Susan Forrest is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "White Rabbit". She is a former student radical who participated in a robbery in 1971 which resulted in the murder of a police officer, leading her to go on the run for 23 years.
She was portrayed by Mary-Joan Negro.
Biography[]
Susan attended Columbia University during the 1970s during which time she became involved in the anti-war movement. Opposing the war in Vietnam, she dated Tom Rudicell, an armed robber on study release, who introduced her to more radical politics. In 1971, Rudicell, Susan, Rudicell's friend Sam Burdette, and Burdette's girlfriend Margaret Pauley made plans to strike a blow against the war in Vietnam by robbing an armoured truck belonging to Newcon Technology, a military contractor servicing the U.S. government, and donating the proceeds to the Black Panther Party. Susan was sent to Virginia to buy guns for the robbery with help from William Goodwin, an anti-war activist who was in love with her and who was old enough to legally buy weapons.
During the robbery, Pauley used her car to box in the truck while Rudicell and Burdette carried out the actual robbery. Susan acted as a lookout and was given a radio to communicate with Pauley. The robbery was a success, with Rudicell and Burdette making off with $200,000. However, while acting as lookout Susan saw a police officer named Vincent Perella on the way to the scene and radioed Pauley to warn her. Pauley then warned Rudicell, who hid behind the truck and shot Perella dead when he got out of his car. The four of them then made their escape, with Susan and Pauley smashing their radios and giving the guns and money to Goodwin for safekeeping.
Susan was arrested for questioning the day after the robbery, but kept quiet and was released for lack of evidence. A week later Rudicell was identified and killed by the police and the authorities came to question Susan again, but found that she and Pauley had already fled. Susan spent the next 23 years in hiding, spending the first two with Pauley before they went their separate ways, although Pauley occasionally contacted her for money and supplies. Regretting her role in Vincent Perella's death, she called Goodwin and asked him to start sending the stolen money to Perella's widow Mary in an effort to make amends. She eventually fell in love with Stuart Levitan, who was unaware of her true identity, and settled down with him under the name "Rita", having a son with him. In the meantime, Burdette and Pauley were apprehended and imprisoned for their role in the crime.
"White Rabbit"[]
In 1994, the safety deposit box where Goodwin has the remaining money stashed is among those stolen during a burglary. The NYPD quickly solve the crime and arrest the robbers, but are forced to re-open the 1971 investigation after finding $100,000 and the gun that killed Vincent Perella in one of the stolen boxes. They come to suspect Stuart Levitan of involvement in the crime after finding out that Pauley was arrested driving a car rented under his name, and Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Michael Logan interview Stuart at his home. Stuart is soon able to convince them he had nothing to do with the crime, but during the interview Susan enters and is recognized by Briscoe. Realizing she is caught, Susan admits her true identity and allows herself to be arrested, leaving Stuart stunned.
Susan is interviewed by Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid and tells her how much she regrets her actions, claiming she was outside throwing up when Perella was killed. Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy is prepared to offer Susan a manslaughter plea, but before he can do so, civil rights lawyer William Kunstler arrives and informs McCoy and Kincaid that Susan had retained his services when she was arrested in 1971; since she never waived her right to counsel in his presence, her confession to Kincaid is inadmissible. Kunstler persuades Susan that she stands a chance of acquittal and she refuses to take the plea, forcing McCoy to reluctantly charge her with first-degree murder.
McCoy's case immediately encounters a problem, as the sole eyewitness to the robbery did not see Susan. He plans to have Burdette testify that Susan helped plan the robbery and was present at the scene, then have Goodwin testify that Susan gave him the gun and the money for safekeeping. However, Goodwin has not gotten over his feelings for Susan and recants his testimony on the stand, leaving the case in jeopardy as Burdette's testimony, being from an accomplice, is legally worthless unless McCoy and Kincaid can corroborate it somehow.
McCoy and Kincaid manage to get the FBI to play them wiretaps of conversations between Susan and Rudicell which record Susan telling Rudicell she and "Opie" got guns from Virginia, revealing she played a larger role than they had previously believed. They also work out, based on the wiretap mentioning that Susan and Pauley had radios, that Susan must have warned Pauley and Rudicell that Perella was coming, meaning she played a direct role in his death. The wiretaps cannot be used in court as they were recorded without a warrant, but McCoy realizes that they can still trace the gun purchase to identify "Opie" and get him to testify against Susan. However, when McCoy tries to threaten Susan with this prospect, she reveals that Goodwin is "Opie" and claims he bought the guns on his own, knowing McCoy cannot threaten Goodwin into testifying because the statute of limitations on conspiracy has expired.
McCoy's final plan is to try and induce Pauley, who has refused to betray Susan, to testify. He confronts her with evidence that Susan gave her money while she was in hiding and threatens to revoke her parole and send her back to prison unless she tells the truth. Pauley initially refuses until McCoy shows her a newspaper revealing that Susan denounced Goodwin, convincing Pauley she is a traitor to the cause. Pauley takes the stand and testifies that Susan helped Goodwin to buy the guns, and that just before Perella arrived Susan had radioed her to warn her that a "pig" was on the way in. Susan then offers to plead guilty to manslaughter rather than murder, telling McCoy she is sorry. After some consideration, McCoy agrees to let Susan plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter and she is jailed for a minimum of eight-and-a-third years.
Trivia[]
- Susan is based on the real-life former student radical and murder accomplice Katherine Ann Power, who like Susan assisted in the robbery of an armoured car in the 1970s during which a police officer was killed, remained a fugitive for 23 years during which time she married and had a son, and ultimately expressed remorse and pled guilty to manslaughter. Power's arrest and trial took place in 1993, the year before "White Rabbit" first aired.
