- John Munch: [while looking at detergent as Fin questions a suspect] So what should I use? Lemony Goodness or Mountain Stream?
- Casey Novak: Detective Benson, does witnessing a murder justify committing a murder?
- Olivia Benson: It doesn't justify it, but it might explain it.
- Elliot Stabler: [to Candace] Hey, why are you in such a hurry there, huh? You got somewhere to go, like to your drug dealer?
- Candace Tanner: Get off of me.
- Olivia Benson: Your friend was murdered. You gonna do something about it or let the same thing happen to you?
- Candace Tanner: I don't know, okay? God! She wasn't even my friend!
- Teri Carthage: [to Elliot and Olivia] Ted has dedicated his life to helping people others would consider trash. Addicts, whores and degenerates. And he gets nothing in return! Tell that to whomever sent you.
- [storms away from them]
- Olivia Benson: So she's got nothing to hide.
- Elliot Stabler: No, not at all.
- Olivia Benson: [after Nathan shoots Ted Carthage to death] Nathan, I need you to put that gun down on the floor now.
- Nathan Phelps: I didn't know what else to do. He was alive and my mom was dead!
- Olivia Benson: Nathan, I know. I understand that, but now I need you to listen. Okay? You have to give me that gun.
- [Nathan doesn't respond]
- Olivia Benson: Nathan, I don't want anything bad to happen to you.
- Nathan Phelps: I didn't know what else to do. He was alive and my mom was dead!
- Olivia Benson: Your mother?
- Nathan Phelps: I don't even care anymore.
- Olivia Benson: I do. Your mom was really sick. I would be lucky to have a son like you. Anybody would.
- Olivia Benson: Casey...
- Casey Novak: You here to ambush me again?
- Olivia Benson: I'm here to apologize.
- Casey Novak: You gave the jury a reason to acquit.
- Olivia Benson: I was trying to tell the truth. I'm sorry. What are you gonna do?
- Casey Novak: Draft a plea bargain.
- Olivia Benson: I damaged your case that much?
- Casey Novak: You changed my mind and I'll bet you convinced a juror or two.
- Sophie Devere: Some of you might think that Nathan Phelps acted out of simple vengeance. Ted Carthage murdered his mother, so he murdered Ted Carthage. That is what the assistant district attorney will argue. She will tell you that anyone who kills out of retaliation should go to jail. I agree with her, but that is not what my client did. Did he hate Ted Carthage? Absolutely. Did he kill him? Yes. So if not out of retaliation, what made Nathan do it? This is a new study published in Science Magazine. It found that people who have witnessed gun violence are twice as likely, sometimes three times as likely, to commit an act of violence themselves. Nathan witnessed Ted Carthage shoot his mother. And just as the study predicts, he reacted with violence. This study equates gun violence with an infectious disease. Anyone exposed to it is infected. Now, you may not agree or like this study. Gun manufacturers don't like it either. It goes against their mantra. "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." But this study points to something that is almost unspeakable in today's gun culture. And that is, that the blame for violence can be directly placed on the gun. Once you see someone squeeze the trigger, it's easier to do it yourself. Nathan saw his mother shot to death in front of him, and at that moment he contracted the disease. It wasn't his choice, any more that it is your choice to catch a cold after someone has sneezed on you. Violence is the disease. Guns are the virus and we have an epidemic on our hands.
- Mike Geddes: [to Nathan] How old were you when your dad was stabbed to death?
- Nathan Phelps: Six.
- Mike Geddes: If you could, would you shoot the guy who stabbed your dad just like you shot Ted Carthage?
- Nathan Phelps: No.
- Mike Geddes: No? Why not? He stabbed your father.
- Nathan Phelps: I don't wanna kill anybody!
- Mike Geddes: Sure, you did. You were angry.
- Nathan Phelps: No.
- Mike Geddes: Yeah, Ted Carthage killed your mother. You hated him.
- Nathan Phelps: Stop it!
- Mike Geddes: You didn't kill because you saw the gun. You wanted to hurt him! You hated him and you wanted him to die!
- Nathan Phelps: Yes, I hated him, all right?
- Mike Geddes: [about Nathan after he is acquitted of all charges] Killer got a foster family. That's nice.
- Casey Novak: You're a jerk, Geddes.
- Mike Geddes: Yeah, and you got a murderer off.
- Casey Novak: Nathan Phelps would be serving the sentence I had already negotiated had you not gotten involved, so why don't we put the blame where it really belongs: on your bosses.
- Mike Geddes: Casey, you honestly believe that guns cause a disease?
- Casey Novak: My dad had guns. He taught me how to use them when I was a kid. But I never saw anyone gunned down in front of me. Have you?
- Mike Geddes: Taking away guns isn't gonna cure the world of violence.
- Casey Novak: Unless the study's true. Then everything's different, isn't it?
- Casey Novak: If the NGA can stop a plea, then any individual corporation or special interest group with the money and the inclination can do the same.
- Judge Elizabeth Donnelly: And if prosecutors lose the ability to make plea bargains, the legal system comes to a grinding halt.