Trial by Media (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Subway Vigilante - full transcript

[NEWSMAN] And we begin with a story
that says something about our times,

the story of the subway vigilante.

[NEWSWOMAN] To many New Yorkers,
this man has become a folk hero.

It was the most notorious subway ride
in history.

[DUNLEAVY] Four teenagers
caught a train from the Bronx.

They traveled to Manhattan,
looking for some big-city excitement.

And, boy, did they find it.

[NEWSMAN] An event that became
an instant metaphor

in the American national dialogue

about street crime
and the limits of self-defense.

[SLIWA] The media was doing its job.



It was fear, fright, hysteria and hype.

[NEWSMAN] The case has touched a nerve

that has brought it into the national
and international spotlight.

[SHARPTON] We were able,
for the first time,

to get the issue of race
front and center in the city,

in a mass media setting.

[DUNLEAVY] The whole bloody world exploded

on the newspapers and TV.

It was incredible.

[SLIWA] When they walked into that car
and they started messing with him,

they didn't realize…

that the time bomb was already ticking.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYS]



[TYPEWRITER CLACKING]

[TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS]

[DISTORTED SOUNDS]

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA]

[TRAIN CAR BRAKES SCREECHING]

[INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

[SLIWA] I remember
when I first heard about it.

I don't even think
it had hit the news yet.

I was on an Amtrak train,
on the number four train.

The conductors came up and said,
"You didn't hear about the gunman?"

He gunned these four black guys
on a number two train in Lower Manhattan.

[NEWSMAN] A night when police
are searching for a gunman.

They say that he methodically shot
four young men

on a crowded 7th Avenue IRT Express.

[NEWSWOMAN] A gunman who police say

told the conductor
of the southbound number two train

that the four victims
were trying to mug him.

And he stated
that they tried to rip him off...

- Okay.
- …and he opened up on them.

[NEWSMAN] Four black teenagers
pressed him for five dollars.

He reportedly told them,
"I've got five dollars for each of you."

[NEWSWOMAN] Two of his victims
are in critical condition tonight,

suffering from gunshot wounds
in the chest.

The other two, shot in the back,
are in serious condition.

It appeared that he had slunk
into the darkness of the tunnel.

[DILLON] Quite a few people

quite naturally ran from the train.

Our initial information
was that he jumped between two cars

and escaped, uh, into the tunnel,

but we're not exactly sure
how he got away.

He disappeared.

He just disappeared.

[NEWSWOMAN] The gunman is described
as a white man in his late 30s,

blond hair, wearing glasses,

and neatly dressed in a gray sweater
and blue jacket.

We're desperately looking for this man.

[NEWSWOMAN] Police Commissioner
Benjamin Ward announced

that for the next two days, there will be
almost 1,000 additional police officers

monitoring the subway system.

[SLIWA] "If it bleeds, it leads."

And the quickest way to get news out

was the tabloids that would hit
the streets at two, three in the morning.

[DUNLEAVY] For a newspaper man,
it was exciting.

Also baffling.

We were going nuts... [CHUCKLES]

To put it simply.

News didn't travel that fast then,
but, boy, when it hit, it exploded.

If the story is sensational,
there's only one way write it,

and that's sensationally.

[DUNLEAVY] The press,

we dubbed him the subway vigilante.

[NEWSWOMAN] Police, meantime,
are continuing their manhunt

for that subway vigilante.

[DUNLEAVY] It probably did create
in many people's minds

what a vigilante gunman would look like.

[NEWSMAN] What he did has touched a nerve
in New York.

[SLIWA] Who is this guy?

Is he a New Yorker? Is he a visitor?

[DUNLEAVY] Is this guy going to turn up
by committing suicide,

or is he going to go off
on another shooting spree?

Or an Army Ranger,
or maybe he had served in the military.

[DUNLEAVY] The immediate comparison

was Charles Bronson...

the vigilante killer of people
who were bad and naughty.

[SLIWA] You know, Bronson was the ultimate
macho, maniacal fightback guy.

Cold, steely.

He got them before they got him.

[SIREN WAILING]

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

[NEWSMAN] If you think
it's rough out there, you're right.

Violent crime rose two percent
in New York State last year.

[SIREN WAILING]

[DUNLEAVY] In those early '80s,

New York was horrific.

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

People associated New York
"murder capital of America."

[SIREN WAILING]

Every day, every night,
there would be massive, uh, carnage.

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

[DUNLEAVY] And it wasn't, uh, restricted
to, uh, Harlem or the South Bronx.

I mean, you could get yourself mugged
on Fifth Avenue.

Well, let's face it.

We're all sick and tired of being scared.
That's the bottom line.

It's about time
somebody protected themselves.

Nobody's protecting us on the subway.

I'm tired of being afraid
of riding the subways,

and I have to ride the subways.

If he was being robbed, hey,
he had to do what he had to do.

Self-defense, simple as that.

[NEWSWOMAN] The Guardian Angels,
a volunteer group that patrols subways,

believes in self-defense

and is asking the mayor
to grant temporary amnesty

to the subway shooter.

[SLIWA] As happens to most New Yorkers
at some time in their life

in going through the subway tubes

that four or five jackals will come up
and try to shake you down,

that he felt the need to protect himself.

[SLIWA] 1979, the city was on the verge
of going bankrupt.

There were no transit cops.

And so, I started
the Guardian Angels safety patrols.

And we'll risk our life to protect people,

do physical interventions,
make citizen's arrests.

[NEWSMAN] Sunday night,
two Angels were arrested by police

after they tried to make
a citizen's arrest

of a man who threatened them with a knife.

[SLIWA] The, uh, police,
for the most part,

felt we were like hemorrhoids
in red berets.

They couldn't find enough Preparation H

to smear on us,
hope we dry up and go away.

[REPORTER] Once again, a turf dispute
between the Guardian Angels

and the New York City Police Department

has overshadowed the real battle
going on in the streets here.

