Sunday in the Park with Jorge
Encyclopedia
"Sunday in the Park with Jorge" is the 240th episode of NBC
's legal drama
Law & Order
, and the 11th episode of the 11th season.
discover the body of a severely beaten woman in a pond during the Puerto Rican Day Parade
celebrations. During the celebrations, a riot broke out in the park where many women were accosted. The response of the police is criticized throughout the city, leading to pressure from One Police Plaza
and the mayor's office to find the murderer among the rioters. Detectives Lenny Briscoe and Ed Green
interview Hispanic
men arrested for robbery and sexual assault in the park that day.
The murder victim is the wife of a young billionaire. The detectives soon discover that she had retained the services of a divorce attorney and had planned to make the divorce very costly for her husband. He has an alibi for the day of the murder, having been out with his new girlfriend. The detectives interview her, where they notice that she has bruises on her neck. She explains that she got the bruises from his best friend and his company's vice president, Seth.
After interviewing Seth, the detectives discover that he was heavily invested in the company, and that his stake in the company could vanish if the divorce carried through. He claims to have met the victim in the rowboat at the park to persuade the victim to separate amicably. Because of his financial stake and his violence against the girlfriend, the detectives are not convinced and arrest him. Despite apprehension from the mayor's office, who had wanted to prosecute a member of the mob, D.A. Nora Lewin
decides to proceed with the prosecution on circumstantial evidence.
One of the men convicted of assault in the park strikes a deal to reduce his sentence in return for testimony identifying Seth at the park that day. Detective Briscoe tells Jack McCoy
that there is an inconsistency in his testimony, and after further pressure he recants: he did see Seth in the boat, but Seth left the scene before she was killed. Followup investigation finds a new suspect, Nestor Salazar, a Brazilian man at the riot with his friends. Witnesses identify him as the man who harassed the victim then beat her to death in the rowboat.
Salazar is charged with the murder, and effectively admits to killing her on the stand. However, he claims he never intended to kill her, and that his actions were motivated by peer pressure
to intimidate the woman, like his friends did to the other women who were attacked. Despite his stated intentions, the jury convicts Salazar of manslaughter.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's legal drama
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, and the 11th episode of the 11th season.
Plot
A couple in a rowboat in Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
discover the body of a severely beaten woman in a pond during the Puerto Rican Day Parade
Puerto Rican Day Parade
The Puerto Rican Day Parade takes place annually along Fifth Avenue in New York City, on the second Sunday in June, in honor of the nearly 4 million inhabitants of Puerto Rico and all people of Puerto Rican birth or heritage residing in the mainland U.S...
celebrations. During the celebrations, a riot broke out in the park where many women were accosted. The response of the police is criticized throughout the city, leading to pressure from One Police Plaza
One Police Plaza
1 Police Plaza is the headquarters of the New York City Police Department . 1 Police Plaza is located on Park Row in downtown Manhattan near City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. Its block borders Park Row, Pearl Street, and Police Plaza...
and the mayor's office to find the murderer among the rioters. Detectives Lenny Briscoe and Ed Green
Ed Green
Edward "Ed" Green is a fictional character on the NBC crime drama Law & Order, created by Rene Balcer and portrayed by Jesse L. Martin.-Character overview:...
interview Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
men arrested for robbery and sexual assault in the park that day.
The murder victim is the wife of a young billionaire. The detectives soon discover that she had retained the services of a divorce attorney and had planned to make the divorce very costly for her husband. He has an alibi for the day of the murder, having been out with his new girlfriend. The detectives interview her, where they notice that she has bruises on her neck. She explains that she got the bruises from his best friend and his company's vice president, Seth.
After interviewing Seth, the detectives discover that he was heavily invested in the company, and that his stake in the company could vanish if the divorce carried through. He claims to have met the victim in the rowboat at the park to persuade the victim to separate amicably. Because of his financial stake and his violence against the girlfriend, the detectives are not convinced and arrest him. Despite apprehension from the mayor's office, who had wanted to prosecute a member of the mob, D.A. Nora Lewin
Nora Lewin
Nora Lewin was a fictional character on the TV show Law & Order, played by two-time Academy Award winning actress Dianne Wiest from 2000 to 2002. Her character was particularly notable for the fact that she was the first woman in the program's history to hold the position of New York County...
decides to proceed with the prosecution on circumstantial evidence.
One of the men convicted of assault in the park strikes a deal to reduce his sentence in return for testimony identifying Seth at the park that day. Detective Briscoe tells Jack McCoy
Jack McCoy
John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order, created by Michael S. Chernuchin and played by Sam Waterston since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren . On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest...
that there is an inconsistency in his testimony, and after further pressure he recants: he did see Seth in the boat, but Seth left the scene before she was killed. Followup investigation finds a new suspect, Nestor Salazar, a Brazilian man at the riot with his friends. Witnesses identify him as the man who harassed the victim then beat her to death in the rowboat.
Salazar is charged with the murder, and effectively admits to killing her on the stand. However, he claims he never intended to kill her, and that his actions were motivated by peer pressure
Peer pressure
Peer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
to intimidate the woman, like his friends did to the other women who were attacked. Despite his stated intentions, the jury convicts Salazar of manslaughter.
Controversy
After the episode aired in January 2001, it generated protests from many Puerto Rican activist organizations. Answering a grievance from the National Puerto Rican Coalition, network executives issued a formal apology and made a pledge to "improve our procedures regarding sensitive programming issues."External links
- Sunday in the Park with Jorge on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...