The Ecstasy Rape Case

[Chris Meloni]

March 3, 2007

It was 5:00 am Friday morning when I was rudely awakened by a telephone call from Allison Dubois, the NYPD psychic. She insisted that I needed to meet with her first thing in the morning. So there we were in one of the 5th Precinct conference rooms drinking coffee machine coffee as she told me about her dream last night.

It seems she was at a college frat house party, having a nice time drinking beer from a keg. They were dancing to loud music and she took turns dancing with at least a half dozen guys.  At the end of each dance, her male partner would whisper in her ear, "Wanna go upstairs and fuck, Audrey?"

She turned down each offer, but instead of leaving, something she would normally do, in her dream she just politely turned down each offer and moved on to another young man.

I asked where the name Audrey came from and Allison said she didn't know, but apparently that was who she was in the dream.

She said the last glass of beer handed to her must have been drugged, because she next found herself in one of the frat house second floor bedrooms. She was now naked on a bed covered by just a sheet, wondering how she'd gotten there and what happened to her clothing.

Moon light was the only source of light in the room, coming through a partially draped window. A man that must have been watching her, waiting for her to wake up, stepped out of the darkness totally naked except for a ski mask. He was stroking a protruding erection in his hand as he approached.

She tried to scream but in dreams the scream never seems to come out. The man simply pulled the sheet away revealing her naked body. She managed to mouth the word no, but he was too strong for her and soon had her pinned to the bed. He kept calling her Audrey, whispering sweet nothings in her ear as he raped her.

Allison said that's when she woke up. She said the most disturbing thing was that the Audrey in the dream must have gotten off during the rape. I asked how she knew that. Allison blushed and admitted that she was still pulsing down there when she woke up.

If it had been anyone else, I would have written it off as just a sex dream, but Allison's dreams usually meant something. Something that had happened or was going to happen, as if she was being told to warn somebody.

What struck me as we sat there trying to go over the dream in detail was how close this sounded to Amy Bilson's complaint that she had been raped. There were little differences, but it was close enough to call Amy back in to compare notes.

Allison sat in as we talked to Amy. In her case she said she'd been drugged in a bar, woke up in a dark hotel room naked, and been attacked by a man in a ski mask that whispered in her ear as he raped her. Allison asked Amy if she came during the attack and Amy blushed just like Allison did.

After Amy left, Allison said she was sure it had to be the same man. Possibly, this time the event hadn't occurred yet and we might be in time to prevent it. The problem was we had no idea who this Audrey might be.

[Chris Meloni]

March 5, 2007

Lindsay Davis set up the meeting with Audrey Tatellio in the 5th Precinct conference room. I brought Allison Dubois and Audrey brought a fellow student, Barry Watters, a volley ball star player  that she felt could protect her at the frat party being held at Delta Sigma Phi next Saturday night.

As soon as Allison shook hands with Audrey she said, "You're the Audrey in my dream."

Audrey looked a little shocked and we had her attention from that point on. She was about to just not go to the party, but I told her we needed to catch this guy and with Allison's help we at least were pretty sure we knew where and when. 

I told her that we would use tiny ear pieces so we could hear everything going on in there. Barry would wear a wire so he could communicate directly with us all night. If she went upstairs, Barry would be close behind, but far enough away to let the rapist make his move. Audrey couldn't wear a wire since the culprit would no doubt be groping her during the dancing and might notice the wire.

Since the dream indicated that he strips his prey, then waits for her to wake up. we would have time to move in before the actual rape takes place. Audrey said she could handle that, agreeing to be the bait in the trap.

[Chris Meloni]

March 11, 2007

On Saturday night Barry Watters accompanied Audrey Tatellio to the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity party. Barry was wearing the wire that I installed on his chest and the earpiece that would let me communicate with him throughout the party. I had two squad cars with four uniforms ready and waiting in case we had to bust in there.

Olivia drove the unmarked Ford we used to drop them off about a block away from the frat house. The party built up steam while Olivia and I sipped coffee in the Ford, listening to Barry's wire. Some of the many guests were students we recognized, Angel Jones, Jesse Miller, Tiffany Farina, Eddie Woods, Rachel Adams and Ryan Morrison.

There was a fellow there named Stan Bime that looked suspicious to Audrey since he kept whispering in her ear as they danced, so Barry's attention was focused on him as he danced with Tiffany Farina. Olivia chuckled saying from the sounds it sounded like Tiffany might be distracting our planted student.