And that's between the crack dealers

and the people who have to live
and work here.

[SLIWA] You know, having been shot myself

with hollow point bullets,

you identified with this gunman,

not knowing Jack, diddly squat,
anything about him.

And immediately, you vilified these four.

[SIREN WAILING]

I remember when we first saw their images
on TV.

Troy Canty,

Barry Allen,

James Ramseur,

uh, Darrell Cabey.

I was sitting with some
Guardian Angels in the headquarters

in the Bronx, where I live.

So, we know these guys.

They worked the number two train
all the time.

They come down from the Bronx.

[NEWSWOMAN] The four young men,
ages 18 and 19,

all lived
in this South Bronx neighborhood.

[DUNLEAVY] They had criminal records,
but very light.

It was criminal mischief
they were charged with.

[SLIWA] You know, they were a crew.

Their whole thing was to sweat you down,
approach you.

They knew they could intimidate you.

[NEWSWOMAN 1] Police say they did find
several sharpened screwdrivers

in the coat pockets of the victims,

screwdrivers sometimes used as weapons
or theft tools.

[NEWSWOMAN 2] Although they were carrying
sharpened screwdrivers,

they did not brandish any weapons
and have not been charged with any crime.

The four victims are being cooperative,

and those victims do plan to press charges
against the assailant,

that if he is found.

[DUNLEAVY] New York City cops
went through every venue in the world

to get any kind of a hint.

And really, they didn't have much.

Not at all.

[NEWSMAN 1] Today, police think
they have their man.

A man turned himself in
and said he is the vigilante.

[NEWSMAN 2] Thirty-seven-year-old
Bernhard Goetz.

[NEWSWOMAN] Bernhard Goetz...

[NEWSMAN 3] Bernhard Hugo Goetz...

[REPORTER] Mr. Goetz, do you feel
you defended yourself justifiably?

- [CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[DUNLEAVY] If he didn't turn himself in
to the Concord cops,

we may never, ever, ever have caught him.

[NEWSMAN] So tonight, New York City
detectives are on their way to Concord

to question him and bring him back.

He's been arrested and charged
with attempted murder, four counts.

Unlawful possession of a weapon.

Sir, was he cooperative at this point or...

Yes, he's been cooperative.

Hi. Uh, Mr. Goetz,

I'm Assistant District Attorney
Susan Braver,

and I'm with the New York County
Manhattan district attorney's office.

And these two gentlemen

are Detective Hattendorf
of the transit police squad

and Detective Clark
of the New York City Police Department.

You indicated to the detectives here

that you would speak with us
about this incident.

You know,
just when I hear New Yorkers speak...

I... I don't even want to...

[GROANS]

- [BRAVER] This is all on videotape.
- Sure.

[BRAVER] Nothing that's said in this room
is off the videotape.

- That's...
- [BRAVER] For your protection and ours.

That's... That's...

[DUNLEAVY] Suddenly, Bernie appears,

this slightly stooped,

gently spoken man with glasses,

uh, sandy blond hair.

My God.

This can't be that crazed subway vigilante

everyone was expecting to see.

It certainly threw me for a loop.
It certainly did.

I-I-I just...

I-I-I... I told them everything, okay?

And I'm not gonna fight it.
I'm not gonna fight it. Do you understand?

I am not gonna fight this, okay?

[NEWSMAN] The accused lives in Manhattan
on the fringe of Greenwich Village.

[WALTERS] In 1965, Bernhard Goetz
enrolled at New York University

where he graduated with a degree
in nuclear engineering.

He operates an electronics testing
and repair firm today

out of the bedroom
and living room of his apartment.

For a man some describe
as a quiet, frail scientist,

it's been quite a day.

[NEWSMAN 1] Police here say the suspect,
Bernhard Goetz,

was mugged and robbed
nearly four years ago.

[NEWSMAN 2] That mugging
by three teenagers

may explain his actions
earlier this month.

Bernie said that he had been mugged
on a previous occasion

in which he got dusted up pretty good.

They deliberately went after my knee.

And they got it...
I got kicked in the knee.

And then what hurts you...
They didn't have weapons.

You don't have to be maimed with a weapon.
What really hurts you is the sidewalk.

They tried to push me
through a plate-glass door also.

You know?

And I think he realized
he wasn't able to respond. He froze.

No. So, listen. If someone kills me...

If someone kills me, I don't care,
but I just don't want to be maimed.

I don't want to be beaten.

Being in the streets,
I can identify with that...

that-that-that-that...
That other person in you

that will no longer be beaten, robbed,
and violated any longer.

It's a fightback. It's a call to...
And people, instead of rejecting that,

actually identified with that.

[WALTERS] Why do you think, Mayor Koch,
that this has aroused

such attention all over the country?

Because all over the country,
including the city of New York,

people have lost faith
in the criminal justice system.

[NEWSMAN] Today in Washington,
a congressional hearing into crime.

Senator Alfonse D'Amato says
he'll be glad to testify

for subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz
in his upcoming trial.

I've been on that subway
when these young...

thugs come in there,

and they don't even have to approach you.

When three or four or five come in,
and they start their messing around,

they are menacing by their presence.

[NEWSMAN] And Bernhard Goetz's name
came up

during tonight's
White House news conference.

President Reagan said he could not condone
what Goetz did,

but he understands the frustration

of people
who are constantly threatened by crime.

It seemed that we got overzealous
in protecting the criminal's rights

and forgot about the victim.

[NEWSMAN] Goetz was brought to the city
from New Hampshire today

to begin his journey
through the criminal justice system.

Fundraising efforts are underway
to pay his bail and legal expenses.

You make it out to the BH Goetz,

G-O-E-T-Z, Defense Fund.

I was talking to colleagues about the case

because it was the subject of discussion
far and wide, and I said,

"Whoever gets this case is gonna have
the case of the century."

Little did I know

what the good Lord had in store for me
and my partner,

Barry Slotnick.

