who plays rafael barba on law and order
Raúl Esparza RaÃºl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American stage and television actor, singer, and voice artist, best known for his role as Rafael Barba in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He has received Tony nominations for his role as Philip Salon in the Boy George musical Taboo in 2004; Robert, an empty man devoid of connection in the musical comedy Company in 2006; a lazy and snarky man in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming; and an aggressive volatile movie producer in David Mamet's Speed the Plow. He played the role of Riff Raff on Broadway in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show and the role of Caractacus Potts in the Broadway musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Rafael Barba In the season 18 episode "Know It All", when Barba is about to get Benson a search warrant for suspected rapist and murderer David Willard (Chris Diamantopoulos), he recuses himself from the investigation. He deflects when Benson tries to ask him what is going on and she has to get the warrant from another DA. They pick up all of the computers and equipment from Davidâ€™s office; they also find a burner phone. They look at all of the calls and one in particular is from a young girl. Benson and Carisi visit her who says she previously talked to a detective. They realize the detective is fake and that she is connected to Barba. The young girl is the daughter of a witness he once worked with. The mother was a heroin addict. Years prior, it was revealed that he gave her money (knowing that she would use it to buy heroin) in order for her to testify at a trial. The witness later died of an overdose. After that, Barba started sending her daughter money every month. Willard must have hacked his bank account to use it against him. The episode ends with Barba uncertain about his future in the DA's office. In the next episode, "The Newsroom", Barba is back in the courtroom, revealing to Benson that he has just returned from a suspension.