Barry Moredock
| Judge Barry Moredock | |
|---|---|
| Law & Order character | |
 | |
| First appearance | "Appearances" |
| Portrayed by | John Cullum |
| Time on show | 2003–2011 |
| Seasons | 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
| Credited appearances | 11 episodes (total) |
Barry Moredock is a fictional character on the NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by John Cullum since 2003.
Character overview
Although originally portrayed as a defense attorney in the episode "Appearances", Moredock is now elevated to judgeship as of season 10. He is originally a law school professor to Alexandra Cabot.[1] He is the attorney for the defense for only four cases while Cabot's successor, Casey Novak, serves as the ADA. His last episode as a defense attorney is "Blinded". He then becomes a judge between seasons 9 & 10 with his first episode as a judge is in the episode "Babes". Kim Greylek is the ADA at the time, shortly before she and Cabot transition in and out in the episode "Lead". In season 11 he orders temporary Executive ADA Sonya Paxton to get alcoholism treatment after she shows up drunk to court.
Notable episodes
Moredock originally appeared as a defense attorney in the episode "Appearances", on a case in which a pornography maker is put on trial for giving instructions on how to kill via a story on his company's website.[2]
He works on another case with Cabot in the episode "Manic", where a child kills two high school students and is given medication from his mother due to an illegal marketing campaign by the major pharmaceutical company Tauscher-Leto.[3]
In the seventh season he works as a defense attorney on a case with Novak as ADA in the episode ""Raw", where he defended a Neo-Nazi group.[4]
In the season 9 episode "Blinded", Moredock and Novak work on a case together in which a violent, schizophrenic artist kidnaps and rapes two girls.[5]
Starting in the episode "Babes" to present, Moredock is a judge and his first case (seen) is the case of a homeless boy burned to death by a high school student.[6]
In the episode "Smut", he is blackmailed when SVU is notified about a video Moredock was sent by an acquaintance showing a dolphin humping a woman on his personal file server, which could be classified as pornography. Moredock recuses himself from the case.[7]
He reunites with Cabot in the episode "Lead" as the judge presiding over the case of a developmentally challenged son of a wealthy man who killed his pediatrician because he called him stupid. As the trial goes on, it's later discovered that Jeffrey (the son) suffers from lead poisoning caused by Chinese-made products.<ref name 'Lead'>Law & Order: SVU episode, Lead</ref>
In the 2009 episode, "Hammered" Sonya Paxton was the ADA until Alex Cabot returned. He presided over the case of a heavy drinker who wakes up to a bloody apartment, a terrible cut on his head and a dead woman in his bed, which leads to the discovery of Executive ADA Paxton's drinking problem. He ordered her to get alcoholism treatment because she came to trial with an alcohol concentration above the legal drinking limit.[8] In "Possessed", Moredock drops a case that ADA Gill Hardwicke was trying where the statute of limitations had run out, the perpetrator a pedophile who was now in his elderly years, he was let go and one of his first victims killed him after he kidnapped a young girl.[9]
Barry Moredock has appeared in 11 episodes of SVU (5 as a Judge; 6 as a Defense Attorney).
References
- ↑ Starr, Michael. STARR REPORT New York Post. March 18, 2003
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Appearances
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Manic
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Raw
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Blinded
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Babes
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Smut
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Hammered
- ↑ Law & Order: SVU episode, Possessed