There were very few
big, big criminal cases

that they did not have a part in.

[BAKER] But there was a dramatic move away
from the kind of clientele

we were carrying
at that particular point in time...

gentlemen like John Gotti
and other members of organized crime.

But from the standpoint...

of its evidentiary issues,

the media attention,

it was just a lawyer's dream.

And the stakes were high,
which is what defense lawyers look for.

Who's that? Who's that guy?

That's Bernhard Goetz.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]

[WHISPERS] He's the subway vigilante.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]

He looks marvelous.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]

[APPLAUSE]

[NEWSMAN 1] Technically, this was
the first day of freedom

for Bernhard Goetz
after being released from Rikers Island.

It didn't quite turn out that way.

[NEWSMAN 2] Outside his attorney's office,
reporters mobbed Goetz

as he went to the bathroom,

then tailed him to the elevator,

but none of it yielded any comment

from the 37-year-old
electronics technician.

Have you become the victim now?

Are you the victim?

[REPORTER] Have you become the victim
at this point?

In a sense, he is a prisoner
of his own sudden notoriety.

He can't go anywhere without a reporter
or a photographer chasing him.

[REPORTER] Anybody want his autograph?

Waitresses, several customers asked,

and, of course, I told them
that I didn't think it was really him.

[REPORTER] Just to keep them
away from him?

- To keep them away.
- [REPORTER] Did he ask to be kept away?

- Yes.
- [REPORTER] Oh, he did.

He was right to do what he did.
I would have done the same thing.

I hope he runs for president.

[SLIWA] Every sycophant, toady,
and lackey in the world

was trying to get a piece
of Bernhard Goetz.

[ALL CHATTERING]

[NEWSMAN] At every public appearance,

Goetz is surrounded by more bodyguards

than Prince or Michael Jackson
at a rock concert.

With their own, um,
agenda to be served.

[NEWSMAN] So popular did Goetz become

that fast-buck artists
began selling Goetz records and T-shirts.

[FELDMAN] There were bumper stickers
being sold

all across New York and in the subways

that read, "Ride with Bernie.
He Goetz 'em."

- [WOMAN] Did you have a bumper sticker?
- I certainly did.

Bernie Goetz was being robbed,
and thus, he had the right

to use a gun to protect himself

and, under New York state law,
absolutely lawfully.

Here in New York, a coalition of groups
took advantage of the support for Goetz

to push for reform of some laws.

The issue? Gun control.

The leader of the groups?
The National Rifle Association.

[NEWSWOMAN] These are legal guns,

but under the current laws,

a person caught with an illegal weapon
could receive a year in prison.

Mayor Koch would like that jail term
to be mandatory.

If you get caught
carrying an illegal handgun,

you'll go to jail for one year,

and there is no way around it.

[FELDMAN] The gun Bernie had,
he... he obtained in Florida.

He brought it to New York illegally

because it was very difficult
to get a carry license

unless you're a big financier,

or you're a celebrity,
or you're connected to the mayor.

I applied for a gun permit
with the City of New York

after this first incident
with my knee happened,

and you will have it in your records.

Because I'm sure you have it...

You've got the fingerprint,
the picture, the whole business.

I spent about $2,000
and went through all kinds of paperwork.

Money doesn't mean all kinds of shit.
And when all that is said and done,

and I tried to play by all your rules,
and you say, "Well, I hated..."

I needed the gun because I have a business
and this and that,

and I tried playing all the games
with switching around the money.

The detective said, "We can't go
giving anybody a gun permit"

just because they want it.
That would be irresponsible."

Bernie Goetz couldn't get

a concealed carry license in New York City

even though
he's exactly the kind of person

who should have been able to.

So I knew instantly Bernie was gonna be
the poster boy for the NRA.

At that time, the NRA was still a cause.

We used to promote sporting use
and hunting.

But we were a little hinky about...

talking about self-defense.

So the Bernie Goetz story
was an opportunity

on a high-visibility issue

for the NRA to weigh in
on the side of the victims.

[NEWSWOMAN] The NRA wants
legislation reintroduced in Albany

that would give people greater access
to firearm permits.

[FELDMAN] So, I got my bosses at NRA

to let me do a news conference

to get our point of view expressed.

And I remembered the line.
I said, "The government"

which cannot protect its citizens..."

has no right to deny them
the means to protect themselves.

[NEWSWOMAN] The National Rifle Association
today began running ads

in New York City newspapers,

ads that say law-abiding citizens

have the right to protect themselves
because the city no longer does.

[NEWSMAN] Meanwhile,
a group of black leaders

met with a federal prosecutor

to press their demand for a civil rights
investigation of the Goetz case.

I think that Mr. Goetz was seriously
psychologically damaged

by former muggings, and that in his mind,

that young blacks
are the stereotypical-type muggers.

I'm firmly convinced
if those four boys had been white,

he would have not have assumed
they were out to mug him

until they'd actually tried to mug him.

[SHARPTON] If you really felt they were
gonna do something to harm you,

you get up and show your gun at worst
and say, "Leave me alone."

But, no, you don't get up
and just start firing

and shooting four people.

How is that self-defense?

Other than you're really dealing
with this kind of fear and overreaction

that is soaked with race and bigotry.

Vigilantism is what my mother
and my grandmother and them

had to run from in the South.

The Klan was vigilantes.

We fought from Abolitionist Movement

all the way
through the Civil Rights Movement

for the law to protect us.

How can we then turn around
and embrace those that say,

"I'm gonna take the law
into my own hands"?

And I knew
that I was gonna get a lot of backlash,

but I was as determined
as the other side was

that you all are gonna finally
have to deal with this issue.

I went and started, uh,
having my own rallies

in Bed-Stuy every Saturday morning.

Then I said, to dramatize it,

I took 30 young people down
in front of his house

and would picket and... and have a rally

to say any one of these kids
could have been on the subway.

