Rita's Lawyer

Rita's Lawyer is a character in Season One of the Showtime series DEXTER.

He is retained by Rita Bennett after Paul Bennett files an assault charge against her.

Previous Event

 * “Father Knows Best”

When Rita returns home after helping Dexter Morgan clear out his recently deceased biological father's house in Dade City, Paul Bennett shows up at her house. He tries to sexually assault her and Rita smacks him in the head with a baseball bat and flees with Astor and Cody.

Summary

 * "Seeing Red"

Two Miami-Dade Sheriff Department Deputies show up at Z Hotel where Rita is working the front desk. They inform her that Paul has been released from the Baptist Memorial Hospital and is filing an assault charge against her. They take Rita, who is in a state of disbelief, to the police station, from where she calls Dexter Morgan. She tells Dexter that she has been charged with a Class 2 Felony and could lose her job, and lose her kids. Dexter can't discuss the situation at the moment because he is at the Marina View Hotel crime scene. He tells her not to worry, because he has a lawyer friend.

The lawyer soon meets with Rita at her house. He questions her about the night she hit Paul. Did she ask Paul to leave? Why did she invite him into her bedroom? Rita explains that Paul was drunk and she tried to prevent an escalation of his anger. She brings up Paul’s record of spousal abuse. The lawyer says that he understands, but Paul does have injuries, and he is a model parolee, with clean drug tests. He advises her to not deny Paul visitations with the children until the deposition, which is being held in two days.

During the deposition, it comes to light that Rita broke a visitation agreement on the weekend she went away with Dexter. The lawyer is annoyed that she did not tell him this before. Rita says that she didn’t realize it was such a big deal. Rita also learns that she is required to have a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether she will retain custody of her children. The lawyer informs her that Paul, unfortunately, has a valid case against her. Dexter, who is present at the deposition, begins to realize the seriousness of the situation.

That night, Dexter knocks Paul out with a frying pan, takes him to his motel room, and shoots him up with heroin (that he'd stolen from Miami Metro’s evidence locker). Not long after, the lawyer stops by Rita’s house to let her know that Paul is back in jail because he violated the "Florida Three Strikes Law." Rita is ecstatic.

Related Pages

 * Court Supervisor
 * Miami Motor Court
 * Paul Bennett
 * Rita Bennett
 * Rita Bennett's House