Elizabeth Rodgers

Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers is a recurring character in the fictional universe of the crime drama franchise Law & Order. She is played by Leslie Hendrix.

Rodgers is dedicated to her work and finds it frustrating when she is badgered by the police for results when she doesn't have them yet.

She also has an affinity for classical music, saying once that she missed an Itzhak Perlman concert to perform an autopsy. When making an impression of bite marks on the back of an acclaimed opera conductor, she complimented him on his production of Aida ("One of the best nights of my life. Lennie Briscoe took me.").

Rodgers also reads many crime novels; she reviews them for small magazines. In (L&O: "The Family Hour"), Rodgers named a book that may have influenced the defendant in the murder. When she named the book, the police had not been able to find when they searched the defendant's home, since he was also a crime novel reader. However, the book didn't include the details that she had thought, but instead that scenario was in another book (this scenario is a reference to Law & Order's role in the Andrea Yates case). Because of this, she wrote a letter to the judge explaining her mistake. When McCoy wanted to give the letter to the judge and leave the reference out of his summation, Branch stopped him and made Connie Rubirosa, the younger and less experienced ADA, do the summation instead. Though they ended up getting the guilty verdict without giving the judge the letter or mentioning the novel, Rodgers was upset by her mistake and thought it ruined her reputation as a good witness.

Rodgers is a regularly recurring character on Law & Order, as well as the spin-off Law & Order: Criminal Intent. She also made several guest appearances during the first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as a guest appearance on Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She is currently the longest-running recurring character in Law & Order and one of only five characters who have appeared in all four series of the Law & Order franchise. The other four are Lennie Briscoe, Ed Green, Arthur Branch, and Elizabeth Olivet.

Rodgers can often be seen eating in the morgue. In several episodes, characters comment on her lunch being near the bodies.

Although it is never officially mentioned on screen, there are several moments that point to a growing relationship between Rodgers and Captain Danny Ross of the Major Case Squad. In one episode, Ross and Rodgers can be seen getting into an elevator dressed for going to the theater. When Ross asks Rodgers for information on Det. Goren, Goren later confronts Ross with this, shouting at Ross, "Did your girlfriend tell you this?!" After Ross is murdered, Goren and Eames arrive at the crime scene to find Rodgers already there, visibly distraught over both his death and the fact that the FBI is denying her access to the body.

Episode sources


Elizabeth Rodgers