And the media, uh, picked up on it.

We do not think
these boys are role models,

but we don't think Goetz is either.

We think five criminally-minded people
met on the subway that day.

Obviously,
it could be a black-white issue.

So I reached out to the guy
that I knew I needed to have with me:

Roy Innis
from the Congress of Racial Equality.

It is always right for a man or a woman
to defend themselves.

It is always right

to prevent oneself
from being injured by criminals.

[NEWSWOMAN] Innis said today that parts
of Harlem already resemble Dodge City.

Innis said criminals know how to get guns

and that law-abiding citizens
who are tested and trained

should also have that right.

[INNIS] Based on what happened
to Bernhard Goetz,

in a previous mugging,

he should have had, uh, a legal permit.

He should not be facing
criminal charges now.

[SHARPTON] And then,
the supporters of Goetz

started, you know, attacking us,

and we were race-baiting,
and we were this, that, and the other.

There are enough true racist situations

that we need to confront.

Let us not abuse the trust of the public.

You can't condemn the victims
when they minded their own business.

We have to attack the predators.

[BAKER] It galvanized, uh, the citizenry

from all corners of the spectrum.

Bernie was useful

for everybody that had a mission.

For those who were fighting racism,
he was useful.

For those who supported
the prevalence of weapons,

he was very useful.

And those who were crime-fighting,
like the Guardian Angels,

Bernie Goetz stood as an example

of what we all need to do
to defend ourselves in town.

There was so much passion on both sides,

and there was Bernie Goetz in the middle.

[NEWSMAN 1] New York subway gunman
Bernhard Goetz

may be headed for more trouble.

One of the victims, Darrell Cabey,

already paralyzed from the waist down,

suddenly stopped breathing
and had to be put on a respirator.

[NEWSMAN 2] Family sources
told Channel 5 News

his condition was described to them
by doctors as "a tough pull."

The next 48 hours will tell the story.

[NEWSMAN 3] If he dies,
Goetz could face murder charges.

Have you considered the possibility
that Darrell was trying to...

to mug Goetz?

No, I don't... I don't believe, I know...

he wasn't out to mug him

because before he went into the coma,

he told me he was sitting across from him.

And, um, he didn't say anything to him
or asked him for anything.

[NEWSMAN] Lawyers say Cabey's mother
has received reams of hate mail

and threats from an agitated public.

Uh, one we received, it says,
"Dear Mrs. Cabey,"

I'm glad Darrell is paralyzed.

He need to sit, uh, his black ass
in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"I'm so sorry
that the other three can't join him."

Other letters contained
overt racial epithets, racial slurs.

I mean, how did you react
when you got this hate mail?

They never stopped to think

that it could have been their child,
you know.

Shirley Cabey came to visit.

And she was absolutely horrified

that the man who did this to her son
is being...

lionized as some... as some sort of hero.

She's in a state of shock.

Uh, she said that... that the whole...

the whole thing is just unreal to her.

And she said
the message that comes out of this

is that it's all right, uh,
for white people

to go out and pick up guns
and shoot black people.

[KUBY] She recognized
the criminal process was ongoing.

She didn't particularly trust it.

And so, we agreed to...
To fight Bernhard Goetz

on behalf of Darrell Cabey in civil court.

Cabey's mother has filed a lawsuit
against Goetz,

asking for $50 million in damages.

[NEWSMAN] Meanwhile, Goetz's attorney said
his client has black friends

and is deeply hurt by allegations

the shooting was partly motivated
by racism.

Keeping him on a tight leash
was very difficult

because the reporters were famished
for information.

But I'll never forget February 27th, 1985.

[NEWSMAN] Documents just made public

provide new, possibly explosive
information in this case.

[BAKER] The district attorney
put into the public record

statements that he had made
on the videotape.

[NEWSMAN] Material that gives
a graphic description

of some of what may have gone on
in that subway car

when Goetz came face-to-face
with the young men.

The two were on my right,
and the two were on my left.

I-I knew, at that point,
I would have to pull the gun.

When I saw...

the... the smile on his face

and the shine... and the shine in his eyes,

that he was enjoying this,

it was at that point
I decided I was gonna...

kill them all, murder them all,
do anything.

And the fella who was standing up
I was sure I'd shot,

he was fine.

I-I went...

I went to him a second time.

I looked at him.

And he can't verify this because
he was probably out of it by then.

If I'd shot him or if he wasn't,
I don't know.

And I said,
"You seem to be doing all right.

Here's another."

Well, that changed
the climate dramatically.

How can you reconcile words like,
"You don't look too bad.

"Here's another," with self-defense?

It showed that it wasn't defensive.
It was...

a cold-blooded attempted execution.

[NEWSMAN] The fourth teenager to be shot
was Darrell Cabey,

who remains semi-comatose
at a Manhattan hospital.

[SHARPTON] The more and more
they got to know who Bernie Goetz was,

it began to take the halo off his head.

[FELDMAN] One can interpret
things he said differently,

but as I recall the statement about,

"Well, you don't look so bad.
Here, have another,"

that was the problematic one
that showed...

You know, that... that was a problem.

If you're gonna cheer for that,
there's something the matter with you.

Absolutely,
you have no respect for the law.

[NEWSMAN] Prosecutors have refused
to release the tape,

but leaked excerpts from the confession
have made banner headlines.

I wanted to kill those guys.
I wanted to maim those guys.

I wanted to make them suffer
in every way I could.

Look, if I had more bullets,
I would've shot them all again and again.

My problem was I ran out of bullets.

I was gonna... I was gonna gouge
one of the guy's eyes out

with my keys afterwards.

I think we failed
in not turning a stronger light sooner

on this man and his motivations.

We're supposed to be balanced and fair.

A knight in shining armor he isn't.

[DUNLEAVY] By and large,
the Post at the time,

we didn't overtly support Bernie Goetz,
not overtly.

