Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Gone (2006)

Fred Thompson: DA Arthur Branch

Quotes 

• Arthur Branch : [upon finding out that Jason is missing]  Why the hell wasn't Jason King in protective custody?

  Donald Cragen : His parents volunteered to take him out of town.

  Arthur Branch : With Nick Pratt and Doug Waverly out on bail? It was just a matter of time before they found out where Jason was. Is SVU tight?

  Donald Cragen : As a drum, sir. There's no way the leak came from my people.

  Arthur Branch : And I doubt it came from Casey. That leaves Liz Donnelly's office.

  Casey Novak : I'll notify her.

  Arthur Branch : No you won't. Not yet.

  Casey Novak : You're not suggesting that she's...

  Arthur Branch : The leak? Of course not. It's just that her people are the only ones I can't vouch for. You know, if she stops the trial now, double jeopardy attaches. We can never try Pratt or Waverly on these charges again.

  Donald Cragen : Well, can't you read Jason's grand jury testimony at trial?

  Arthur Branch : Not unless we can prove he's been harmed. Fourteenth Amendment gives Nick and Doug the right to face their accuser.

  Casey Novak : If we don't find Jason soon, I'm gonna run out of witnesses.

  Casey Novak : Get some more. Keep our case alive. Stall as long as you can.

• Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : Arthur? Casey?

  Casey Novak : We need to talk to you.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : In the middle of a trial? I don't think so.

  Arthur Branch : The defense had their ex parte moment.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : In chambers, not my living room

  Arthur Branch : This is different. Can you step outside a moment.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : [Donnelly steps outside]  Why the cloak-and-dagger routine?

  Arthur Branch : We couldn't take the chance your house was bugged.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : Bugged? Why would anyone want to bug my...

  Casey Novak : Jason King, our star witness disappeared last week. We have evidence he was kidnapped but we can't prove it.

  Arthur Branch : The leak's not in our office Liz, or SVU. Whoever took Jason had to find out where he was from somebody that works for you.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : You think I have a mole in my office and you didn't tell me?

  Arthur Branch : My orders. If Jason's still alive, and the kidnappers find that we're on to them, they could kill him. We couldn't risk it.

• Casey Novak : [after being ordered by Donnelly to produce Jason]  We're in trouble.

  Arthur Branch : I heard. We can't bank on the police to find Jason.

  Casey Novak : Any advice?

  Arthur Branch : Well, when under attack, circle the wagons. Go back to your office, Casey. Relax. Breathe. Then meet me by my car at 6:00.

  Casey Novak : We going somewhere?

• Arthur Branch : We could sure use a mistrial here, Liz.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : Unless you can prove Nick Pratt and Doug Waverly bugged this office or that they murdered Jason King, you haven't got grounds for a mistrial.

  Casey Novak : We're out of witnesses.

  Judge Elizabeth Donnelly : I know, Casey. And I don't like it any more than you do, but I can't play games with the law. If you can find Jason by tomorrow or show me that he's met with foul play, I'll grant a motion to have his grand jury testimony read to the jury. Otherwise, there's nothing I can do.

• Detective Elliot Stabler : [reviewing the case with Novak]  Okay, we know Jennifer went to the dance club with her friend. She left the dance club at 11:30 with Nick, Doug and Jason. She came back to her hotel room right before 1:00 a.m.

  Casey Novak : Okay, so she goes up to her room, she gets the mystery phone call and then she leaves again at 1:14.

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Right, for the last time. After that, there's no sign of any of them until Nick and Doug turn up at the Bayside diner and call the precinct about their car at 3:19 a.m.

  Casey Novak : You know, Jennifer's hotel is in Midtown, right? Middle of the night, no traffic, Bayside diner's a 15-minute trip from there.

  Detective Olivia Benson : Gives them more than two hours to kill Jennifer, dump her and the car.

  Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola : Get to the diner, grab a cup of Joe, report the Chevy stolen

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Maybe it was stolen.

  Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola : A '71 Chevelle? At today's gas prices?

  Detective Olivia Benson : Look, we checked every cab in the city, including gypsies. Nobody drove those kids to that diner.

  Donald Cragen : There's over a thousand places in Queens alone they could've dumped Jennifer and the car. We don't even have a place to start.

  Arthur Branch : [Walking into the precinct]  You can start by thinking about what the hell you're doing before you do it.

  Casey Novak : [to Stabler]  Here we go.

  [to Branch] 

  Casey Novak : I tried to reach you, your secretary said you were giving a speech.

  Arthur Branch : You guaranteed an indictment on the record in open court?

  Casey Novak : I had no choice.

  Arthur Branch : We're gonna be lucky if we don't get sued by those three boys for false arrest.

  Donald Cragen : We know they did it, Mr. Branch. We've got DNA, witnesses, videotapes.

  Arthur Branch : Without a body or a confession, arresting them today makes us all look like idiots. Now, find the girl or flip one of these kids before their lawyers find out what we've got on them.

  [Branch walks away] 

  Detective Elliot Stabler : Flip them? Their lawyers start crying every time we get near them.

  Casey Novak : We have more than enough evidence for warrants to swab them for DNA. Maybe that'll scare one of them into giving it up.