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00:00:00And we begin with a story that says something about our times.
00:00:11The story of the subway vigilante.
00:00:14To many New Yorkers, this man has become a folk hero.
00:00:18It was the most notorious subway ride in history.
00:00:22Four teenagers caught a train from the Bronx.
00:00:25They traveled to Manhattan looking for some big city excitement.
00:00:31And boy, did they find it.
00:00:34An event that became an instant metaphor in the American national dialogue about street crime and the limits of self-defense.
00:00:43The media was doing its job.
00:00:45It was fear, fright, hysteria, and hype.
00:00:49The case has touched a nerve that has brought it into the national and international spotlight.
00:00:54We were able, for the first time, to get the issue of race front and center in the city in a mass media setting.
00:01:04The whole bloody world exploded.
00:01:07And the newspapers and TV was incredible.
00:01:11When they walked into that car and they started messing with him,
00:01:15they didn't realize that the time bomb was already ticking.
00:01:21Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
00:01:22Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,
00:01:52I don't know.
00:02:22I don't even think it had hit the news yet.
00:02:51I was on an Amtrak train, on the number four train.
00:02:55The conductors came up, said, you didn't hear about the gunman?
00:02:58He gunned these four black guys on a number two train in lower Manhattan.
00:03:02A night when police are searching for a gunman.
00:03:06They say that he methodically shot four young men on a crowded 7th Avenue IRT Express.
00:03:14A gunman who police say told the conductor of the southbound number two train that the
00:03:18four victims were trying to mug him.
00:03:21And he stated that they tried to rip him off.
00:03:24Okay.
00:03:24And he opened up on him.
00:03:26Four black teenagers pressed him for $5.
00:03:29He reportedly told them, I've got $5 for each of you.
00:03:33Two of his victims are in critical condition tonight, suffering from gunshot wounds in the
00:03:38chest.
00:03:39The other two, shot in the back, are in serious condition.
00:03:41It appeared that he had slunk into the darkness of the tunnel.
00:03:50Quite a few people quite naturally ran from the train.
00:03:54Our initial information was that he jumped between two cars and escaped into the tunnel,
00:04:00but we're not exactly sure how he got away.
00:04:03He disappeared.
00:04:05He just disappeared.
00:04:07The gunman is described as a white man in his late 30s, blonde hair, wearing glasses,
00:04:14and neatly dressed in a gray sweater and blue jacket.
00:04:20We're desperately looking for this man.
00:04:23Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward announced that for the next two days, there will be almost
00:04:271,000 additional police officers monitoring the subway system.
00:04:32If it bleeds, it leaks.
00:04:34And the quickest way to get news out was the tabloids that would hit the streets at like
00:04:392, 3 in the morning.
00:04:42For a newspaper man, it was exciting.
00:04:45Also baffling.
00:04:47We were going nuts, to put it simply.
00:04:51News didn't travel that fast then, but boy, when it hit, it exploded.
00:04:57The story is sensational.
00:04:59There's only one way to write it.
00:05:00And that's sensationally a press.
00:05:03We dubbed him the subway vigilante.
00:05:07Police, meantime, are continuing their manhunt for that subway vigilante.
00:05:12It probably did create, in many people's minds, what a vigilante gunman would look like.
00:05:20What he did has touched a nerve in New York.
00:05:22Who is this guy?
00:05:24Is he a New Yorker?
00:05:26Is he a visitor?
00:05:28Is this guy going to turn up by committing suicide, or is he going to go off on another
00:05:32shooting spree?
00:05:33An army ranger, or maybe he had served in the military.
00:05:38The immediate comparison was Charles Bronson.
00:05:42The vigilante killer of people who were bad and naughty.
00:05:52You know, Bronson was the ultimate macho, maniacal, fight-back guy.
00:05:59Cold, steely.
00:06:02He got them before they got him.
00:06:04Well, if you think it's rough out there, you're right.
00:06:13Violent crime rose 2% in New York State last year.
00:06:17In those early 80s, New York was horrific.
00:06:22People associated New York, murder capital of America.
00:06:26Every day, every night, there would be massive carnage.
00:06:35And it wasn't restricted to Harlem or the South Bronx.
00:06:40I mean, you could get yourself mugged on Fifth Avenue.
00:06:44Let's face it.
00:06:46We're all sick and tired of being scared.
00:06:48That's the bottom line.
00:06:50It's about time somebody protect themselves.
00:06:54Nobody's protecting us on the subway.
00:06:57I'm tired of being afraid of riding the subways, and I have to ride the subways.
00:07:02If he was being robbed, hey, he had to do what he had to do.
00:07:06Self-defense.
00:07:07Simple as that.
00:07:10The Guardian Angels, a volunteer group that patrols subways,
00:07:14believes in self-defense and is asking the mayor to grant temporary amnesty to the subway shooter.
00:07:20As happens to most New Yorkers, it's sometime in their life in going through the subway tubes
00:07:25that four or five jackals will come up and try to shake you down, that he felt the need to protect himself.
00:07:311979, the city was on the verge of going bankrupt.
00:07:40There were no transit cops.
00:07:42And so I started the Guardian Angels safety patrols, and we'll risk our life to protect people, do physical interventions, make citizens' arrests.
00:07:51Sunday 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.
00:07:58The police, for the most part, felt we were like hemorrhoids and red berets.
00:08:03They couldn't find enough preparation to smear on us, hope we dry up and go away.
00:08:09Once again, a turf dispute between the Guardian Angels and the New York City Police Department
00:08:12has overshadowed the real battle going on in the streets here,
00:08:15and that's between the crack dealers and the people who have to live and work here.
00:08:19You know, having been shot myself to the hollow point bullets,
00:08:25you identified with this gunman, not knowing Jack Diddley's squad or anything about him,
00:08:29and immediately you vilified these four.
00:08:37I remember when we first saw their images on TV,
00:08:42Troy Canty, Barry Allen, James Ramsor, Daryl Cabe.
00:08:47I was sitting with some of the Guardian Angels in the headquarters in the Bronx, which is where I live.
00:08:53So we know these guys.
00:08:55They work the number two train all the time.
00:08:58They come down from the Bronx.
00:09:01The four young men, ages 18 and 19, all lived in this South Bronx neighborhood.
00:09:07They had criminal records, but very light.
00:09:10It was criminal mischief they were charged with.
00:09:13You know, they were a crew.
00:09:14Their whole thing was to sweat you down, approach you.
00:09:19They knew they could intimidate you.
00:09:21Police say they did find several sharpened screwdrivers in the coat pockets of the victims,
00:09:26screwdrivers sometimes used as weapons or theft tools.
00:09:30Although they were carrying sharpened screwdrivers,
00:09:32they did not brandish any weapons and have not been charged with any crime.
00:09:36The four victims are being cooperative in the investigation,
00:09:39and those victims do plan to press charges against the assailant.
00:09:43That if he is found.
00:09:48New York City cops went through every venue in the world to get any kind of a hint.
00:09:56And really, they didn't have much.
00:09:59Not at all.
00:10:11Today, police think they have their man.
00:10:15A man turned himself in and said he is the vigilante.
00:10:1837-year-old Bernard Goetz.
00:10:24Bernard Goetz.
00:10:26Bernard Hugo Goetz.
00:10:30Mr. Goetz, do you care you're defending yourself, Mr. Padlet?
00:10:33If he didn't turn himself into the Concord cops,
00:10:39we may never, ever, ever have caught him.
00:10:43So tonight, New York City detectives are on their way to Concord
00:10:47to question him and bring him back.
00:10:51I've been arrested and charged with attempted murder, four counts.
00:10:56On awful possession of a weapon.
00:10:59Thank you, sir.
00:10:59Was he cooperative at this point?
00:11:01Yes, he's been cooperative.
00:11:07Hi, Mr. Goetz.
00:11:10I'm Assistant District Attorney Susan Braver.
00:11:13And I'm with the New York County Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
00:11:18And these two gentlemen are Detective Pattendorf of the Transit Police Squad
00:11:22and Detective Clark of the New York City Police Department.
00:11:25You indicated to the Detective here that you would speak with us about this incident.
00:11:30Oh, you know, just when I hear New Yorkers speak, I don't even want to...
00:11:36Mr. Goetz, this is all on videotape.
