Certain cases affect her worldview, however. During one case (Season 9, Episode 8 "Punk"), she prosecutes an incarcerated woman who had murdered a corrections officer she claims had forced her into a sexual relationship. 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 the woman, who reveals that she blames herself for being raped. This strikes a chord in Carmichael, who suddenly arranges a lenient plea bargain for the woman. Carmichael later reveals to McCoy that she had been raped as a freshman in college by a third-year law student she had been dating, and had for years blamed herself. In another case, her friend and fellow ADA, Toni Ricci, is murdered by the Russian mobsters she was prosecuting. It is the only time that she lets anyone in the DA's office see her cry.