But there was a sense

that we had more sympathy for Bernie

than, say, the other newspapers had.

And that's what led
to a series of exclusives.

Goetz, who has refused
to speak with reporters

since he surrendered to authorities
in New Hampshire,

spent 35 minutes tonight

talking with Channel 5 news director
John Parsons

and New York Post managing editor
Steve Dunleavy.

[DUNLEAVY] And I got the feeling

that the reason why he did the interview
was, just in his mind,

to set the record straight.

[NEWSMAN] Tonight, Bernhard Goetz
talks about crime on the streets

and what a citizen should do about it

in the first
in-depth television interview.

That was his way of dealing with it.
He had to talk about it.

I would not have done things differently.

Uh, at the same time,
I can't talk about it too much

because I do have
pending criminal charges.

And I told him, "Everything you say
is gonna come back into that trial,"

but he was an unguided missile.

What we have now is anarchy.

When people do violent crime

and the criminal judicial system
puts them back out on the street,

that is anarchy.

[SLIWA] All of a sudden,
Geraldo Rivera is calling you up...

and Barbara Walters.

[WALTERS] Last night,
we had a takeout Chinese dinner.

Goetz just picked at the food.

[GOETZ] The person that I met
was a very...

All four of them
were very menacing people.

You have to understand

that this was
a real-life violent situation,

and not something
that you see on television.

People take it for granted
that the subway system...

is... is a disaster.

People take it for granted that...

that government agencies...

don't do their job.

[BAKER] He responded to the media
by saying anything and everything

to whoever would put a microphone
in front of his face.

[REPORTER] How do you react
to the Police Commissioner

who, as a result of looking
at all of the evidence, has concluded

that perhaps it was not self-defense?
The gentleman was shot in the back.

And then he realized,
"Man, they're out to hang me.

They don't understand, Curtis.
They don't understand, the media."

I said, "The media are not your friends."

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

[GOETZ] I found the press to be

some of the most, uh,

dishonest,

unethical people that I've ever met,

with perhaps the exception of politicians,
and I've, uh...

You know, I've never seen
such a group of people

with a... a dog-eat-dog attitude.

[SLIWA] They're not out to make you a hero
any longer.

They built you up, and now they're ready
to knock you down.

The things I said, I believe,

and I still do believe.

Um, in hindsight, uh...

I don't think I should have said them
because it, uh...

it stirred up everything again.

[NEWSMAN] On Monday,
a case that has been making news

for more than two years
will finally go to trial.

It's the Bernhard Goetz case.

[BAKER] We went from 1984 to 1987
to get to the point of trial,

and we knew that this was gonna
ultimately be tried

not just in the courtroom,

but in the court of public opinion
with all the media attention.

A very large New York courtroom
jury selection began

in the trial
of the so-called subway gunman.

[NEWSMAN 1] Lawyers for both sides
are not looking for people

who don't know
about this much-publicized case

since attorneys doubt many New Yorkers
would fit into that category.

[NEWSMAN 2] The relatively large number
of potential jurors

have experienced the same kind
of threatening situation.

Goetz says he went through.

Of the handful of jurors thus far picked,

two say they were victims
of subway crimes.

Do you have to come back?

Yeah.

We wanted jurors
who were prior mugging victims

because we wanted them
to be able to relate to Goetz.

And the district attorney,

he wanted prior mugging victims
so he could argue to the jury,

"You didn't shoot someone.

Why did Mr. Goetz have to?"

[REPORTER] I think this could be it.

Yeah, I think he's in the front seat.

- Mr. Goetz, do you have anything to say?
- [HORN HONKS]

Anything to say?

[HORN HONKS]

[NEWSMAN 1] It took
the biggest courtroom they have

to start the Bernhard Goetz trial today.

It's now up to the four women
and eight men on the jury

to start making up their own minds.

[NEWSMAN 2] The prosecutor called Goetz
an emotional powder keg

with a ferocious and bloody passion.

[NEWSWOMAN] Prosecutor Gregory Waples
contended Goetz overreacted,

that by pulling out an unlicensed handgun
and opening fire,

he endangered everyone on the subway car.

[BAKER] Our adversary was
quite a formidable attorney, Greg Waples.

We knew we had our work cut out for us
because he's a really smart guy.

[NEWSWOMAN] Goetz's attorney
Barry Slotnick argued

that as a victim of a previous mugging,
Goetz had acted rationally

and that he believed
deadly force was necessary.

[SLIWA] Bernhard Goetz was represented
by Slotnick and Baker,

two of the best.

They were masterminds
in taking a hopeless case,

like Bernard Goetz,

and actually finding
the light at the end of the tunnel.

[NEWSMAN] Goetz's lawyer Barry Slotnick

developed a strategy
of shifting the focus from Goetz

to the four youths he shot.

Mark Baker and Barry Slotnick
did everything possible

in that courtroom to demonize
the victims of the crime.

I will be prosecuting those four thugs

that ventured upon Bernhard Goetz

and meant to do him ill will and rob him.

I don't understand
why they weren't prosecuted.

At one point, Barry Slotnick,

in a genius legal maneuver,

had four of the black African-American
Guardian Angels

dress up in white T-shirts,

and he used them

to role-play in the court.

[NEWSMAN] Goetz's lawyer
recreated the shootings

with the aid of a ballistics expert.

The four Guardian Angels
were placed in positions

where the defense says
the four teens were located

when they were shot.

A private investigator played the part
of the so-called subway gunman.

So I told the Guardian Angels,

"Act the way these guys act.
Act like thugs,

like we see it all the time
on the trains."

Mad dogging him and eye fornicating him.

The judge,

who should never have allowed that
to begin with,

was, like, really fascinated with this.

The court was fascinated with this.

And then Waples was screaming
at the judge.

"What are you doing?

You can't allow this.
It's gonna prejudice the jury."

[HORN HONKS]

[OVERLAPPING SHOUTING]

We would escort Bernhard Goetz
from his apartment on 14th Street

to the court.