00:11:38Sure.
00:11:39Nothing that's said in this room is off the videotape.
00:11:41It's for your protection and for our...
00:11:43That's for us.
00:11:47Suddenly, Bernie appears, the slightly stooped,
00:11:51gently spoken man with glasses, sandy blonde hair.
00:11:56You know, my God, this can't be a crazy subway vigilante everyone was expecting to see.
00:12:06It certainly threw me for a loop.
00:12:08It certainly did.
00:12:09I just, I told him everything, okay?
00:12:13And I'm not going to fight it.
00:12:15I'm not going to fight it.
00:12:16You understand?
00:12:17I am not going to fight this.
00:12:19Okay?
00:12:19The accused lives in Manhattan, on the fringe of Greenwich Village.
00:12:25In 1965, Bernard Goetz enrolled at New York University,
00:12:29where he graduated with a degree in nuclear engineering.
00:12:33He operates an electronics testing and repair firm,
00:12:36today out of the bedroom and living room of his apartment.
00:12:38For a man some describe as a quiet, frail scientist, it's been quite a day.
00:12:50Police here say the suspect, Bernard Goetz, was mugged and robbed nearly four years ago.
00:12:56That mugging by three teenagers may explain his actions earlier this month.
00:13:00Bernie said that he had been mugged on a previous occasion in which he got dusted up pretty good.
00:13:07They deliberately went after my knee, and they got it.
00:13:11Like, I got kicked in the knee, and then what hurts you, they didn't have weapons.
00:13:15And people, you don't have to be maimed with a weapon.
00:13:17What really hurts you is a sidewalk.
00:13:19They tried to push me through a plate glass door, also, you know?
00:13:23And I think he realized he wasn't able to respond.
00:13:26He froze.
00:13:28If someone kills, I'm not going to be on track.
00:13:30If someone kills, I don't care.
00:13:32But I just don't want to be maimed.
00:13:34I don't want to be beaten.
00:13:34Being in the streets, I can identify with that other person in you that will no longer be beaten, robbed, and violated any longer.
00:13:45It's a fight back.
00:13:46It's a caller.
00:13:47And people, instead of rejecting that, actually identified with that.
00:13:52Why do you think, Mayor Koch, that this has aroused such attention all over the country?
00:14:00Because all over the country, including the city of New York, people have lost faith in the criminal justice system.
00:14:06Today in Washington, there was a congressional hearing into crime.
00:14:09Senator Alphonse D'Amato says he'll be glad to testify for subway vigilante Bernhard Goetz in his upcoming trial.
00:14:16I've been on that subway when these young thugs come in there, and they don't even have to approach you.
00:14:23When three or four or five come in and they start their messing around, they are menacing by their presence.
00:14:30And Bernard Goetz's name came up during tonight's White House news conference.
00:14:35President Reagan said he could not condone what Goetz did, but he understands the frustration of people who are constantly threatened by crime.
00:14:43It seemed that we got overzealous in protecting the criminal's rights and forgot about the victim.
00:14:48Goetz was brought to the city from New Hampshire today to begin his journey through the criminal justice system.
00:15:04Fundraising efforts are underway to pay his bail and legal expenses.
00:15:11You make it out to the B.H. Goetz, G-O-E-T-Z, defense fund.
00:15:18I was talking to colleagues about the case because it was a subject of discussion far and wide,
00:15:31and I said, whoever gets this case is going to have the case of the century.
00:15:38Little did I know what the good Lord had in store for me and my partner, Barry Slotnick.
00:15:44There were very few big, big criminal cases that it did not have a part in.
00:15:51But there was a dramatic move away from the kind of clientele we were carrying at that particular point in time.
00:15:58Gentlemen like John Gotti and other members of organized crime.
00:16:01But from the standpoint of its evidentiary issues, the media attention, it was just a lawyer's dream.
00:16:15And the stakes were high, which is what defense lawyers look for.
00:16:20Who's that? Who's that guy?
00:16:23That's Bernard Goetz.
00:16:24He's the subway vigilante.
00:16:36He looks mad.
00:16:42Technically, this was the first day of freedom for Bernhard Goetz after being released from Rikers Island.
00:16:47It didn't quite turn out that way.
00:16:49Outside his attorney's office, reporters mobbed Goetz as he went to the bathroom,
00:16:54then tailed him to the elevator,
00:16:55but none of it yielded any comment from a 37-year-old electronics technician.
00:17:01Have you become the victim at this point?
00:17:04In a sense, he is a prisoner of his own sudden notoriety.
00:17:08He can't go anywhere without a reporter or a photographer chasing him.
00:17:11Anybody want his autograph?
00:17:12Waitresses, several customers asked,
00:17:16and of course I told them that I didn't think it was really him.
00:17:19Just to keep them away from him?
00:17:21To keep them away from him.
00:17:22Did he ask to be kept away from people?
00:17:24Yes, he did.
00:17:25He was right to do what he did.
00:17:27I would have done the same thing.
00:17:29I hope he runs for president.
00:17:35Every sickle fan, Toti and Lackey in the world
00:17:38was trying to get a piece of Bernard Goetz.
00:17:40At every public appearance,
00:17:43Goetz is surrounded by more bodyguards than Prince
00:17:45or Michael Jackson at a rock concert.
00:17:48With their own agenda to be served.
00:17:52So popular did Goetz become that Fast Buck artists
00:17:54began selling Goetz records and T-shirts.
00:17:57There were bumper stickers being sold all across New York
00:18:01and in the subways that read,
00:18:03Ride with Bernie, he gets them.
00:18:07Did you have a bumper sticker?
00:18:08I certainly did.
00:18:10Bernie Goetz was being robbed
00:18:15and thus he had the right to use a gun
00:18:17to protect himself
00:18:19and under New York state law,
00:18:21absolutely lawfully.
00:18:23Here in New York,
00:18:24a coalition of groups took advantage
00:18:26of the support for Goetz
00:18:27to push for reform of some laws.
00:18:30The issue?
00:18:31Gun control.
00:18:32The leader of the groups,
00:18:33the National Rifle Association.
00:18:35These are legal guns,
00:18:37but under the current laws,
00:18:38a person caught with an illegal weapon
00:18:40could receive a year in prison.
00:18:43Mayor Koch would like that jail term to be mandatory.
00:18:46If you get caught carrying an illegal handgun,
00:18:49you'll go to jail for one year
00:18:51and there's no way around it.
00:18:53The gun Bernie had,
00:18:55he obtained in Florida.
00:18:57He brought it to New York illegally
00:18:58because it was very difficult
00:19:01to get a carry license
00:19:02unless you're a big financier
00:19:05or you're a celebrity
00:19:06or you're connected to the mayor.
00:19:09I applied for a gun permit
00:19:11with the city of New York
00:19:12after the first instance of my knee happened
00:19:13and you will have it in your records
00:19:15because I'm sure you have,
00:19:17you know, you've got to fingerprint the whole thing,
00:19:19the picture, the whole business.
00:19:20I spent about $2,000
00:19:21and went to see all kinds of paperwork.
00:19:24Money doesn't mean all kinds of shit.
00:19:25And when all got said and done
00:19:26and I tried to play by all your rules
00:19:29and say, well, I hated,
00:19:31I needed the gun
00:19:32because I have a business
00:19:33and this and that
00:19:34and I tried playing all the games
00:19:36and switching around the money.
00:19:38The detective said,
00:19:40we can't go giving anybody a gun permit
00:19:42just because they want it.
00:19:44That would be irresponsible.
00:19:46Bernie Getz couldn't get
00:19:47a concealed carry license in New York City
00:19:50even though he's exactly the kind of person
00:19:53who should have been able to.
00:19:55So I knew instantly Bernie
00:19:58was going to be the poster boy for the NRA.
00:20:02At that time,
00:20:04the NRA was still a cause.
00:20:07We used to promote sporting use
00:20:10and hunting.
00:20:14But we were a little hinky
00:20:16about talking about self-defense.
00:20:21So the Bernie Getz story
00:20:23was an opportunity
00:20:24on a high visibility issue
00:20:26for the NRA to weigh in
00:20:28on the side of the victims.
00:20:29The NRA wants legislation
00:20:32reintroduced in Albany
00:20:33that would give people
00:20:34greater access to firearm permits.
