Bernhard Goetz Trial: 1987

Slotnick fared much better with Joseph Quirk, a ballistics expert hired to recreate the crime scene in court. For the purposes of this demonstration Slotnick had engaged the services of four black youths, dressed like street toughs, to act out the parts of the attackers. Had the defense only been interested in demonstrating bullet paths, then the color of the assistants would have been immaterial, but the sight of four black teenagers jostling Quirk, a white man, was highly inflammatory. So much so, that Judge Crane ordered Slotnick to use court employees in the future should he need to carry out any further demonstrations.

Without meaning to be, prosecution witness James Ramseur was far and away the defense's strongest card. He entered the court in prison dungarees, pugnacious and petulant, determined to face down Slotnick. At first he refused to testify, earning for himself several citations for contempt. When he eventually condescended to take the stand, Ramseur foolishly bandied words with counsel. "When was the last time … that you … committed a crime against a human being?" asked Slotnick.

"When was the last time you got a drug dealer off?" sneered Ramseur. Three days later, in sentencing Ramseur for contempt, Judge Crane upbraided him for his stupidity:

Your conduct has played right into the hands of Mr. Goetz's lawyer. He owes you a vote of thanks.… The jurors saw your contemptuous conduct. That can never be erased from their minds.

On Friday, June 12, 1987, the jury retired to consider their verdict. By the following Tuesday they had reached agreement on all 13 counts. Twelve times jury foreman, James Hurley, intoned, "Not guilty." Only once did he respond, "Guilty"—to a charge of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.

Three months later, on October 19, 1987, Judge Crane passed sentence: six months in jail, plus a fine and probation. Upon review in January 1989, the jail sentence was increased to one year.

The Bernhard Goetz trial opened up many old wounds and left a peculiar sense of public dissatisfaction at its outcome. Many believed that he should never have faced a court; they saw him as acting well within his rights. Others, fearful of vigilantism adding to the problem of already dangerous streets, were outraged by the jury's refusal to convict on all but the least serious charge. In the final analysis, skillful advocacy emerged as the only winner in this case. It wasn't elegant, but it was effective.

Goetz served just over eight months in prison. Freedom, however, brought further problems: a $50 million civil suit, filed by lawyers representing the paralyzed Darrell Cabey. The case finally reached the Bronx Supreme Court on April 8, 1996.

This time Goetz did take the stand. Under tough questioning from Cabey's attorney, Ronald Kuby, his testimony did more harm than good. Callous and unremorseful, Goetz said his actions could be considered a public service, claiming that he opened fire when he saw "that smile" and "that shine" in one of the assailant's eyes.

On April 24, 1996, the jury—four African Americans and two people of Hispanic descent—unanimously found that Goetz had acted recklessly and deliberately inflicted emotional distress. They awarded Cabey $43 million in damages—$18 million for pain and suffering, and $25 million in punitive damages. It was purely a token sum, since Goetz had very little money. In such cases it is common for the court to garnish 10 percent of the defendant's wages for 20 years.