If we read in the news that the son of a wealthy CEO was under investigation for the rape an 18 year old immigrant, would we be shocked? Would we be surprised if the DA was reluctant to move forward despite physical evidence? If the charges were dropped by the victim would anyone be shocked?
In 1985 the 9th episode of season 2 of Miami Vice takes us into this story and it holds up today…too well. Let’s talk about “Bought and Paid For”.
Bought and Paid For
The episode starts with Miami Vice officer, Gina, talking to an 18 year old Haitian girl who is doing some housekeeping for her. It is very friendly as Gina gives her a list of groceries, the keys to her apartment, and lets her know there is a gift for her in the closet. Gina then goes to work on an undercover sting with the rest of the team.
While on the mission, they cut back to Odette, the Haitian girl. She comes into Gina’s apartment and sees a lovely new dress in the closet. She tries it on and poses in front of the mirror. While doing so, a man enters the apartment. In their brief conversation you learn it is a stalker of hers. He is in expensive clothes and jewelry.
He rapes her at knife point.
Back at the police station, Gina invites Crockett to dinner. They arrive at her apartment as the young man is leaving her building. Odette is laying naked on the sofa and in shock. Gina examines Odette and informs Crockett she was raped. Crockett remembers the man leaving as they entered and runs outside to give chase.
He pulls the man over and arrests him for reckless driving, resisting arrest, and rape. Later at the station he calls Gina who is at the hospital with Odette for an exam and rape kit and asks if Odette has a description. The description does not match, but Crockett still feels that this man is responsible, but has to release him. As Crockett releases him, he comments on how awful the man’s cologne is, the man informs him it is $100 an ounce and rare.
Crockett returns to Gina’s apartment where the team is gathering evidence. He notices the dress Odette was wearing has the man’s expensive cologne all over it. He goes to Odette’s apartment where Gina, her partner Trudy, and Odette’s roommate are comforting Odette. Crockett pulls Gina to the side and informs her they have physical evidence that shows the man he tried to arrest is the assailant and the description Odette gave could be a lie.
He tells Gina that the man’s name is Nico Arroyo, the son of a wealthy CEO of multiple banks in Miami. Gina lets him know that she used to work for Nico’s dad.
They confront Odette and discover that when she worked for the family, Nico stalked her and harassed her. When she learned he raped the cleaning girl before her, she quit and he kept stalking her. Gina tells her she needs to press charges. Odette is reluctant. She is a Haitian immigrant and poor. He is wealthy and powerful and threatened to deport her. Gina assures her as a legal immigrant he cannot do that.
The police find his physical evidence. His prints, his cologne, his hair fibers, and more. He is arrested and on bail. Lt Castillo, the boss of the team, informs them that the DA is reluctant to prosecute. Despite the physical evidense, there is no evidence of struggle. So it is ultimately he said she said. Gina is furious and wants to continue and try to find the other cleaning leady for corroboration. Castillo says he will press the DA to continue.
The father of Nico does not want the publicity of his son’s rape to hurt his business reputation. He flies the mother of Odette to Miami from Haiti. He and his lawyers meet with the mom and offer her $10,000 in hush money. The mother goes to Odette’s and Odette drops the charges.
Gina is furious and tells Odette $10,000 is cheap, suggesting in anger so is Odette. Odette stands up for herself and tells Gina she had no choice. Gina lives a life like a princess and her family has nothing. In Haiti in 1985, that $10,000 is a nice place to live and food on the table for her mother and her sister for the rest of their lives.
Trudy, Castillo, and Crockett try to tell Gina that she needs to respect Odette’s choice even if she does not agree with it and give her space. We are reminded that in Season 1 Gina was raped and this is her driving force. In time she realizes she was too hard on Odette and decides to go to her apartment to apologize.
Gina goes to the apartment to find Odette has committed suicide after he raped her again claiming he owned her now. She was bought and paid for.
Odette never found justice. She left Haiti for a better life, did the work to be a legal immigrant, and still had less rights and no protection from corrupt wealth. Evidence was not enough for a broken legal system.
Today
So how does 1985’s fictional account of rape stack up to the 2025’s reality? Surely in the post me too and post Weinstein world it is better, right?
According to Georgetown Law, out of every 1,000 rapes that are estimated to occur, seven will result in a conviction. Further, according to RAINN, only 7% of rapes reported to police result in a felony conviction, and only 6% of those convictions result in incarceration. How is this possible?
According to a 2023 peer reviewed study, about half of all complaints, like Odette, drop the charges before the case sees a day in court. RAINN states that only 13 out of 1,000 rape cases will lead to the DA prosecuting. Law enforcement or the prosecution team may decide not to press charges if they feel they can’t prove guilt. Even when there is evidence of a sexual encounter you do not have evidence for lack of consent.
Immigrants are not only shown to be less likely to commit crimes in the United States than citizens, they are also more likely to become victims of crimes with little to no recourse.
Odette, like immigrants today, have a lot to be worried about. Felony convictions can and will get you deported. But so will crimes involving moral turpitude. This is a difficult one to explain well, but it boils down to offenses that demonstrate a lack of good moral character. There is no comprehensive list for this and it includes misdemeanors. The phrase “moral turpitude” is a general term that refers to any act that is felt to violate community standards or involves dishonesty or immorality. That rather sounds like most crimes, doesn’t it? A weight like this and knowing that power has influence could lead any reasonable person to stay under the radar, even when they are the victim.
Unfortunately, this Miami Vice episode holds up too well because we have not changed much.
What Does the Future Hold?
On Martin Luther King Day of 2025, the United States of America will be inaugurating Donald Trump into his second presidential term. He has been found by a jury to have raped a woman. He also was recently convicted of 34 felonies in his Hush money trial. The hush money to quiet a woman he had sex with, and as we have written about at Gen X Watch, the sex was not as consensual as originally reported.
Based on these national developments in an election that Trump won by approximately 2 million votes, it is not likely we will see improvements in reporting and prosecuting rapes and sexual assault. Powerful CEO’s and wealthy people will likely continue to use their power and influence to silence victims, and immigrants will likely be less safe.
What Do We Do With the Odettes in Our Lives?
Gina pressed Odette too hard. Many victims are not believed. When I was a victim of rape as a minor there were only 3 people that treated me well when I came forward. My grandparents and a teacher who believed me. When I was 18 I dated a girl who had been raped when she was 16. She told her boyfriend what happened, he accused her of cheating and put her in the hospital with broken bones and a jaw that had to be wired. Most victims reading this will know what I know and a girl I loved when I was 18 knew, it is not only hard to tell the authorities, but it is also hard to tell friends and family. We have to educate ourselves and do better.
RAINN has a comprehensive guideline at https://rainn.org/TALK. Here are the bullet points in case you choose not to click the link (which is a choice):
Thank them for telling you!
Ask how you can help!
Listen without Judgement!
Keep supporting!
In the near future we will be featuring an interview with an advocate who speaks at schools and other spaces with an organization in the Chicago area for more real world tips that matter now. Please click the RAINN Link to learn more. We need to change the system, but while we do, there will likely be over 463,000 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault this year in the US. They need us to know how to help them before they end up like Odette…a victim of suicide.
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