00:20:36So I got my bosses at NRA
00:20:40to let me do a news conference
00:20:42to get our point of view expressed.
00:20:46And I remembered the line,
00:20:47I said,
00:20:48the government,
00:20:49which cannot protect its citizens,
00:20:52has no right to deny them
00:20:54the means to protect themselves.
00:20:56The National Rifle Association today
00:20:58began running ads
00:21:00in New York City newspapers.
00:21:01Ads that say law-abiding citizens
00:21:03have the right to protect themselves
00:21:05because the city no longer does.
00:21:09Meanwhile,
00:21:10a group of black leaders
00:21:11met with a federal prosecutor
00:21:13to press their demand
00:21:14for a civil rights investigation
00:21:16of the Getz case.
00:21:17I think that Mr. Getz
00:21:19was seriously psychologically damaged
00:21:21by former muggings
00:21:22and that in his mind
00:21:23that young blacks
00:21:25are the stereotypical type muggers.
00:21:27I'm firmly convinced
00:21:28if those four boys
00:21:29had been white,
00:21:30he would have not have assumed
00:21:31they were out to mug him
00:21:33until they'd actually
00:21:34tried to mug him.
00:21:35If you really felt
00:21:37they were going to do something
00:21:38to harm you,
00:21:39you'd get up and show your gun
00:21:40at worst
00:21:41and say,
00:21:42leave me alone.
00:21:43But no,
00:21:44you're going to get up
00:21:44and just start firing
00:21:45and shoot four people?
00:21:47How is that self-defense?
00:21:50Other than
00:21:51you're really dealing
00:21:53with this kind of fear
00:21:54and overreaction
00:21:56that is soaked
00:21:57with race
00:21:59and bigotry?
00:22:04Vigilanteism
00:22:05is what my mother
00:22:06and my grandmother
00:22:07and them
00:22:07had to run from
00:22:09in the South.
00:22:09The Klan was vigilantes.
00:22:14We fought
00:22:16from abolitionist movement
00:22:17all the way
00:22:18through the Civil Rights Movement
00:22:19for the law
00:22:20to protect us.
00:22:23How can we then
00:22:24turn around
00:22:25and embrace
00:22:25those that say
00:22:26I'm going to take the law
00:22:27in my own hands?
00:22:29And I knew
00:22:30that I was going to get
00:22:31a lot of backlash,
00:22:32but I was as determined
00:22:34as the other side was
00:22:36that y'all are going to
00:22:37finally have to deal
00:22:38with this issue.
00:22:38I went and started
00:22:41having my own rallies
00:22:43in Bed-Stuy
00:22:45every Saturday morning.
00:22:47Then I said
00:22:49to dramatize it,
00:22:51I took 30 young people
00:22:53down in front of his house
00:22:54and would pick it
00:22:55and have a rally
00:22:56to say any one
00:22:57of these kids
00:22:57could have been
00:22:58on the subway.
00:22:59And the media
00:23:00picked up on it.
00:23:02We do not think
00:23:03these boys are role models,
00:23:05but we don't think
00:23:05Getz is either.
00:23:06We think five
00:23:07criminally-minded people
00:23:08met on the subway
00:23:09that day.
00:23:11Obviously,
00:23:12it could be
00:23:13a black-white issue.
00:23:14So I reached out
00:23:16to the guy
00:23:17that I knew
00:23:17I needed to have
00:23:18with me,
00:23:19Roy Innes
00:23:20from the Congress
00:23:20of Racial Equality.
00:23:22It is always right
00:23:23for a man
00:23:24or a woman
00:23:25to defend themselves.
00:23:26It is always right
00:23:27to prevent oneself
00:23:29from being injured
00:23:30by criminals.
00:23:32Innes said today
00:23:32that parts of Harlem
00:23:34already resemble
00:23:35Dodge City.
00:23:36Innes said criminals
00:23:37know how to get guns,
00:23:38and that law-abiding
00:23:40citizens who are tested
00:23:41and trained
00:23:42should also have
00:23:43that right.
00:23:44Based on what happened
00:23:45to Bernard Getz
00:23:46in the previous mugging,
00:23:48he should have had
00:23:49a legal program.
00:23:51He should not be facing
00:23:52criminal charges now.
00:23:53And then the supporters
00:23:56of Getz
00:23:57started, you know,
00:23:58attacking us
00:23:59and we were race-baiting
00:24:01and we were this,
00:24:02that, and the other.
00:24:02There are enough
00:24:03true racist situations
00:24:06that we need to confront.
00:24:08Let us not abuse
00:24:10the trust of the public.
00:24:12We can't condemn victims
00:24:14when they minded
00:24:14their own business.
00:24:15We have to attack
00:24:16the predators.
00:24:17It galvanized the citizenry
00:24:21from all corners
00:24:23of the spectrum.
00:24:25Bernie was useful
00:24:27for everybody
00:24:29that had a mission.
00:24:30For those who were
00:24:32fighting racism,
00:24:33he was useful.
00:24:36For those who supported
00:24:37the prevalence of weapons,
00:24:40he was very useful.
00:24:41And those who were
00:24:44crime-fighting
00:24:45like the Guardian Angels,
00:24:47Bernard Getz
00:24:48stood as an example
00:24:49of what we all need to do
00:24:51to defend ourselves
00:24:52in town.
00:24:54There was so much passion
00:24:56on both sides
00:24:57and there was
00:24:57Bernard Getz
00:24:58in the middle.
00:25:04New York subway gunman
00:25:06Bernard Getz
00:25:06may be headed
00:25:07for more trouble.
00:25:08One of the victims,
00:25:09Daryl Cabe,
00:25:10already paralyzed
00:25:11from the waist down,
00:25:12suddenly stopped breathing
00:25:13and had to be put
00:25:14on a respirator.
00:25:15Family sources
00:25:16told Channel 5 News
00:25:17his condition
00:25:17was described to them
00:25:18by doctors
00:25:19as a tough pull.
00:25:21The next 48 hours
00:25:22will tell the story.
00:25:24If he dies,
00:25:25Getz could face
00:25:26murder charges.
00:25:28Have you considered
00:25:29the possibility
00:25:30that Daryl was trying
00:25:31to mug Getz?
00:25:33No, I don't believe.
00:25:35I know he wasn't
00:25:37out to mug him
00:25:38because before he went
00:25:40into the coma,
00:25:41he told me he was
00:25:42sitting across from him
00:25:43and he didn't say
00:25:47anything to him
00:25:47or asked him
00:25:48for anything.
00:25:50Lawyers say
00:25:50Cabe's mother
00:25:51has received reams
00:25:52of hate mail
00:25:53and threats
00:25:54from an agitated public.
00:25:56The one we received,
00:25:57it says,
00:25:58Dear Mrs. Cabe,
00:25:59I'm glad Daryl
00:26:00is paralyzed.
00:26:01He need to sit
00:26:02his black ass
00:26:03in a wheelchair
00:26:04for the rest of his life.
00:26:06I'm so sorry
00:26:06that the other three
00:26:07can't join him.
00:26:09Other letters
00:26:10contained overt racial epithets,
00:26:12racial slurs.
00:26:14I mean,
00:26:14how did you react
00:26:15when you got this hate mail?
00:26:17They never stopped
00:26:17to think that it could
00:26:18have been their child,
00:26:19you know.
00:26:20Shirley Cabe
00:26:21came to visit
00:26:23and she was
00:26:24absolutely horrified
00:26:24that the man
00:26:25who did this
00:26:26to her son
00:26:27is being lionized
00:26:30as some sort of hero.
00:26:33She's in a state of shock.
00:26:34She said that the whole thing
00:26:37is just unreal to her
00:26:38and she said
00:26:40the message
00:26:40that comes out of this
00:26:41is that it's all right
00:26:42for white people
00:26:44to go out
00:26:45and pick up guns
00:26:46and shoot black people.
00:26:49She recognized
00:26:50the criminal process
00:26:51was ongoing.
00:26:52She didn't particularly
00:26:53trust it
00:26:53and so we agreed
00:26:55to fight Bernard Goetz
00:26:56on behalf of Daryl Cabe
00:26:57in civil court.
