Abigail "Abbie" Carmichael is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on the TV drama Law & Order

Law & Order

Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...

created by Rene Balcer

René Balcer

René Balcer is a Canadian television writer, director and producer.-Early life:He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and attended Lower Canada College in Montreal. He earned his B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Communication Studies from Concordia University in 1978. He began his career as a journalist,...

 and portrayed by model

Model (person)

A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....

/actress Angie Harmon

Angie Harmon

Angela Michelle "Angie" Harmon is an American fashion model and television/film actress. She became a well-known model before gaining international fame for her roles in Baywatch Nights and Law & Order....

. The character was regularly featured from 1998 to 2001.

In Law & Order

Abbie Carmichael is introduced in the episode "Cherished", having transferred from the Narcotics Bureau to replace Jamie Ross (Carey Lowell

Carey Lowell

Carey Lowell is an American actress and former model.-Early life:Lowell was born in Huntington, New York and spent much of her childhood traveling with her father, James Lowell, who was a geologist. Immediately after graduating from Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, CO., she was signed by the...

) as Jack McCoy

Jack McCoy

John James "Jack" McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama Law & Order, created by Michael S. Chernuchin and played by Sam Waterston since 1994. He is the second-longest tenured character on the show, after Lt. Anita Van Buren . On January 28, 2009, McCoy's character ended the longest...

's (Sam Waterston

Sam Waterston

Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...

) assistant in the New York County DA's office. The series reveals that she attended the University of Texas, where she was on the track team. ("Shield").

Carmichael is characterized as a staunch political conservative: She is pro-life

Pro-life

Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...

, opposes gun control

Gun control

Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...

, favors the death penalty, and has little to no faith in criminal rehabilitation

Rehabilitation (penology)

Rehabilitation means; To restore to useful life, as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity....

 programs. These political beliefs often put her in conflict with McCoy, Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff (Law & Order)

Adam Schiff is a fictional character on the TV drama series Law & Order. He was played by Steven Hill from 1990 to 2000. Schiff was one of the main characters of the series and appeared in every episode of the first ten seasons except for Everybody's Favorite Bagman, which was produced before Hill...

 (Steven Hill

Steven Hill

Steven Hill is an American film and television actor. His two better-known roles are District Attorney Adam Schiff on the NBC TV drama series Law & Order, whom he portrayed for ten seasons , and Dan Briggs, the original team leader of the Impossible Missions Force on CBS's television series...

) and Nora Lewin

Nora Lewin

Nora Lewin was a fictional character on the TV show Law & Order, played by two-time Academy Award winning actress Dianne Wiest from 2000 to 2002. Her character was particularly notable for the fact that she was the first woman in the program's history to hold the position of New York County...

 (Dianne Wiest

Dianne Wiest

Dianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...

), all of whom are of a more liberal stripe.

In the episode "Punk", Carmichael's prosecution of an incarcerated woman (who had murdered a corrections officer she claims had forced her into a sexual relationship) affects her political outlook. Carmichael, who had prosecuted the woman before on a drug charge, has no sympathy for her and seems hell-bent on putting her in prison for life — until she cross-examines

Cross-examination

In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...

 the woman, who reveals that she blames herself for being rape

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

d. This strikes a chord in Carmichael, who suddenly arranges a lenient plea bargain

Plea bargain

A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...

 for the woman. Carmichael later reveals to McCoy that she had been raped as a freshman in college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

 by a third-year law student she had been dating.

In the 1999 episode "Refuge", her friend and fellow ADA, Toni Ricci, is murdered by the Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n mobsters she was prosecuting. It is the only time during Carmichael's tenure in the DA's office that she lets anyone see her cry.

Carmichael makes her final appearance in the episode "Deep Vote", as she accepts an offer to join the U.S. Attorney's office in New York. She is replaced by Serena Southerlyn

Serena Southerlyn

Serena Southerlyn is a fictional character on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order.-Character overview:Southerlyn joined the District Attorney's office in 2001 as an ADA, replacing Abbie Carmichael...

 (Elisabeth Röhm

Elisabeth Röhm

Elisabeth Röhm is a German-born American television actress. She is known for playing Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn in the American TV series Law & Order, and as Detective Kate Lockley in the TV series Angel....

).

In Law & Order spinoffs

Carmichael also appeared in six episodes of the first season of the spinoff series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...

.

Behind the scenes

Despite describing Abbie Carmichael as a "great character", Harmon nonetheless was frustrated with the fact that her shooting schedule on the show caused her to miss out on roles in the movies Charlie's Angels

Charlie's Angels (film)

Charlie's Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as three women working for a private investigation agency...

and Spy Kids

Spy Kids

The Spy Kids series is a series of family action adventure films written, produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The main plot follows the adventures of two Cortez children who become involved in their parents' espionage. The rest of their family are spies as well, including their estranged...

. Additionally, she felt that "the character didn't grow". Harmon asked producer Dick Wolf

Dick Wolf

Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...

to kill off the Carmichael character in a dramatic fashion, but he refused.