Michaela McManus will play new ADA on NBC mainstay

Michaela McManus will be headed to New York to prosecute criminals this fall, and apparently not to Vegas to get married.

McManus, late of The CW's "One Tree Hill" has joined the cast of NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" as a regular. She'll play the new assistant district attorney for the Special Victims Unit, the showbiz trade papers say.

Her character will replace Casey Novak (Diane Neal), who was suspended from the job in last month's season finale.

The casting of McManus also partially resolves the cliffhanger that ended "One Tree Hill" in May. As the show ended its fifth season, Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) picked up the phone and asked someone to fly to Las Vegas and marry him. What viewers have yet to find out, however, is who's on the receiving end: Brooke (Sophia Bush), Peyton (Hilarie Burton) or Lindsey (McManus) -- though the latter is probably ruled out now.

McManus is a relative newcomer to showbiz. Other than "One Tree Hill," her only screen credits are the independent film "Cosa Bella" and a short called "The Beautiful Lie."