00:26:59Cabe's mother
00:27:00has filed a lawsuit
00:27:01against Goetz
00:27:02asking for $50 million
00:27:03in damages.
00:27:04Meanwhile, Goetz's attorney
00:27:12said his client
00:27:13has black friends
00:27:14and is deeply hurt
00:27:15by allegations.
00:27:17The shooting
00:27:17was partly motivated
00:27:18by racism.
00:27:19Keeping him
00:27:20on a tight leash
00:27:21was very difficult
00:27:23because the reporters
00:27:24were famished
00:27:26for information.
00:27:29But I'll never forget
00:27:31February 27, 1985.
00:27:33The documents
00:27:34just made public
00:27:35provide new
00:27:36possibly explosive
00:27:37information in this case.
00:27:39The district attorney
00:27:39put into the public record
00:27:41statements that he had made
00:27:42on the videotape.
00:27:44Material that gives
00:27:44a graphic description
00:27:45of some of what
00:27:46may have gone on
00:27:47in that subway car
00:27:48when Goetz came
00:27:49face to face
00:27:50with the young man.
00:27:51The two were on my right
00:27:52and the two were on my left.
00:27:54I knew at that point
00:27:55I would have to pull the gun.
00:27:58When I saw
00:27:59the smile on his face
00:28:01and the shine
00:28:02in his eyes
00:28:03that he was enjoying this
00:28:05it was at that point
00:28:06I decided
00:28:07I was going to
00:28:08kill them all
00:28:09murder them all
00:28:10do anything.
00:28:10and the fellow
00:28:15who was standing up
00:28:16I was sure
00:28:16I'd shot him.
00:28:17It was funny.
00:28:18I went
00:28:19I went to him
00:28:21the second time
00:28:22and I looked at him
00:28:24and he can't verify this
00:28:26because he was probably
00:28:27out of it by then
00:28:28if I had shot him
00:28:28or if he wasn't
00:28:29I don't know.
00:28:30And I said
00:28:31you seem to be doing
00:28:32all right
00:28:32here's another.
00:28:33Well
00:28:37that changed
00:28:38the climate
00:28:38dramatically.
00:28:41How can you reconcile
00:28:42words like
00:28:43you don't look too bad
00:28:44here's another
00:28:44with self-defense?
00:28:47It showed that
00:28:48it wasn't defensive
00:28:49it was
00:28:50cold-blooded
00:28:51attempted execution.
00:28:54The fourth teenager
00:28:55to be shot
00:28:56was Darrell Cabe
00:28:57who remained
00:28:58semi-comatose
00:28:59at a Manhattan hospital.
00:29:02The more and more
00:29:03they got to know
00:29:04who Bernie Getz was
00:29:05it began to take
00:29:07the halo off his head.
00:29:09One can interpret
00:29:10things he said
00:29:11differently
00:29:12but as I recall
00:29:14the statement about
00:29:15well you don't look
00:29:15so bad
00:29:16here have another
00:29:17that was the
00:29:18problematic one
00:29:20that showed
00:29:20you know
00:29:22that that was
00:29:22a problem.
00:29:24If you're going
00:29:24to cheer for that
00:29:25there's something
00:29:26the matter with you
00:29:26absolutely you have
00:29:27no respect for the law.
00:29:30Prosecutors have
00:29:31refused to release
00:29:31the tape
00:29:32but leaked
00:29:32excerpts from
00:29:33the confession
00:29:34have made
00:29:34banner headlines.
00:29:36I wanted to
00:29:37kill those guys
00:29:38I wanted to
00:29:38name those guys
00:29:39I wanted to
00:29:39make them sucker
00:29:40in every way I could.
00:29:42Look if I had
00:29:43more bullets
00:29:44I would have
00:29:44shot them all
00:29:44again and again.
00:29:46My problem
00:29:47was I ran out of bullets
00:29:48and I was going to
00:29:49gouge one of the guys
00:29:49eyes out
00:29:50with my cheese
00:29:50afterwards.
00:29:55I think we failed
00:29:56in not turning
00:29:57a stronger light
00:29:58sooner
00:29:58on this man
00:29:59and his motivations
00:30:00were supposed to
00:30:02be balanced
00:30:03and fair
00:30:04a knight in
00:30:05shining armor
00:30:06he isn't.
00:30:15By and large
00:30:16the post at the time
00:30:18we didn't overtly
00:30:20support Bernie.
00:30:21It's not overtly
00:30:22but there was a sense
00:30:23that we had more
00:30:25sympathy for Bernie
00:30:27than say the other
00:30:28newspapers had
00:30:29and that's what
00:30:31led to a series
00:30:33of exclusives.
00:30:34Getz who has refused
00:30:36to speak with reporters
00:30:36since he surrendered
00:30:37to authorities
00:30:38in New Hampshire
00:30:39spent 35 minutes
00:30:40tonight talking
00:30:41with Channel 5
00:30:42News Director
00:30:42John Parsons
00:30:43and New York Post
00:30:44Managing Editor
00:30:45Steve Dunleavy.
00:30:46And I got that
00:30:47feeling that the
00:30:49reason why he did
00:30:49the interview
00:30:50was just in his
00:30:51mind to set
00:30:52the record straight.
00:30:54Tonight Bernhard Getz
00:30:56talks about crime
00:30:57in the streets
00:30:57and what a citizen
00:30:58should do about it
00:30:59in the first
00:31:00in-depth
00:31:00television interview.
00:31:01That was his way
00:31:03of dealing with it.
00:31:04He had to talk
00:31:05about it.
00:31:05I would not have
00:31:06done things
00:31:06differently.
00:31:08At the same time
00:31:09I can't talk
00:31:09about it too much
00:31:10because I do have
00:31:11pending criminal
00:31:11charges.
00:31:12And I told him
00:31:13everything you say
00:31:14is going to come
00:31:14back into that trial
00:31:15but he was
00:31:18an unguided missile.
00:31:19What we have now
00:31:20is anarchy.
00:31:21When people do
00:31:22violent crime
00:31:23and the criminal
00:31:24judicial system
00:31:25puts them back
00:31:26out on the street
00:31:27that is anarchy.
00:31:29And all of a sudden
00:31:30Geraldo Rivera
00:31:31is calling you up
00:31:32and Barbara Walters.
00:31:35Last night
00:31:35we had a takeout
00:31:36Chinese dinner.
00:31:37Getz just picked
00:31:38at the food.
00:31:39The person that I met
00:31:40was a very
00:31:40North Oregon
00:31:41or very menacing
00:31:43people.
00:31:43You have to understand
00:31:44that this was
00:31:47a real life
00:31:48violent situation
00:31:49and not something
00:31:51that you see
00:31:52on television.
00:31:53People take it
00:31:53for granted
00:31:54that the subway
00:31:55system is a disaster.
00:31:58People take it
00:31:58for granted
00:31:59that government
00:32:01agencies
00:32:02don't do their job.
00:32:05He responded
00:32:06to the media
00:32:07by saying anything
00:32:09and everything
00:32:09to whoever
00:32:10would have put
00:32:10a microphone
00:32:11in front of his face.
00:32:12How do you react
00:32:13to the police commissioner
00:32:14who as a result
00:32:15of looking at all
00:32:15of the evidence
00:32:16has concluded
00:32:16that perhaps
00:32:18it was not
00:32:18self-defense
00:32:19the gentleman
00:32:19was shot in the back?
00:32:20And then he realized
00:32:22man, they're out
00:32:23to hang me.
00:32:24They don't understand.
00:32:25Currents,
00:32:25they don't understand.
00:32:26The media is...
00:32:27I said,
00:32:27the media are not
00:32:27your friends.
00:32:29I found the press
00:32:34to be
00:32:35some of the most
00:32:37dishonest,
00:32:40unethical people
00:32:41that I've ever met
00:32:42with perhaps
00:32:43the exception
00:32:43of politicians
00:32:44and I've never
00:32:46seen such a group
00:32:47of people
00:32:47with a dog-eat-dog
00:32:49attitude.
00:32:50They're not out
00:32:51to make you
00:32:52a hero any longer.
00:32:53They built you up
00:32:54and now
00:32:55they're ready
00:32:56to knock you down.
00:32:58The things I said,
00:33:00I believe
00:33:01and I still do believe.