He did not have the SUV.
He did not have the stretch limo.

He took the train most times.

And people would talk a lot of trash,

and they'd want to spark it up.

And then you had demonstrators outside

for and against Goetz,

and they'd be arguing.

[DEMONSTRATORS] Bernhard Goetz! KKK!
Different name, same game.

We hope to see Goetz convicted

because he presumed
that because they were black,

they were criminal.

At times, it was like a three-ring circus.

[DUNLEAVY] I was there every day

for the New York Post.

It was just riveting, everything.

[NEWSMAN] Bernie Goetz doesn't say much
when he walks past the press

into court every day,
maybe just a greeting.

His lawyers don't want him
talking about the case.

They probably think
Bernie has said enough already.

My biggest effort was keeping him muzzled.

We knew we didn't want Bernie Goetz
to testify in an open courtroom

'cause I don't think he would have lasted
20 seconds on cross-examination.

So it was gonna come down to the tape.

[NEWSMAN] In court today,
Bernhard Goetz's own confession

came back to haunt him.

[NEWSWOMAN] The prosecutor, who said
Goetz was actually the aggressor,

introduced Goetz's videotaped confession

and told the jury
it was self-incriminating.

I was going downtown to have a drink
before Christmas with a few friends

and just do some bullshitting for a while.

I was in the middle of a project.
I got disgusted with it.

I was working on a piece of equipment.
I said, "Well, I'd better take a break."

I went on that train...

When I walked in there,
I was as lighthearted as can be.

But the situation develops... very...

Now, this... this takes a long time
to explain.

- [CLARK] We understand...
- [GOETZ] Look, they...

What they were going to do
is enjoy me for a while.

They were going to beat the fucking shit
out of me.

Okay? The money and this and that
is all bullshit.

When I saw his look,
I knew what their intentions were.

And-and-and-and I snapped, and I said,
"I'm gonna waste them."

Used, you know, the phrase,
"I'm gonna waste them all."

It was just...

It was... It was...

attempted cold-blooded murder.

I don't deny that, and if you're gonna
pass judgment on that, good.

[BAKER] After it was played in court
and you could hear a pin drop,

my partner said, "We're dead."
I said, "What?

What do you mean we're dead?
It went off just as we anticipated."

You've got to remember,
we don't have to prove innocence.

We just have to create a doubt
as to guilt.

And we thought the tape did that.

Anybody who's seen that tape
will have one opinion or another.

I always found it sympathetic.

It was raw...

emotion about somebody

who had feared to be beaten to a pulp

and took action
and happened to have a gun on him.

And the truth is ugly,

it's disgusting...

and I was a monster. I don't deny it.

But I wasn't a monster
until several years ago in New York.

He virtually

put the era on trial.

You're gonna wipe the floor with me.
I know it.

Okay?

You... You have to,

and the reason you have to
is so many rules have been broken.

If you don't, what does this imply?

If you say this wasn't wrong,

it means people have to carry guns
in New York,

and the city will never admit that.

And he punched home,

time and time again.

Weren't we fed up?

The city is so concerned about violence?

Good. This is "the most violent crime
of the year."

Great.

New York City doesn't give a damn
about violence.

Otherwise, this would have never happened.

[NEWSMAN] Goetz tells how he gunned down
three of his four shooting victims,

who he says surrounded him,
asking for money.

But this case is largely
about the shooting of the fourth teenager,

Darrell Cabey.

By Goetz's own taped admission to police,

he paused long enough to evaluate
that Cabey was not injured.

[NEWSWOMAN] According to Waples, Goetz
viciously went over to him and shot him.

A bullet left Cabey paralyzed
and brain damaged.

And I said,
"You seem to be doing all right.

Here's another."

[NEWSMAN] Goetz's lawyer said
that Goetz imagined

the circumstances of the Cabey shooting

and actually shot all four youths
in rapid succession.

[BAKER] Our argument was that

this is what he thought
he would have done,

but not what he did.

[NEWSMAN] So far,
eight government witnesses,

six who were in the same car as Goetz,
and two who were in the adjacent car,

have testified that they heard Goetz fire
four or five times very rapidly.

[BAKER] I don't think
the district attorney

expected or anticipated

that each one of these subway witnesses
would be turned into a defense witness.

[NEWSMAN 1] Over and over again,
Slotnick told the jury

that witnesses testified that they heard
the shots fired in rapid succession,

an argument that, in many ways,
is at the heart of the defense case.

[NEWSMAN 2] After spending the night
sequestered in an undisclosed hotel,

the Goetz jury arrived at court
at about ten o'clock this morning.

[RATHER] Goetz went on trial,
charged with 13 counts

including attempted murder.

Today, in its fourth day of deliberation
after a seven-week trial,

a jury brought in its verdict.

[BAKER] I remember standing up
when that jury walked in.

My knees were literally shaking.

I had trouble just standing.

And then...

I got very emotional.

[NEWSMAN] The most controversial
case of crime

to come out of New York subways
is finally over this evening.

Bernhard Goetz has been acquitted
on all charges of attempted murder

and assault.

The man who shot four black youths
on a New York City subway

two and one half years ago

was convicted only
of illegal possession of a gun.

[NEWSWOMAN] When the verdicts were read
today in court,

Goetz stood and quietly said,

"I'm happy. That's good."

[DUNLEAVY] Oh, the courtroom was...

crazy. It went crazy.

And we went crazy too...

trying to get it as fast as we could.

[NEWSMAN] Throughout the trial,
the prosecutor

refused to talk about the case.

At a news conference
following the verdict,

he barely spoke at all.

[OVERLAPPING SHOUTING]

- [MAN 1] He's afraid to talk.
- [MAN 2] Run away!

- [MAN 1] He's running away from the press!
- [MAN 2] Run away!

[BAKER] Greg Waples,
he was from the Midwest,

and I think he read
the citizens of New York wrongly.

