- The Abominable Showman (originally aired 3/3/05) Broadway producer charged with murdering his pregnant girlfriend
- 41 Shots (originally aired 3/4/05) man charged with murdering one of the four cops who fired a total of 41 shots at him, apparently inspired by the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo
- Vigilante (originally aired 3/11/05) man charged with murdering a released pedophile
- Truth or Consequences (originally aired 3/18/05) three young men are involved in the murder of a woman)
- Baby Boom (originally aired 3/23/05) nanny charged with murdering an infant, apparently inspired by Louise Woodward
- Pattern of Conduct (originally aired 4/1/05) basketball star Ken Jackson is charged with murdering a woman he had sex with, a case reminiscent of Los Angeles Laker star Kobe Bryant, who was charged in July 2003 with one count of sexual assault with physical force or violence and who acknowledged having sex with his accuser but said it was consensual. Prosecutors dropped charges in the summer of 2004 after Bryant's accuser refused to testify. Bryant reportedly gave an expensive ring to his wife shortly after being charged, reminiscent of the ruby ring Ken Jackson's wife wears in the episode.
- Bang & Blame (originally aired 4/8/05) a man tries defending himself on murder charges
- Skeleton (originally aired 4/15/05) a pornographer is charged with ordering the murder of a former partner and with the shooting of Detective Green
- Blue Wall (originally aired 4/29/05) police officers are tried in a case reminiscent of the 1997 assault on Abner Louima
Amadou Diallo (last updated March 26, 2005) (back to top)
The "41 Shots" episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury appears to be inspired by the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo, who was killed by four police officers as he stood outside his apartment building in the Bronx on February 4, 1999. The officers fired a total of 41 shots at Diallo, 19 of which hit him.
Officers Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Kenneth Boss, and Edward McMellon were charged with two counts of second-degree murder on March 31, 1999. The case was then moved from the Bronx to Albany, due to concerns that the officers could not get a fair trial in the Bronx given intense public feelings about the case. The officers stood trial in Albany in early 2000, and a jury found all four not guilty on February 25, 2000. The officers did not receive punishment from the police department itself, though they were assigned to desk duties in April 2001 and were not allowed to carry guns at that time.
Unlike the defendant in this episode, Diallo was not being specifically sought by police officers and did not have a violent criminal record. Diallo was unarmed at the time; officers said that they fired because they thought that Diallo had been reaching for a weapon when he actually was looking for his wallet. The officers who shot Diallo were not looking specifically for him; they testified that they thought Diallo was acting suspiciously and that he might have fit a general description of a criminal they were aware of.
The case evoked strong passions, in part because of the racial elements. Diallo was black, and the officers who shot at him were white; the jury that acquitted the officers was composed of four black people and eight white people.
The case was also controversial because the four officers were members of the New York City's Street Crime Unit, a plainclothes unit that patrolled neighborhoods looking for criminals. The Street Crimes Unit was criticized by some for being too aggressive, for causing confusion because civilians could not immediately identify Street Crimes Unit members as police, for stopping black and Hispanic people without basis, and for not having enough minority members despite patrolling in minority neighborhoods. On March 26, 1999, within weeks of the Diallo shooting, Police Commissioner Howard Safir announced changes to the unit, such as requiring all members to work in uniform and using more minority members.
Sources: Robert D. McFadden, Elite police unit in Diallo slaying gets an overhaul, New York Times, March 27, 1999. Amy Waldman, 4 officers enter not-guilty pleas to murder counts in Diallo case, New York Times, April 1, 1999. Jane Fritsch, 4 officers in Diallo shooting are acquitted of all charges, New York Times, February 26, 2000. William K. Rashbaum, 4 in Diallo case stay on desk duty, New York Times, April 28, 2001.
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Louise Woodward (last updated March 26, 2005) (back to top)
The "Baby Boom" episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury appears to be inspired by the "nanny murder" case involving Louise Woodward, an English au pair who was working in Massachusetts and who was charged with murdering the 8-month-old boy, Matthew Eappen, she was caring for at the time.
From the episode
According to prosecutors, Woodward shook and hit Eappen on February 4, 1997, resulting in his death five days later. Defense attorneys argued that Eappen's death was the result of an old injury.
