| “ | Here's your taste! | „ |
| ~ Laura Di Biasi before shooting Michael Mosket. |
Laura Di Biasi is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Subterranean Homeboy Blues". She is a white woman who shoots two Black men because they attempted to sexually assault her.
She was portrayed by Cynthia Nixon, who also portrayed Kade Prurnell in Hannibal and Janis Donovan in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Di Biasi is a registered nurse and amateur ballerina living in New York City.
A few months prior to the episode's events, she was robbed, beaten, and sexually assaulted by a group of Black teenagers; the injuries she suffered robbed her of the ability to dance. She became obsessed with taking revenge, so she bought a gun illegally off the street and carried it with her everywhere she went, looking for an excuse to shoot someone.
"Subterranean Homeboy Blues"[]
While going home from work on the subway, Di Biasi is accosted by two Black teenagers, Michael Mosket and Darnell Chenault. When Mosket hits on her, she flies into a rage and shoots him and Chenault. Mosket dies in the hospital, while Chenault is paralyzed from the waist down.
NYPD Homicide Sergeant Max Greevey and Detective Mike Logan trace the bullets that killed Mosket and wounded Chenault to a handgun stolen by a small-time criminal, who identifies Di Biasi as the woman he sold it to. After Greevey and Logan arrest her, Di Biasi denies shooting Mosket and Chenault, but she eventually confesses and says that they had been about to rape her.
Di Biasi's lawyer, Shambala Green, argues that Di Biasi was defending herself against two sexual predators, an argument helped by the revelation that Mosket had a violent criminal record that included sexual assault. Di Biasi herself tells Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette, who is Black, that she shot Mosket and Chenault because she believed they were going to hurt her, not because she hates Black people. The press, meanwhile, applauds her for standing up to criminals, nicknaming her "The Avenging Angel".
While cross-examining Di Biasi, Executive Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone insinuates that she shot Mosket and Chenault because she wanted to punish someone - anyone - for her earlier assault. Green counters by staging a recreation of the events with the community group CrimeStoppers, who have publicly supported Di Biasi, and who provoke an angry outburst from Chenault that it was Mosket, not he, who liked to "knock white boots".
When another woman comes forward accusing Mosket and Chenault of trying to rape her, Stone's murder case against Di Biasi falls apart, and all he has left to charge her with is criminal possession of a weapon, which carries the penalty of a few months of probation.
Di Biasi is last seen giving a press conference in which she thanks the District Attorney's office for "doing the right thing".
Trivia[]
- Di Biasi is loosely based upon Bernard Goetz, who shot four Black men on a subway train on December 22, 1984. Like Di Biasi, Goetz was convicted only of illegal possession of a firearm.
- She is also based upon Thana, the protagonist of the rape-and-revenge film Ms .45. Thana was raped twice in one night and went on a killing spree against men to avenge herself.
External links[]
- Laura Di Biasi on the Law & Order Wiki
