  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | I never meant for this to happen! | „ |
| ~ Cody making excuses for having Dena Meredith killed. |
Chris Cody is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "A Losing Season". He is a professional basketball player who has a woman he impregnated killed to avoid paying child support.
He was portrayed by Kevin Daniels, who also played Greg Flynn in Smallville.
Early life[]
Cody grew up poor in New York City, but his natural talent at playing basketball got him a scholarship to college. His grades suffered because of basketball's demands on his time, but he had his coach get him out of trouble so he could keep playing. When he moved on to play in the NBA, he developed a drug addiction and went through rehab, but he convinced his teammates to keep his recovery out of the press.
Over the years, Cody gave his childhood friend Henry Williams a total of $300,000, supposedly to invest in the community they grew up in; he knew full well that Williams was really using the money to finance a small-time drug operation, but he allowed it because rumors of his involvement in organized crime added to his "bad boy" image.
He laundered the money with the unwitting help of banker Dena Meredith, with whom he had a secret sexual relationship behind Meredith's boyfriend's back.
When Cody got Meredith pregnant, she went to him for financial help, but he did not want to more pay child support, because he was already paying for a child he had fathered with another woman in Florida. He told Williams to pay someone to get rid of her, so Williams gave small-time criminal Marcus Cole $18,000 of Cody's money to kill her. Cole arranged to meet with Meredith, and then shot her several times and left her in the trunk of an old car belonging to Cody.
"A Losing Season"[]
Meredith is found, but she dies after giving birth to Cody's child. NYPD Homicide Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green investigate her murder and talk with Cody, who claimed that his car had been stolen. They look through Cody's financial records and discover that he had given Williams major business loans through Meredith's bank.
Meanwhile, Cole's fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, so Briscoe and Green arrest him. In an attempt to make a deal with Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy, Cole says that Williams paid him to kill Meredith on Cody's behalf. Briscoe and Green then arrest Williams, who admits to ordering the murder at Cody's request.
When Cody learned that the police are looking for him, he panics and barricades himself in his mother's house, threatening to kill himself. Briscoe and Green manage to talk him down, however, and he surrenders peacefully.
He and his lawyer meet with McCoy and Assistant District Attorney Abbie Carmichael and says that Williams is framing him for Meredith's murder because he had stopped giving him money. After a DNA test proves that Cody was the baby's father, however, he is charged with murder.
During his trial, Cody claims that he did not know he was the father of Meredith's baby, and that Williams ordered the murder over drug money. While cross-examining him, however, McCoy pointed out that, since Cody dealt with Meredith directly, there is no way that she would have known about Williams' drug business, which leaves Williams with no motive to kill her. He then confronted Cody with his own motive - to get out of paying child support.
During final arguments, Cody's lawyer characterizes him as a local hero who came up from nothing, while still helping his community. McCoy countered that Cody has used people throughout his career to enrich himself and avoid taking responsibility for his actions, and that having Meredith killed was just one more example of such behavior. The jury agrees with McCoy and finds Cody guilty, sentencing him to life in prison without parole.
Trivia[]
- Cody is loosely based upon the real-life murder conspirator Rae Carruth, who like Cody was a successful sports player who arranged the murder of his pregnant girlfriend to get out of paying child support, then tried to blame the crime on a drug dealer he hadn't paid.
External links[]
- Chris Cody on the Law & Order Wiki