00:33:03In hindsight,
00:33:04I don't think
00:33:07I should have
00:33:07said them
00:33:08because it
00:33:09stirred up
00:33:11everything again.
00:33:23On Monday,
00:33:24a case that has
00:33:25been making news
00:33:26for more than two years
00:33:27will finally go to trial.
00:33:28It's the Bernhard Goetz case.
00:33:31We went from 1984
00:33:32to 1987
00:33:33to get to the point
00:33:34of trial
00:33:35and we knew
00:33:36that this was going
00:33:37to ultimately
00:33:38be tried
00:33:39not just in the courtroom
00:33:41but in the court
00:33:42of public opinion
00:33:42with all the media attention.
00:33:44Yet a very large
00:33:45New York courtroom
00:33:46jury selection
00:33:47began in the trial
00:33:48of the so-called
00:33:48Subway gunman.
00:33:53Lawyers for both sides
00:33:54are not looking
00:33:55for people
00:33:55who don't know
00:33:56about this
00:33:57much-publicized case
00:33:58since attorneys doubt
00:34:00many New Yorkers
00:34:00would fit
00:34:01into that category.
00:34:03The relatively
00:34:04large number
00:34:05of potential jurors
00:34:06have experienced
00:34:06the same kind
00:34:07of threatening situation
00:34:08Goetz says
00:34:09he went through.
00:34:11Of the handful
00:34:11of jurors thus far
00:34:12picked,
00:34:13two say they were
00:34:14victims of Subway crimes.
00:34:16Do you have to come back?
00:34:17Yeah.
00:34:18We wanted jurors
00:34:21who were prior
00:34:22mugging victims
00:34:23because we wanted
00:34:26them to be able
00:34:27to relate to Goetz
00:34:28and the district attorney,
00:34:30he wanted prior
00:34:31mugging victims
00:34:32so he could argue
00:34:33to the jury,
00:34:34you didn't shoot someone,
00:34:37why did Mr. Goetz
00:34:38have to?
00:34:40I think this could be it.
00:34:42Yeah, I think he's
00:34:44in the front seat.
00:34:51Mr. Goetz,
00:34:53anything to say?
00:34:58It took the biggest
00:34:59courtroom they have
00:35:00to start the Bernhard Goetz
00:35:01trial today.
00:35:02It's now up to
00:35:03the four women
00:35:04and eight men
00:35:05on the jury
00:35:05to start making up
00:35:06their own minds.
00:35:09The prosecutor
00:35:10called Goetz
00:35:10an emotional powder keg
00:35:12with a ferocious
00:35:13and bloody passion.
00:35:14Prosecutor Gregory
00:35:15Waples contended
00:35:16Goetz overreacted
00:35:18that by pulling out
00:35:19an unlicensed handgun
00:35:20and opening fire,
00:35:22he endangered everyone
00:35:23on the Subway car.
00:35:26Our adversary
00:35:27was quite a formidable
00:35:28attorney,
00:35:29Greg Waples.
00:35:30We knew he had
00:35:30our work cut out
00:35:31for us because
00:35:32he's a really smart guy.
00:35:35Goetz's attorney
00:35:36Barry Slotnick argued
00:35:37that as a victim
00:35:38of a previous mugging,
00:35:39Goetz had acted rationally
00:35:41and that he believed
00:35:42deadly force
00:35:43was necessary.
00:35:46Bernard Goetz
00:35:47was represented
00:35:48by Slotnick and Baker,
00:35:50two of the best.
00:35:52They were the mastermind
00:35:53in taking a hopeless case
00:35:55like Bernard Goetz
00:35:56and actually finding
00:35:58the light
00:35:59at the end
00:35:59of the tunnel.
00:36:01Goetz's lawyer,
00:36:02Barry Slotnick,
00:36:02developed a strategy
00:36:03of shifting the focus
00:36:04from Goetz
00:36:05to the four youths
00:36:06he shot.
00:36:07Mark Baker
00:36:08and Barry Slotnick
00:36:09did everything possible
00:36:10in that courtroom
00:36:11to demonize
00:36:13the victims
00:36:14of the crime.
00:36:15I will be prosecuting
00:36:16those four thugs
00:36:18that ventured upon
00:36:19Bernhard Goetz
00:36:20and meant to do him
00:36:21ill will
00:36:21and rob him.
00:36:22I don't understand
00:36:23why they weren't
00:36:24prosecuted.
00:36:25At one point,
00:36:26Barry Slotnick,
00:36:27in a genius legal maneuver,
00:36:29had four of the black
00:36:30African-American guardian
00:36:31angels
00:36:32dress up in white T-shirts
00:36:34and he used them
00:36:35to role-play
00:36:36in the court.
00:36:38Goetz's lawyer
00:36:38recreated the shootings
00:36:40with the aid
00:36:40of a ballistics expert.
00:36:42The four guardian angels
00:36:43were placed in positions
00:36:44where the defense
00:36:45says the four teens
00:36:46were located
00:36:47when they were shot.
00:36:48A private investigator
00:36:49played the part
00:36:50of the so-called
00:36:50subway gunmen.
00:36:53So I told the guardian angels,
00:36:55act the way
00:36:56these guys act.
00:36:57Act like thugs,
00:36:57like we see it all the time
00:36:59on the trains.
00:37:00Mad-dogging him
00:37:01and I fornicating him.
00:37:03The judge,
00:37:05who should never
00:37:06have allowed that
00:37:07to begin with,
00:37:08was like really
00:37:09fascinated at this.
00:37:10The court was fascinated
00:37:11at this.
00:37:12And then Waples
00:37:13was screaming at the judge,
00:37:15what are you doing?
00:37:16You can't allow this.
00:37:18It's going to prejudice
00:37:19the jury.
00:37:19We would escort
00:37:27Bernard Goetz
00:37:28from his apartment
00:37:29on 14th Street
00:37:30to the court.
00:37:31He did not have
00:37:33the SUV.
00:37:34He did not have
00:37:34the stretch limo.
00:37:36He took the train
00:37:37most times.
00:37:39And people would talk
00:37:40a lot of trash
00:37:41and they'd want
00:37:42to spark it up.
00:37:44And then you had
00:37:44demonstrators outside
00:37:45for and against Goetz
00:37:47and they'd be arguing,
00:37:48Bernard Goetz,
00:37:50KKK,
00:37:51different names,
00:37:52same game.
00:37:53We hope to see
00:37:54Goetz convicted
00:37:55because he presumed
00:37:57that because they were
00:37:58black,
00:37:59they were criminal.
00:38:00At times it was like
00:38:01a three-wing circus.
00:38:08I was there every day
00:38:09for the New York Post.
00:38:13It was just riveting,
00:38:15everything.
00:38:15Bernie Getz doesn't say
00:38:25much when he walks
00:38:26past the press
00:38:26into court every day,
00:38:28maybe just a greeting.
00:38:29His lawyers don't want
00:38:29him talking about the case.
00:38:31They probably think
00:38:32Bernie has said
00:38:32enough already.
00:38:34My biggest effort
00:38:36was keeping him muzzled.
00:38:39We knew we didn't want
00:38:40Bernie Getz to testify
00:38:41in an open courtroom
00:38:42because I don't think
00:38:43he would have lasted
00:38:4320 seconds
00:38:44on cross-examination.
00:38:47So it was going
00:38:49to come down
00:38:49to the tape.
00:38:51In court today,
00:38:52Bernard Goetz's
00:38:53own confession
00:38:54came back
00:38:54to haunt him.
00:38:55The prosecutor,
00:38:56who said Goetz
00:38:57was actually
00:38:58the aggressor,
00:38:59introduced Goetz's
00:39:00videotaped confession
00:39:01and told the jury
00:39:02it was self-incriminating.
00:39:03I was going downtown
00:39:05to have a drink
00:39:07before Christmas
00:39:07with a few friends
00:39:08and just do some
00:39:09bullshitting for a while.
00:39:10I was in the middle
00:39:11of a project.
00:39:12I got disgusted with it.
00:39:13I was working
00:39:13on a piece of equipment.
00:39:14I said,
00:39:15well, I better
00:39:15take a break.
00:39:17Now, by the way,
00:39:18I went on that train.