Suddenly, Audrey felt faint and when she staggered, Charlie Black the frat brother running the party caught her and carried her upstairs. Barry called 911, our excuse for rushing into the party and I heard him describe what was happening as he followed them upstairs. I called the back up cars and told them we were going in. \

Once Olivia and are were inside, Barry directed us to the bedroom at the end of the hall where the door had closed after Charlie took Audrey in there several minutes ago. I didn't hesitate and kicked in the locked door.

Sure enough, just as Allison had predicted, there was a man in a ski mask at the foot of the bed where Audrey was just waking up. She screamed out, "No Stan, don't rape me."

The guy turned as the door swung open and I used a knee in the back of his knees to drop hom to the floor. I yanked off the mask to find Charlie Black under it, cuffed him and read him his Miranda rights.

Charlie tried to claim he was just helping her, but refused to comment further saying he'd want a lawyer. I hauled Charlie downstairs where I put him in the back of a patrol car and rode with him back to the 5th Precinct.

Olivia helped Audrey get dressed and took her over to Columbia Medical Center where Robert Chase examined her. They found Extacy in her blood test, the date rape drug that weakens a females resistance and can make them faint. A small bottle of those pills was found in Charlie's pocket, but he still refused to admit his intentions as we booked him and put him in a cell after he called Diane Neal as his lawyer.

District Attorney Nelle Porter said she planned to interrogate him on Sunday.

[Nelle Porter]

Nelle Porter
March 11, 2007

Even though it was Sunday and the DNA comparisons with the semen samples the CSI has stored in their cool room vaults, I had to proceed with the interrogation of Charlie Black.

Diane Neal is his lawyer and she agreed to meet me in the 5th Precinct at three this afternoon. I had Charlie brought out from his cell and advised them that we would be recording the interrogation as usual.

I went through the normal process of confirming his legal name, age, current school classes, work and address. Charles W. Black is residing in the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity house, is studying medicine with hopes of being a doctor and works part time at the Columbia Medical Center.

I asked if that was where he acquired the knowledge required to utilize just the right drugs to subdue his victims for short periods like that. Diane answered for him, saying he never raped any of the females on the list of recent cases I'd given her on our list.

I just smiled and told her we have semen samples from at least two previous similar cases, including the Amy Bilson case and once the DNA matched we'd have a very strong case, since he was apprehended red handed in the Audrey Tatellio case.

They stuck to their guns saying he was merely trying to help Audrey and the ski mask was a joke, typical frat humor. Diane is hoping the semen samples were too old since most of the females that stepped forward did so a day or so later. The key sample will be Amy Bilson who came in the night of the attack.

I've set the arraignment in Judge Helen Gamble's courtroom for Monday at 1:00 pm.

[Nelle Porter]

March 13, 2007

The arraignment on Monday when fast. Judge Gamble set bail at $150,000 after Diane Neal said they were pleading not guilty. We restricted the charges to attempted rape on the Audrey Tatellio case, but I noted that we were planning to increase the charges to include the similar rape of Amy Bilson if the DNA taken from Charlie Black matched up withe DNA recovered in the semen found in her case.

I'm also hoping a few other women that this man raped like that decide to step forward. Judge Gamble will set a trial date after the DNA results are obtained.

[Helen Gamble]

I opened the Charles Black trial for the third time, where Audrey Tatellionwas the State's last witness.

Nelle
*getting up and approaching the witness* ……Please state your name and current status for the record.

Audrey
Audrey Tatellio….  I'm a law student at Columbia University and I work as a clerk at Crane, Poole and Schmidt

Nelle
Okay Audrey, please tell us why you were suddenly concerned about attending the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity party.

Audrey
It was Lindsay Davis the Times columnist, that advised me to be concerned. You do know that she knows everything that's going on in New York City. She set up my meeting with Allison Dubois and Chris Meloni. The minute I walked in the conference room at the 5th Precinct, Allison said I was the Audrey in her dreams.

Nelle
So Chris set up the situation at the fraternity party.

Audrey
Yes, I had Barry Watters with me and he agreed to wear the wire and the earpiece so he could communicate with the police and so they could hear what was going on in the party.

Nelle
Okay, please continue, tell us what happened the night of the party.

Audrey
They dropped us off a block away and we walked the last block to the Delta Sigma Phi house. We were greeted at the door by Charlie Black.