[MAN 3] Run for dogcatcher, prick.

[BAKER] During summation,
he made an argument

that if Mr. Goetz doesn't like the crime
in New York, he should leave.

You don't tell that to a New Yorker.

[CROWD SHOUTING]

[NEWSMAN] The Guardian Angels,
who had stood by Bernhard Goetz

from the beginning,
were with him to the end.

Back up. Excuse me. Back up.

[CROWD SHOUTING]

Back up.

Back it up.

[SLIWA] From the first day
I heard the opening arguments,

I said, "They're not gonna
convict this guy. They're not."

I looked in the faces of those jurors,
the men and women,

and you could see when there was
testimony about victimization,

ooh, it resonated.

[MAN 1] Right on.

[MAN 2] Stand on the pedestal, Barry!

[REPORTER] How big a victory
is this for you?

I-I would not like to characterize it
as a personal victory.

I did the best I could in the courtroom,
and hopefully that was more than adequate.

[REPORTER] How big a loss for the DA?

[NEWSWOMAN] With such an explosive case,
no matter what the jury decided,

there was sure to be strong reaction
from the public.

[CROWD CHANTING] Hell no, we won't go!
Hell no, we won't go!

Hell no, we won't go!
Hell no, we won't go!

Hell no, we won't go!

[SHARPTON] It was disappointing.

I felt that it reduced the worth
of all of us.

[NEWSWOMAN] From the steps of City Hall
to the streets of Harlem,

many black leaders today
were angry with the Goetz verdict.

Bernie Goetz says we can all fight back.

What he really means
is we can fight black.

He's the personification
of the white backlash of the law.

'Cause really, what you're saying is

we can have the maximum injuries,
and it doesn't matter,

that the law is not gonna say,

"But there's value in this life,
and you can't take it or injure it."

[NEWSWOMAN] The group,
headed by the Reverend Al Sharpton,

will start policing the subways,
guarding black citizens

against what it calls vigilantes.

[SHARPTON] We put the patrol out there

because we didn't want to see
blacks react violently.

A lot of blacks said we should get guns
now since Goetz can carry a gun.

Whether you agree or disagree
with the, uh, outcome,

you must accept it.

The verdict was a shock
to a lot of people.

It wasn't a surprise to me,
and it shouldn't have been a surprise

to anybody
who was following the case very closely.

There was a white angry mob mentality.

We saw that the jury was ten white people.

[NEWSMAN] Juror Mark Lesly was asked

if race played any part
in the deliberation room.

No, we didn't consider it
even in the slightest bit,

not even in, uh, a tangential way.

It was about a man and four other men
in the subway. It... It, uh...

The fact that he was white
and they were black is immaterial.

We had facts and evidence
to base all this on,

and the charges from the judge,

and... and none of that had anything to do
with white and black.

I think the true message
is that people have a right

to protect and defend themselves
under justifiable situations.

And quite clearly,
that's what Bernhard Goetz was all about.

It's now over. He's been acquitted,
and it's finished.

[BAKER] Four years of work
had been completely vindicated.

But then we were facing sentencing.

He was still convicted
of the gun possession.

It's upsetting because, you know,
this case is now four years long

and the last thing he should be
is in jail.

[FELDMAN] The forces of government,

they were interested
in punishing Bernie Goetz and saying,

"By God, we'll make sure that nobody else

can use a gun lawfully
that wasn't registered."

[NEWSMAN] Prosecutor Gregory Waples said
Goetz was a danger to himself and society.

Bernhard Goetz disagreed.

This case, uh...

is really more
about deterioration in society

than it is about me.

Gregory Waples, uh...

seems to be concerned

that society needs to be protected
from me.

And, uh, I don't believe that's the case.

Society needs to be protected
from criminals.

[NEWSMAN] Judge Stephen Crane
was not convinced,

passing sentence of a year in jail
and a $5,000 fine.

[SLOTNICK] Your Honor, I've advised
the defendant of his right to appeal.

He's ready to go to jail.

[BAKER] There's a straight year sentence
that's mandatory in New York.

So he went to Rikers Island.

And one year is really eight months
with good time credit,

so he was out in eight months.

[OVERLAPPING SHOUTING]

[NEWSMAN] Goetz still faces
a $15 million civil suit

that was filed by one
of his shooting victims

who has been left brain damaged
and paralyzed.

The marginalizing of the worth
of a black life

when you act like he's incidental
to a hero's story.

The legal precedent was a threat
to all of us and had to be addressed.

[SLIWA] By the time the civil case
was brought up,

the city had changed measurably.

We realized that the city was almost
out of control at that point.

In 1987, the changes that we now see
had not occurred.

American cities can't survive
as we know them

if they remain so violent.

[KUBY] As crime started to go down,
people spent a little more time

looking at trying to create civil society.

[NEWSWOMAN] Now, more than 11 years later,
Bernhard Goetz, a private man,

finds himself back in the spotlight
and the courtroom again.

[SLIWA] And then,
he picks up this new lawyer.

We live in an era where we have almost,
what I call, a form of liberal McCarthyism

where, instead of yelling "communist,"
you yell "racist."

Bernie Goetz still runs
a small electronics business,

but his lawyer says he's spent
a quarter of a million dollars

on legal fees and has no savings.

[KUBY] The goal wasn't to win money.

I mean, we all knew
that Goetz was... was impoverished.

He says he's broke.
You don't expect to get any $50 million,

- even if you win the suit, do you?
- I don't expect to get that,

but there are a lot of other
white bigots with guns out there,

and there has to be a message
sent to them,

which is sooner or later,
even if it takes ten or 12 years,

we're gonna come after you,
and we're gonna get you,

and we're gonna make you pay,

and so you'd better just keep it
in your holster.

What we needed was
sort of a very public vindication

of... of Darrell Cabey.

He's permanently paralyzed
from the waist down.

Uh, that'll never get better.