00:39:19When I walked in there,
00:39:19I was as lighthearted
00:39:20as could be.
00:39:22But the situation
00:39:23develops.
00:39:24Very quickly.
00:39:25Now, this takes
00:39:26a long time
00:39:26to explain.
00:39:29We understand.
00:39:30Look, they want to hear.
00:39:31What they were going to do
00:39:32is enjoying me for a while.
00:39:34They were going to
00:39:35beat the fucking shit out of me.
00:39:37Okay?
00:39:38The money and this and that
00:39:39is all bullshit.
00:39:41When I saw this look,
00:39:42I knew what their intentions were.
00:39:44And I snapped
00:39:47and I said,
00:39:47I'm going to waste them
00:39:48for you so you don't praise
00:39:49I'm going to waste them all.
00:39:52It was just,
00:39:54it was,
00:39:54it was attempted
00:39:56cold water murder.
00:39:57I don't deny that.
00:39:58And if you're going to
00:39:59misjudgment on that,
00:40:00good.
00:40:02After it was played
00:40:04in court
00:40:05and you can hear
00:40:06a pin drop,
00:40:07my partner said,
00:40:09we're dead.
00:40:10I said, what?
00:40:11I said, what do you mean
00:40:11we're dead?
00:40:12It went off just
00:40:12as we anticipated.
00:40:15You've got to remember,
00:40:15we don't have to prove
00:40:16innocence.
00:40:17We just have created
00:40:18doubters to guilt.
00:40:20And we thought
00:40:21the tape did that.
00:40:23Anybody who's seen
00:40:25that tape
00:40:25will have one opinion
00:40:26or another.
00:40:27I always found
00:40:28it sympathetic.
00:40:28It was raw
00:40:30emotion
00:40:32about somebody
00:40:33who had
00:40:34feared to be
00:40:35beaten to a pulp
00:40:36and took action
00:40:38and happened
00:40:38to have a gun on him.
00:40:39And the truth
00:40:40is ugly.
00:40:41It's disgusting.
00:40:43And I was a monster.
00:40:44I don't deny it.
00:40:45But I wasn't a monster
00:40:47until several years
00:40:47ago in New York.
00:40:49He virtually
00:40:50put the era
00:40:52on trial.
00:40:53And he punched him
00:41:13time and time again.
00:41:16Weren't we fed up?
00:41:18The city is so concerned
00:41:19about violence.
00:41:20Good.
00:41:21This is, quote,
00:41:21the most violent crime
00:41:22of the year.
00:41:23Great.
00:41:24New York City
00:41:25doesn't give a damn
00:41:26about violence.
00:41:27Otherwise,
00:41:27this would have
00:41:28never happened.
00:41:31Getz tells
00:41:32how he gunned down
00:41:33three of his
00:41:34four shooting victims
00:41:35who he says
00:41:35surrounded him
00:41:36asking for money.
00:41:37But this case
00:41:38is largely about
00:41:39the shooting
00:41:39of the fourth teenager,
00:41:40Darryl Kaby.
00:41:42By Getz's own
00:41:43taped admission
00:41:44to police,
00:41:45he paused long enough
00:41:46to evaluate
00:41:47that Kaby was not injured.
00:41:48According to Waples,
00:41:49Getz viciously
00:41:50went over to him
00:41:51and shot him,
00:41:52a bullet left
00:41:53Kaby paralyzed
00:41:53and brain damaged.
00:41:55And I said,
00:41:56you seem to be
00:41:56doing all right.
00:41:57Here's another.
00:41:59Getz's lawyer said
00:42:00that Getz imagined
00:42:01the circumstances
00:42:02of the Kaby shooting
00:42:03and actually shot
00:42:04all four youths
00:42:05in rapid succession.
00:42:07Our argument was
00:42:09that this is what
00:42:10he thought
00:42:11he would have done,
00:42:12but not what he did.
00:42:14So far,
00:42:15eight government witnesses,
00:42:16six who are in the
00:42:17same car as Getz
00:42:18and two who are
00:42:19in the adjacent car,
00:42:20have testified
00:42:21that they heard Getz
00:42:22fire four or five times
00:42:24very rapidly.
00:42:25I don't think
00:42:27the district attorney
00:42:28expected or anticipated
00:42:30that each one
00:42:31of these subway witnesses
00:42:33would be turned
00:42:33into a defense witness.
00:42:35Over and over again,
00:42:36Slotnick told the jury
00:42:37that witnesses testify
00:42:39that they heard
00:42:40the shots fired
00:42:40in rapid succession,
00:42:42an argument that,
00:42:43in many ways,
00:42:43is at the heart
00:42:44of the defense case.
00:42:51After spending the night
00:42:52sequestered
00:42:53in an undisclosed hotel,
00:42:55the Getz jury arrived
00:42:55at court at about
00:42:5610 o'clock this morning.
00:43:00Getz went on trial
00:43:01charged with 13 counts,
00:43:03including attempted murder.
00:43:05Today,
00:43:06in its fourth day
00:43:06of deliberation,
00:43:07after a seven-week trial,
00:43:09a jury brought in
00:43:10its verdict.
00:43:13I remember standing up
00:43:17and the jury walked in
00:43:18and my knees
00:43:18were literally shaking.
00:43:20I had trouble just standing.
00:43:23And then
00:43:24I got very emotional.
00:43:30The most controversial
00:43:32case of crime
00:43:33to come out
00:43:33of New York's subways
00:43:34is finally over this evening.
00:43:37Darren Hart Getz
00:43:38has been acquitted
00:43:39on all charges
00:43:40of attempted murder
00:43:41and assault.
00:43:42The man who shot
00:43:43four black youths
00:43:44on a New York City subway
00:43:45two and one-half years ago
00:43:46was convicted only
00:43:48of illegal possession
00:43:49of a gun.
00:43:51When the verdicts
00:43:52were read today
00:43:53in court,
00:43:54Getz stood
00:43:54and quietly said,
00:43:55I'm happy,
00:43:56that's good.
00:43:59Oh, the courtroom
00:44:00was crazy.
00:44:02It went crazy.
00:44:03And we went crazy, too,
00:44:06trying to get it
00:44:07as fast as we could.
00:44:08Throughout the trial,
00:44:13the prosecutor refused
00:44:14to talk about the case.
00:44:15At a news conference
00:44:16following the verdict,
00:44:17he barely spoke at all.
00:44:18Run!
00:44:19Get off!
00:44:20He's afraid that's all!
00:44:22He's running away
00:44:23from the front!
00:44:23Run away!
00:44:24Now's the case!
00:44:25Greg Waples,
00:44:26he was from the Midwest,
00:44:28and I think he read
00:44:30the citizens of New York
00:44:32wrongly.
00:44:33Run for door catches, Greg!
00:44:34During summation,
00:44:36he made an argument
00:44:37that if Mr. Getz
00:44:37doesn't like the crime
00:44:38in New York,
00:44:39he should leave.
00:44:40You don't tell that
00:44:41to a New Yorker.
00:44:43Hold it!
00:44:44Hold it!
00:44:45The guardian angels
00:44:46who had stood by
00:44:47Bernhard Getz
00:44:48from the beginning
00:44:48were with him to the end.
00:44:50Back up!
00:44:51Back up!
00:44:52Back up!
00:44:53Back up!
00:44:54Back up!
00:44:56Back it up!
00:44:57From the first day
00:44:59I heard the opening arguments,
00:45:01I said,
00:45:02they're not going to
00:45:02convict this guy.
00:45:03They're not!
00:45:07I looked in the faces
00:45:08of those jurors,
00:45:09the men and women,
00:45:10and you could see
00:45:11when there was testimony
00:45:12about victimization,
00:45:14it resonated.
00:45:18How big a victory
00:45:22is this for you?
00:45:24I would not like
00:45:25to characterize it
00:45:25as a personal victory.
00:45:26I did the best I could
00:45:27in the courtroom,
00:45:28and hopefully that was
00:45:29more than adequate.
00:45:30How big a loss
00:45:30for the DA?
00:45:31With such an explosive case,
00:45:36no matter what
00:45:36the jury decided,
00:45:38there was sure to be
00:45:38strong reaction
00:45:39from the public.
00:45:48Back up!
00:45:49Back up!
