her. When Todd is on the witness stand, "he goes as far as forgiving Marty for claiming that what happened the night of the Spring Fling was rape". The trial ends in a mistrial when Nora Gannon (Hillary B. Smith), Todd's lawyer, realizes that the three alleged perpetrators did rape her. To Malone and ABC executives' surprise, Todd became an "immensely popular" character during the storyline. As his popularity grew, and as a solution not to have to kill off what had become a perceived monster, Malone and executive producer Susan Bedsow Horgan chose a controversial option — the decision to complicate Todd by ensuring that he was not a one-dimensional rapist. Malone and Horgan started Todd's transition into a more well-rounded character with their second transition of Powell. They had Powell attempt suicide and soon confess to raping Marty. He is publicly forgiven by Marty herself, which enrages Todd when he and fellow rapist Zach receive eight-year sentences behind prison compared to Powell's three months of jail time. Todd makes a vow that he will be out of prison in three months as well. To carry out this vow, Todd was written to escape by "drugging himself, waking from a coma to leap from a speeding ambulance, and then reviving himself again by stabbing a knife through his hand while rolling his eyes heavenward" and saying the pain felt good. The scary determination of the character had become characteristic of him by then, and he often seemed superhuman. Within the story, he wants revenge on the person he feels is most responsible for his prison time, Nora. With his escape from prison, he sets out to attack the currently blind Nora. Todd stalks and torments her, but she is spared from his attack by her then-husband Bo Buchanan (Robert S. Woods) showing up before Todd can finish the assault and rape her. Todd eventually tries to rape Marty again but fails; his attack is thwarted by Marty's close friend (Luna Moody). The writers had the scuffle between the two leave Todd with a scar gracing the right side of his face, which served to signify his past misdeeds. They soon started to redeem him, first with the introduction of character Rebecca Lewis. His "true redemption" begins with his rescue of Marty and two children from a car wreck, and ends with the discovery that he is the rightful heir