He came out of it with severe, permanent,
irreversible brain damage.

He functions at the level
of a small child.

And a very, very public exposure
of who Bernhard Goetz really was

through his own mouth.

[NEWSMAN] Bernhard Goetz never took
the witness stand at his trial,

but he can be compelled
to give a deposition

for the civil suits against him.

All the Bernhard Goetz you can stomach

and more,

day after day after day.

[NEWSMAN 1] A largely white Manhattan jury
acquitted Goetz

of attempted murder in 1987.

[NEWSMAN 2] But the two-time defendant's
civil case

will be tried in the Bronx

before a jury of four blacks
and two Hispanics.

City state and zip code for the record.

Uh, Bernhard...

Goetz.

[SLIWA] Kuby takes out his...
you know, his razor,

his straight-edge razor,
and just cut him up.

[KUBY] When you attended a... a meeting
of a building association in 1980

to discuss issues
of cleaning up 14th Street,

did you make a comment at that meeting?

Uh, yes, I...
Oh, I-I made several statements, uh,

but, uh, I did...
I did make a, uh, a stupid comment,

uh, for which I'm ashamed
and I've apologized for.

Would you tell the jury
what that stupid comment was, please?

In effect, I said, uh...

"The only way
we're going to clean up this street, uh,

is to get rid of the niggers
and the spics."

Mr. Goetz, is it true that you said,

"The guys I shot represented
the failure of society"?

- Yes.
- [KUBY] And you also said,

"Forget about their ever making
a positive contribution to society."

Is that correct?

I consider them to be a situation

to be a guaranteed formula for disaster,
for misery.

Goetz gets up there on the witness stand
and just spews his consciousness.

You know, it's sort of like,
what is this, your psychiatrist here?

You're pouring out everything.

You also think
it would have been a lot better,

had Shirley Cabey had an abortion.
Isn't that right?

Shirley Cabey specifically,

it would probably be better
than the present status quo we have today.

He dug himself, uh, a grave,

and you couldn't just let him now walk out

feeling that there were no consequences
for his actions.

Award enough in punitive damages.

If you bankrupt every other bigot
with a gun out there

who decides to take another shot

at another kid like Darrell Cabey...

[JUDGE] I'm going to read the question
and the answer...

that has been recorded,
and then ask you, "Is that your verdict?"

Question number one.

Do you find that the defendant
intended to shoot Darrell Cabey?

The answer has been recorded as yes,
six-zero.

Juror number one, was that your verdict?

[KUBY] When ultimately
the jury returned a...

A liability verdict of $43 million...

I-I think Darrell Cabey can get
from Berhard Goetz,

um, everything Bernhard Goetz has.

And so if Bernhard Goetz wins the lottery,
Darrell Cabey wins the lottery.

If Bernhard Goetz, uh, writes a book,
Darrell Cabey gets the profits.

[SLIWA] Even though Kuby won,

he hasn't collected a nickle,
dime, or penny.

Goetz declared bankruptcy
shortly after that,

but... but what Shirley Cabey was after
was what happened the next day.

Lead editorial in The Daily News...

"No hero, never was."

[NEWSWOMAN] New York tabloids dubbed him
as a vigilante

and the "Death Wish" gunman.

[NEWSMAN] His action touched
a responsive chord

in the imaginations
not only of New Yorkers but the nation.

I've covered a lot, a lot of murder trials

and, uh, I'd never seen anything
quite like that,

never before or never since.

[NEWSMAN] But the arguments will continue.

Was Bernhard Goetz a mugging victim
who defended himself

or a trigger-happy racist?

[SHARPTON] As you go through life,

you see that a lot of what wasrisky
and unpopular becomes accepted.

That's what movements do
is you shift the argument,

but some people have to take the risk
to change the conversation.

Now, the fact that we made some progress
is encouraging.

The fact that we haven't arrived
is what energizes us to keep going.

The Bernie Goetz instance
was one of those seminal events

that helped propel the NRA
to political power.

The only thing that stops a bad guy
with a gun

is a good guy with a gun.

[FELDMAN] But it was a very different NRA
in 1984

compared with, uh, the NRA at the moment.

[NEWSWOMAN] It is a story
that continues to open wider and wider

a Pandora's box of thorny issues

and a simmering debate
over just who is really the victim:

Bernhard Goetz, or the four men he shot,
or both.

[SLIWA] Look who's here.

- It's Bernhard Goetz, the subway gunman.
- [GOETZ] Yeah, hi, Curtis. Hi, Dominick.

[DOMINICK] Hi, Bernie.
Nice to hear from you.

[GOETZ] Okay, well, thank you.

[DOMINICK] Bern, so here's
the million-dollar question.

Do you regret it

all these years later?

- [GOETZ] Regret what?
- [DOMINICK] Regret the shooting.

- [GOETZ] Pulling the trigger?
- [DOMINICK] Yes.

[GOETZ] Well...

[DOMINICK] Shooting those black young men.

[GOETZ] Well, I don't think
it's the type of thing you regret.

[SLIWA] See that, Dominick?

[DOMINICK] So, wait.
So, you don't regret it?

[GOETZ] No. No.

There are many things in my life
that I... I regret,

and I make many... I've made many blunders.

I-I don't think that was one of them.

[SLIWA] I could be in the favelas
of Rio de Janeiro.

I can be in Cape Town.

The number one question I get asked:

"Whatever happened to that subway gunman?"

That's the kind of imprint he left
on people's minds all over the world.

And then, naturally,
I have to catch 'em up.

He lives in the same apartment.

He rides the trains.

He walks out in the streets.

I know he tried to run for mayor
a couple of years ago.

He's got very strong political opinions.

[SLIWA] He's vegan.

You know, he smokes his Maui Wowie
and his Hindu Kush.

He's got his squirrels.

He's in his own little world.

He's harmless.

But on that day...

[REFLECTIVE MUSIC PLAYS]