00:45:49Back up!
00:45:50Back up!
00:45:51Back up!
00:45:52Back up!
00:45:53Back up!
00:45:53Back up!
00:45:53Back up!
00:45:54Back up!
00:45:54Back up!
00:45:55It was disappointing.
00:45:57I felt that it reduced
00:46:00the worth of all of us.
00:46:02From the steps of City Hall
00:46:04to the streets of Harlem,
00:46:05many black leaders today
00:46:06were angry with the Getz verdict.
00:46:08Bernie Getz says,
00:46:09we can all fight back.
00:46:10What he really means
00:46:11is we can fight black.
00:46:12He's the personification
00:46:13of the white backlash
00:46:15of the North.
00:46:16Because really what you're saying
00:46:17is we could have
00:46:18the maximum injuries,
00:46:20and it doesn't matter.
00:46:22That the law is not going to say,
00:46:24but there's value in this life,
00:46:26and you can't take it
00:46:27or injure it.
00:46:29The group headed
00:46:30by the Reverend Al Sharpton
00:46:31will start policing the subways
00:46:33guarding black citizens
00:46:34against what it calls vigilantes.
00:46:37We put the patrol out there
00:46:38because we didn't want to see
00:46:40blacks react violently.
00:46:42A lot of blacks said,
00:46:43we should get guns now
00:46:44since Getz can carry a gun.
00:46:47Whether you agree
00:46:48or disagree with the outcome,
00:46:50you must accept it.
00:46:54The verdict was a shock
00:46:56to a lot of people.
00:46:58It wasn't a surprise to me,
00:46:59and it shouldn't have been
00:47:00a surprise to anybody
00:47:01who was following the case
00:47:03very closely.
00:47:05There was a white,
00:47:07angry mob mentality.
00:47:09We saw that the jury,
00:47:1110 white people.
00:47:12Juror Mark Leslie was asked
00:47:14if race played any part
00:47:15in the deliberation room.
00:47:16We didn't consider it
00:47:17even in the slightest bit,
00:47:19not even in a tangential way.
00:47:21It was about a man
00:47:23and four other men
00:47:24in the subway.
00:47:25The fact that he was white
00:47:27and they were black
00:47:28is immaterial.
00:47:29We had facts and evidence
00:47:31to base all this on
00:47:33and the charges from the judge,
00:47:35and none of that had anything
00:47:36to do with white and black.
00:47:38I think the true message
00:47:39is that people have a right
00:47:41to protect and defend themselves
00:47:42under justifiable situations.
00:47:45And quite clearly,
00:47:46that's what Bernard Getz
00:47:47was all about.
00:47:47It's now over.
00:47:48He's been acquitted
00:47:49and it's finished.
00:47:56Four years of work
00:47:57had been completely vindicated.
00:48:00But then we were facing sentencing
00:48:02because he was still convicted
00:48:03of the gun possession.
00:48:04It's upsetting.
00:48:05You know, this case is now
00:48:06four years long
00:48:07and the last thing
00:48:08he should be is in jail.
00:48:09The forces of government,
00:48:10they were interested
00:48:11in punishing Bernie Getz
00:48:13and saying,
00:48:14by God, we'll make sure
00:48:16that nobody else
00:48:17can use a gun lawfully
00:48:18that wasn't registered.
00:48:21Prosecutor Gregory Weypels
00:48:23said Getz was a danger
00:48:24to himself and society.
00:48:26Bernhard Getz disagreed.
00:48:28This case is really more
00:48:31about deterioration in society
00:48:33than it is about me.
00:48:35Gregory Weypels
00:48:36seems to be concerned
00:48:38that society needs
00:48:39to be protected from me.
00:48:40And I don't believe
00:48:43that's the case.
00:48:44Society needs to be
00:48:45protected from filibunders.
00:48:47Judge Stephen Crane
00:48:48was not convinced
00:48:49passing sentence
00:48:50of a year in jail
00:48:51and a $5,000 fine.
00:48:55Your Honor, I've advised
00:48:56the defendant
00:48:57of his right to appeal.
00:49:00He's ready to go to jail.
00:49:04There's a straight year sentence
00:49:06that's mandatory in New York.
00:49:08So he went to Rikers Island
00:49:09and one year is really
00:49:11eight months
00:49:12with good time credit.
00:49:14So he was out in eight months.
00:49:23Getz still faces
00:49:24a $50 million civil suit
00:49:26that was filed
00:49:27by one of his shooting victims
00:49:29who has been left
00:49:30brain damaged and paralyzed.
00:49:33The marginalizing
00:49:35of the worth
00:49:36of a black life
00:49:37when you act like
00:49:38he's incidental
00:49:40to a hero's story.
00:49:42The legal precedent
00:49:44was a threat
00:49:45to all of us
00:49:45and had to be addressed.
00:49:53By the time
00:49:54the civil case
00:49:55was brought up,
00:49:56the city had changed
00:49:57measurably.
00:49:58We realized
00:50:00that the city
00:50:00was almost out of control
00:50:01at that point.
00:50:02In 1987,
00:50:04the changes
00:50:04that we now see
00:50:05had not occurred.
00:50:06American cities
00:50:08can survive
00:50:09as we know them
00:50:10if they remain
00:50:11so violent.
00:50:20As crime
00:50:21started to go down,
00:50:22people spent
00:50:23a little more time
00:50:24looking at
00:50:25trying to create
00:50:26civil society.
00:50:27now more than
00:50:3811 years later,
00:50:39Bernard Getz,
00:50:40a private man,
00:50:41finds himself
00:50:42back in the spotlight
00:50:43and the courtroom
00:50:44again.
00:50:46And then
00:50:46he picks up
00:50:47this new lawyer.
00:50:48We live in
00:50:49an era
00:50:50where we have
00:50:51almost what I call
00:50:52a form of liberal
00:50:53McCarthyism,
00:50:54where instead of
00:50:55yelling communist,
00:50:56you yell racist.
00:50:57Bernie Getz
00:50:58still runs
00:50:59a small electronics
00:51:00business,
00:51:00but his lawyer
00:51:01says he spent
00:51:02a quarter of a million
00:51:03dollars on legal fees
00:51:04and has no savings.
00:51:08The goal
00:51:09wasn't to win money.
00:51:11I mean,
00:51:11we all knew that
00:51:12Getz was
00:51:12impoverished.
00:51:14He says he's broke.
00:51:15You don't expect
00:51:15to get any
00:51:16$50 million
00:51:17even if you win
00:51:18the suit,
00:51:18do you?
00:51:19Well,
00:51:19I don't expect
00:51:19to get that,
00:51:20but there are a lot
00:51:21of other white bigots
00:51:22with guns out there,
00:51:23and there has to be
00:51:24a message sent to them,
00:51:25which is sooner or later,
00:51:26even if it takes
00:51:2610 or 12 years,
00:51:27we're going to come
00:51:28after you,
00:51:29and we're going
00:51:29to get you,
00:51:29and we're going
00:51:30to make you pay,
00:51:31and so you better
00:51:31just keep it
00:51:32in your holster.
00:51:33What we needed
00:51:34was sort of a very
00:51:34public vindication
00:51:36of Daryl KB.
00:51:38He's permanently
00:51:39paralyzed from
00:51:41the waist down.
00:51:42That'll never
00:51:43get better.
00:51:43He came out of it
00:51:44with severe,
00:51:45permanent,
00:51:46irreversible brain
00:51:47damage.
00:51:48He functions
00:51:49at the level
00:51:49of a small child.
00:51:51And a very,
00:51:54very public exposure
00:51:55of who Bernard
00:51:56Goetz really was
00:51:57through his own mouth.
00:52:02Bernard Goetz
00:52:03never took the witness
00:52:04stand at his trial,
00:52:05but he can be compelled
00:52:06to give a deposition
00:52:07for the civil suits
00:52:08against him.
00:52:10All the Bernard Goetz
00:52:11you can stomach
00:52:13and more,
00:52:15day after day
00:52:16after day.
00:52:17A largely white
00:52:19Manhattan jury
00:52:20acquitted Goetz
00:52:20of attempted murder
00:52:21in 1987.
00:52:23But the two-time
00:52:24defendant's civil case
00:52:25will be tried
00:52:26in the Bronx
00:52:27before a jury
00:52:28of four blacks
00:52:29and two Hispanics.
