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Christine Hartwell is a housewife who tried to con her husband and the NYPD into believing she was kidnapped and raped to extort ransom money from her husband.

Background[]

Even though she was married to Boyd Hartwell, a wealthy businessman with whom she had a daughter Madison with, Christine had an affair with a delivery man named Brad Hayes but ended that affair when he started to brag about their relationship. She then had another affair with a store cashier named Darel Jefferson, who also sold drugs to her. She later begins a relationship with her husband's business partner and best friend Justin Geld, and they would have sex in his loft. Then she starts another affair with another delivery man named Kevin Fahey and tells him to not call or text her so that there would be no evidence of their relationship. When Christine learned from Geld that her husband was coming home from a business trip early, she planned to extort money from her husband.

Valentine's Day[]

When her husband video chats with Christine before boarding a plane home from Hong Kong he sees Christine being attacked by a masked man with a gun. Before Boyd lands, the detectives are already investigating Christine's kidnapping and rape, but Boyd tells them that Christine's kidnappers demanded $250,000 and if the police are involved, Christine will be killed. When the ransom is picked up, detectives Olivia Benson, Nick Amaro, Amanda Rollins and Odafin Tutuola discover that Christine has been sent to get the money. At first, Christine claims that three black men kidnapped and raped her, but the evidence doesn't match her testimony and Christine constantly keeps changing her story. Eventually the detectives discover a video camera in Geld's loft showing Christine and Fahey having consensual sex.

Benson_and_Amaro_Give_Chloë_Sevigny_One_More_Chance_-_Law_&_Order-_SVU

Benson and Amaro Give Chloë Sevigny One More Chance - Law & Order- SVU

Eventually, the detectives discover that Christine has been having an affair with Fahey and planned her kidnapping and rape. Christine is charged with obstruction of justice, coercion, and filing a false police report. In court her husband, who refused to believe that she would do such a thing, hires Attorney Marvin Exley to defend her. A.D.A. Casey Novak has the men Christine had affairs with testify against her and show the jury the video of her and Fahey having sex but one of the jurors in the trial becomes sympathetic towards Christine after they share a cigarette, and she seduces him in the stairwell of the courthouse together. The juror's refusal to vote guilty leads to a mistrial. Outside the courtroom, Boyd holds a press conference commemorating Christine's "bravery" and denounces the NYPD and the District Attorney's Office for charging her. Christine is currently a free woman. (SVU: "Valentine's Day")

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