Nelle
The defendant?

Audrey
Yes…… *pointing over at Charlie*…. he welcomed us and served us our first drinks. I actually wound up dancing with some guy named Stan Bime, who kept whispering in my ear. I thought Stan might be the rapist at that time because of those whispers, consistent with Allison's dream. Turns out I was wrong, Charlie had watched over our drinks while we were dancing and that was when he must have spiked my drink. I'd barely had a few sips when I started to feel the room floating. Charlie helped me upstairs and the next thing I knew I was waking up naked in a bedroom with a man in a ski mask talking to me.

Nelle
That's when Chris Meloni kicked in the door in time to save you from further abuse.

Audrey
Yes, thank heavens. They arrested Charlie and Olivia Benson took me to the Columbia Medical Center where I was examined and they found the Ecstasy in my system.

Nelle
Thank you, Audrey……. *turning to the judge*…. That's all for this witness and the State rests.

Helen
I turned the witness over to Ms. Neal who hammered at Audrey for over thirty minutes. Nelle objected several times and I had to keep insisting that Neal back off on Audrey's past since it was not related to the case at hand.

Ms. Neal put Charles Black on the stand where he kept insisting that he never raped anybody, that Amy had asked that they find a hotel room to have a good time. He said that in Audrey's case he was merely taking her upstairs where she could rest.

In her cross, Nelle asked him why he was wearing  that ski mask and why Audrey woke up naked.. Charles said she undressed herself, and Nelle just laughed, saying she was finished.

I took a short recess then called tem back for the two attorney's closings.

Helen
Ms. Porter, you may make your closing statement.

Nelle
*rising from my seat…. placing both hands on the railing… a way of letting the jury feel that I'm close to them….. on their side here….. the side of the people*…. <br><br> Ladies and gentlemen…..  you've heard numerous witnesses get up on that stand over there… Lt. Christopher Meloni from your NYPD Special Victims Unit and two college students, Amy Bilson and Audrey Tatellio…. all telling you that the defendant, Charlie Black, knowingly and willingly committed these crimes.

*walking along the jury box so I can make eye contact with each jurist as I speak*…. It's quite obvious that the defendant drugged and then raped Amy while wearing a ski mask …. He was attempting to do the same thing to poor Audrey… His excuses, saying Amy actually wanted him to screw her and that he was merely trying to help Audrey just don't fly…. Audrey woke up in a frat house bedroom finding her clothing gone and Charlie hovering over her wearing the same ski mask he wore when raping Amy… There was nothing consensual about either of these sordid affairs.

Diane Neal will get up here and try and convince you that in both instances Charlie was being Mister Helpful. We all know the truth here. There is no doubt that Charles Black is a predator and he belongs off the streets. I expect you to bring back a verdict that will make sure that happens.

*returning to my seat*

Diane
*getting up… walking over to face the jury*…. Charlie Black did have sex with Amy Bilson…. which is all the real evidence the prosecution has. Charlie says it was consensual and he simply took her to a hotel room to enjoy it. We have no idea what made Amy decide to yell rape.

As a result the police set up a trap and poor Charlie walked into it when he attempted to help Audrey. Entrapment is totally unacceptable and I want you to picture yourselves in a situation like this. Bring us back a not-guilty verdict and protect this man's….. and yours…. rights.

*returning to my seat at the defense table*

Helen
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard all the witnesses and seen all the evidence. Please take that information in the jury room and return with your verdict.

Bailiff
*escorting the jury out*

Jury
*leaving the courtroom and entering the jury room*

Helen
*bringing my gavel down*… We're in recess. …*getting up and leaving the bench*

((This is where Rafe will make the decision as the jury and return with a verdict))

[Poplollies]

*after several days of hashing it out the jury has reached it's verdict*

We of the jury, find the defendent. Charles Black, guilty of all counts.

[Helen Gamble]

After receiving the jury's verdict, I sentenced Charles Black to 25 years in prison.

My only reason for giving him the minimum sentence was because of his young age and the fact that he was just doing what some of these fraternity young men do, use Ecstasy to increase their chances of getting laid.

Most of the females caught in this game never report the rape, because they're embarrassed.

Amy Bilson stepped up and challenged her rapist and Allison Dubois managed to warn Audrey Tatellio in time to prevent her from winding up suffering the same fate.

I hope this warning will prevent more of these date rapes from occurring at fraternity parties.