00:52:30Yes, city, state,
00:52:31and zip code
00:52:32for the record.
00:52:33Bernard Goetz.
00:52:37Cooby takes out
00:52:38his, you know,
00:52:39his razor,
00:52:40his straight-edge razor
00:52:41and just cut him up.
00:52:42When you attended
00:52:43a meeting
00:52:44of a building association
00:52:45in 1980
00:52:46to discuss issues
00:52:48of cleaning up
00:52:5014th Street,
00:52:51did you make a comment
00:52:52at that meeting?
00:52:53Yes, I made
00:52:55several statements,
00:52:56but I did make
00:52:58a stupid comment
00:52:59for which I'm ashamed,
00:53:01and I've apologized for.
00:53:03Would you tell the jury
00:53:04what that stupid comment
00:53:05was, please?
00:53:05In effect, I said
00:53:06the only way
00:53:08we're going to clean up
00:53:09this street
00:53:10is to get rid of
00:53:11the niggers
00:53:11and the spanks.
00:53:13Mr. Goetz,
00:53:14is it true that you said
00:53:15the guys I shot
00:53:18represented the failure
00:53:19of society?
00:53:20Yes.
00:53:20And you also said
00:53:21forget about
00:53:22their ever making
00:53:23a positive contribution
00:53:24to society.
00:53:25Is that correct?
00:53:27I consider them
00:53:28to be a situation,
00:53:30to be a guaranteed
00:53:31formula for disaster,
00:53:32for misery.
00:53:34Goetz gets up there
00:53:34on the witness stand
00:53:35and just spews
00:53:37his consciousness.
00:53:38You know,
00:53:38it's sort of like,
00:53:39what is this,
00:53:40your psychiatrist here?
00:53:41You're pouring out
00:53:42everything?
00:53:43And you also think
00:53:43it would have been
00:53:44a lot better
00:53:44had Shirley Kavey
00:53:45had an abortion.
00:53:46Isn't that right?
00:53:48Shirley Kavey
00:53:49specifically,
00:53:50it would probably
00:53:51be better
00:53:51than the present
00:53:52status score
00:53:53we have today.
00:53:55He dug himself
00:53:56a grave
00:53:58and you couldn't
00:53:59just let him
00:54:00now walk out
00:54:01feeling that
00:54:02there were no
00:54:02consequences
00:54:03for his actions.
00:54:04A word enough
00:54:05in punitive damages
00:54:06that you bankrupt
00:54:09every other bigot
00:54:10with a gun
00:54:11out there
00:54:12who decides
00:54:13who decides
00:54:13to take
00:54:13another shot
00:54:14at another kid
00:54:16but Darryl Kavey.
00:54:24I'm going to
00:54:25read the question
00:54:27and the answer
00:54:28that has been recorded
00:54:30and then ask you,
00:54:31is that your verdict?
00:54:34Question number one,
00:54:36do you find
00:54:37that the defendant
00:54:37intended to shoot
00:54:38Darryl Kavey?
00:54:40The answer
00:54:40has been recorded
00:54:41as yes,
00:54:426-0.
00:54:43Juror number one,
00:54:44was that your verdict?
00:54:45When ultimately
00:54:45the jury returned
00:54:46a liability verdict
00:54:48of $43 million.
00:54:50I think Darryl Kavey
00:54:51can get from Bernard
00:54:52Getz
00:54:52everything Bernard
00:54:54Getz has.
00:54:55And so if Bernard
00:54:56Getz wins the lottery,
00:54:57Darryl Kavey
00:54:57wins the lottery.
00:54:58Bernard Getz
00:54:59writes a book,
00:54:59Darryl Kavey
00:55:00gets the profits.
00:55:01Even though Kubi won,
00:55:03he hasn't collected
00:55:04a nickel, dime, or penny.
00:55:07Getz declared bankruptcy
00:55:09shortly after that.
00:55:11But what Shirley Kavey
00:55:12was after
00:55:12was what happened
00:55:13the next day.
00:55:16Lead editorial
00:55:17in the Daily News.
00:55:22No hero
00:55:23never was.
00:55:31New York tabloids
00:55:32dubbed him
00:55:33as a vigilante
00:55:34and the death-wish gunman.
00:55:36His action
00:55:37touched a responsive
00:55:38chord in the imaginations
00:55:39not only of New Yorkers
00:55:41but the nation.
00:55:43I've covered a lot,
00:55:44a lot of murder trials
00:55:45and I'd never seen
00:55:47anything quite like that.
00:55:49Never before
00:55:50or never since.
00:55:51But the arguments
00:55:52will continue.
00:55:53Was Bernhard Getz
00:55:55a mugging victim
00:55:56who defended himself
00:55:57or a trigger-happy racist?
00:55:59As you go through life,
00:56:01you see that a lot
00:56:03of what was
00:56:04risky and unpopular
00:56:06becomes accepted.
00:56:09That's what movements do
00:56:11is you shift the argument.
00:56:12But some people
00:56:13have to take the risk
00:56:14to change the conversation.
00:56:17Now, the fact
00:56:18that we've made
00:56:18some progress
00:56:19is encouraging.
00:56:21The fact that we haven't arrived
00:56:22is what energizes us
00:56:24to keep going.
00:56:25The Bernie Getz instance
00:56:27was one of those
00:56:28seminal events
00:56:30that helped propel
00:56:31the NRA
00:56:32to political power.
00:56:34The only thing
00:56:36that stops
00:56:38a bad guy
00:56:39with a gun
00:56:40is a good guy
00:56:42with a gun.
00:56:44But it was
00:56:45a very different NRA
00:56:46in 1984
00:56:47compared with
00:56:49the NRA
00:56:50at the moment.
00:56:50It is a story
00:56:53that continues
00:56:54to open
00:56:55wider and wider
00:56:56a Pandora's box
00:56:58of thorny issues
00:56:59and a simmering debate
00:57:01over just
00:57:02who is really
00:57:02the victim.
00:57:03Bernard Getz
00:57:04or the four men
00:57:05he shot
00:57:06or both.
00:57:11Look who's here.
00:57:13It's Bernard Getz,
00:57:14the subway gunman.
00:57:15Yeah, hi, Curtis.
00:57:16Hi, Dominic.
00:57:16Hi, Bernie.
00:57:17Nice to hear from you.
00:57:18Okay, well, thank you.
00:57:19Bernie, so here's
00:57:21the million-dollar question.
00:57:23Do you regret it
00:57:24all these years later?
00:57:26Regret what?
00:57:27Regret the shooting.
00:57:29Pulling the trigger?
00:57:30Yes.
00:57:31Well, I think that...
00:57:31Shooting those black
00:57:32young men.
00:57:34Well, I don't think
00:57:35it's the type of thing
00:57:36you regret.
00:57:38See that, Dominic?
00:57:39So, wait,
00:57:39so you don't regret it?
00:57:41No, no.
00:57:43There are many things
00:57:44in my life
00:57:45that I regret,
00:57:46that I make many...
00:57:47I've made many blunders.
00:57:48So I don't think
00:57:49that was one of them.
00:57:52I could be
00:57:53in the favelas
00:57:54of Rio de Janeiro.
00:57:56I can be
00:57:57in Cape Town.
00:57:59The number one question
00:58:01I get asked,
00:58:02what happened
00:58:03to that subway gunman?
00:58:07That's the kind
00:58:08of imprint
00:58:08he left on people's minds
00:58:10all over the world.
00:58:11and then naturally
00:58:13I have to
00:58:14catch him up.
00:58:16He lives in the same apartment.
00:58:18He rides the trains.
00:58:19He walks out
00:58:20in the streets.
00:58:22I know he tried
00:58:23to run for mayor
00:58:24a couple years ago.
00:58:25He's got very strong
00:58:27political opinions.
00:58:28He's vegan.
00:58:30He, you know,
00:58:30he smokes his Maui Waui
00:58:32and his Hindu Kush.
00:58:34He's got his squirrels.
00:58:36He's in his own little world.
00:58:39He's harmless.
00:58:42But on that day...
00:58:44He's in his own little world.
00:59:14He's Freer.
00:59:16He's in his own little world.