As in the episode, the Woodward case ultimately involved a judge who was criticized for bias in favor of the defendant and who ultimately let the defendant go without serving any prison time despite being convicted.
At the close of the three-week trial in October 1997, Judge Hiller Zobel gave the jury instructions on murder in the first and second-degrees and specifically did not give the jury instructions on the lesser charge of manslaughter. Woodward's defense attorneys asked that the jury not be given the option of finding Woodward guilty of manslaughter, apparently believing that the jury would choose to acquit her entirely rather than find her to be a murderer. The difference between murder and manslaughter is one of intent; murder requires an intent to kill whereas manslaughter generally constitutes recklessness. Under Massachusetts law, murder results in a mandatory life sentence, and manslaughter results in a sentence up to 20 years.
Even so, the jury convicted Woodward of second-degree murder on Oct. 31, 1997. Woodward was then given a mandatory life sentence on Nov. 1.
Zobel then took the unusual step on Nov. 10 of reducing Woodward's conviction to involuntary manslaughter and sentencing her to time served. Zobel wrote in his decision (on-line via the BBC here) that Woodward's conviction was a "miscarriage of justice," explaining that "I believe that the circumstances in which [Woodward] acted were characterized by confusion, inexperience, frustration, immaturity and some anger, but not malice (in the legal sense) supporting a conviction for second-degree murder."
Massachusetts' highest court ultimately affirmed Zobel's actions, though it did fault him for not giving the jury instructions on the manslaughter charge and noted (opinion on-line here) that prosecutors' complaints that Zobel manipulated the trial in Woodward's favor were "not frivolous." Regarding the instruction on manslaughter, the court noted that "it was peculiarly inappropriate for the judge to refuse to charge the jury on manslaughter when, as revealed by his subsequent order reducing the jury's verdict, in his view the evidence was not consonant with a conviction of murder."
Matthew Eappen's parents then sued Woodward for wrongful death, which if successful would have made Woodward liable for damages caused by Matthew Eappen's death. This lawsuit settled in January 1999 with an agreement that Woodward could not profit from her story.
Woodward's parents were criticized for accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a British newspaper for exclusive rights to their story. The parents were then charged with defrauding an appeal fund set up for Woodward; they were cleared in July 2000.
Sources: Carey Goldberg, Quietly avowing innocence, nanny is sentenced to life, New York Times, November 1, 1997. Carey Goldberg, In a startling turnabout, judge sets au pair free, New York Times, November 11, 1997. Carey Goldberg, Settlement bars au pair from profits in baby's death, New York Times, January 30, 1999. Associated Press, Nanny's parents cleared, New York Times, July 26, 2000.
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Abner Louima (last updated April 30, 2005) (back to top)
The "Blue Wall" episode of Law & Order: Trial by Jury appears to be inspired by the case involving Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was sexually assaulted by police officers in a Brooklyn police station on August 9, 1997. Louima was brought to a Brooklyn precinct house after he got involved in an altercation with some police officers outside a Brooklyn nightclub. Louima later testified that he was assaulted during the ride to the precinct house and that he was sodomized with a broken broom stick in a bathroom at the precinct house.
Federal prosecutors brought charges against four police officers for their involvement in the incident. Officer Justin Volpe pled guilty on May 25, 1999 to the charges brought against him and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Another officer, Charles Schwarz, was convicted in June 1999 but had his conviction overturned in February 2002 and eventually was convicted only on perjury charges. Two other officers were convicted of obstructing justice but had those convictions overturned in February 2002.
Louima also brought a civil lawsuit against New York City and against the city's police union. Under a settlement reached on July 12, 2001, the city paid Louima $7.125 million and the union paid him $1.625 million.
Sources: Alan Feuer and Jim Dwyer, City settles suit in Louima torture, New York Times, July 13, 2001. United States v. Schwarz (2d Cir. February 28, 2002). William Glaberson, On eve of trial, ex-officer agrees to perjury term in Louima case, New York Times, September 22, 2002. William Glaberson, Two officers in Louima case will not face charges again, New York Times, October 18, 2002.
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