When Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler discover a kidnapped girl in the trunk of a stolen rental car, they are led to her abductor; a violent, schizophrenic artist named Saul Picard. Picard's rage seriously injures Elliot, and the trial drives A.D.A. Casey Novak to face not only a complicated case on temporary insanity, but her own dark past as well.