season 4.
Posted by: Chris at May 9, 2005 07:39 PM
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