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Omar Peña, played by Guillermo Díaz, appeared in Law & Order: SVU season 13, episode 17 (2012). He was a seaman wrongfully convicted of a crime, and his story focused on the repercussions he faced. Law & Order: SVU, a spin-off of Law & Order, premiered in 1999 and covers sensitive crimes like s*xual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence.
In the show, Law & Order: SVU, Omar Peña was arrested by Olivia Benson, the main protagonist in the show, the commanding officer in the Special Victims Unit. Olivia Benson was played by Mariska Hargitay in the show.
What happened to Omar Peña in the Law & Order: SVU?
In Law & Order: SVU season 13, episode 17, the team investigates the rape of Gina Logan. During interrogation, they uncover a similar case from 2004 involving Omar Peña. Peña was convicted of assaulting Ariel Baskins, who was tied up, muffled, and partially blinded by ammonia. Olivia Benson led a nine-hour investigation, during which Peña, a US Navy seaman, confessed to the crime.
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Following the confession, Omar Peña was arrested in the show Law & Order: SVU and was sentenced to 315 years in prison, he later recanted his confession and claimed that he did so under extreme pressure, however, there was no respite. During his confinement at Green Haven Correctional Facility, he began various campaigns to prove his innocence.
In order to understand the system better, Omar Peña started studying law, he began assisting his inmates in their trials, which earned him the nickname "Matlock". In the past eight years till the case of Gina Logan, he tried to push the courts to re-open his case but he was turned down every time.
The case of Gina Logan exuded a stark resemblance to a previous case that happened in 2004, leading to Olivia Benson believing that it was an act carried out by a close alibi of Omar Peña, who did so to reopen his case. As Olivia Benson was set on a mission to solve Gina's case, halfway through her investigation she was forced to revisit Omar's case.
Bensons's techniques of investigation were challenged and considered intense which is believed to lead to a forceful confession. And when a case from the past was re-opened, this became more evident. The careful re-assessment of Omar Peña case proved his innocence and the real culprit was uncovered.
How was Omar Peña proven innocent in Law & Order: SVU?
The re-assessment of the case began with the statement from the victim Areil Baskins, who helped in identifying the color of the scarf, one of the key pieces of evidence in the case. As per information gained from her, the scarf she was tied with was red as opposed to the green-colored one in the evidence log.
This made Olivia realize that she could never visit the scene of the crime as she was on standby with Ariel who was hospitalized. Her colleagues were also not aware of the scarf at the scene and this negligence led to a record of wrong evidence.
As the truth about evidence surfaced, the SVU re-investigated Omar's case which led the team to Javier Maranhao, a Brazilian sailor, who committed similar crimes after Ariel and was the culprit behind Ariel Baskins and Gina Logan's case. He was uncovered with the help of Interpol and his DNA tests proved him guilty of the crimes mentioned.
Omar Peña is released and all charges against him are dropped in an emergency hearing with an apology from the Judicial system and the SVU team.
