The Best Of the "Real" Law & Order
In the world of Law & Order, there are two separate yet equally important formats. The episodes that are based almost wholly on true stories of crime, and the episodes that are great but completely fictitious. These are the former. *Bong Bong*
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- DirectorDavid PlattStarsJerry OrbachJesse L. MartinS. Epatha MerkersonA fingerprint analyst's error put an innocent man in prison. Detectives discover that this may not have been the only error she has made in favor of prosecutors.The premise of this episode comes from the case of a forensic scientist named Joyce Gilchrist, who specialized in the analysis of hair samples. It was discovered that not only had she falsified evidence in order to help obtain convictions for the prosecution, but also withheld other pieces of evidence from defense attorneys. Because of her, 23 innocent people were sent to jail. 11 of them were executed. Although she was never criminally charged, she was the target of several lawsuits from the families of those she helped to put away. She died in Texas on June 14, 2015.
- DirectorBill D'EliaStarsPaul SorvinoChris NothDann FlorekA college student from a poor Mexican family kills his rich co-ed fiancée after she breaks up with him. The defense hopes to exploit the jury's guilt for the client's plight to avoid a murder conviction.A Yale University student named Bonnie Garland was murdered by her ex-boyfriend Richard Herrin, who confessed his crime to his local Parish Priest after he killed her. Several members of the Church then rallied around him in support. Herrin was convicted of Man One and served 17 years in jail. Several vocal critics have said the support of the Church and the Yale community led to his conviction on the lesser charge, as he had also been charged with Second-degree murder.
- DirectorJace AlexanderStarsJerry OrbachJesse L. MartinS. Epatha MerkersonA father confesses to killing his son's hockey coach over playing time. His defense is that he should not be considered responsible for his actions because he suffers from a mental defect known as "sports rage."This is a terrible one. The sons of Thomas Junta and Michael Costin were playing a "friendly" game of hockey that Costin was refereeing. Junta began to see that Costin's sons were being more than a bit rough on his own son. The two began arguing afterwards, and the boys then watched as Junta beat Costin to death in front of them. Junta was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2002, and paroled in 2010.
- DirectorVincent MisianoStarsJerry OrbachChris NothS. Epatha MerkersonAn alcoholic young man is accused of murdering a married couple in their bed -- but they were strangers to him, and no motive can be discerned.A four-year old double homicide went unsolved until Paul Cox began experiencing vivid nightmares about the crime. Eventually, he realized he was the murderer. He confessed to this during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Cox was eventually arrested when his ex-girlfriend, also an AA member, became troubled about what had been said and went to the police after asking her therapist what she should do to ease her own conscience. Cox's lawyer tried to argue that privacy is sacrosanct among AA members, and that his confession was just as privileged as if he had confessed to a priest. The judge disagreed. His lawyer then offered up a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. In the end, 11 jurors voted him guilty, 1 absolutely refused to budge in her belief that he was insane, resulting in a mistrial. At his second trial, he was found guilty of Man One and sentenced to 2 terms of 8-25 years, served consecutively. BUT, the Appelate Court then decided that his "confession" to AA was privileged after all, and threw out the conviction. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! This time the prosecution appealed, and this time, the three judge panel stated that his first confession-the one to his ex, was not a cry for any form of spiritual advice. His conviction was reinstated, and he is now in prison.
- DirectorEdwin SherinStarsPaul SorvinoChris NothDann FlorekAn obsessed fan is charged with the brutal beating of a soap opera actress. During the trial, he claims that a voice in his head told him to do it.It's fairly obvious there are more than a few points of this story modeled on the murder of Rebecca Schaeffer by an obsessed fan, but less well-known is the case of actress Theresa Saldana. Her stalker was a Scottish man named Arthur Jackson, who became obsessed with her after seeing her in Raging Bull. He hired a private investigator to obtain her mother's number, and called her posing as Martin Scorsese's assistant, saying he needed to speak to her about possibly replacing an actress who had just dropped out of a film he was making. He then gained her home address, made his way over in the middle of the day, and stabbed her in the stomach 10 times. Luckily, she managed to survive and was the inspiration for some of the first laws to make stalking a crime. Jackson served 14 years in prison for the assault, and for continuing to make threats against both Saldana and the neighbor who came to her aid.
- DirectorE.W. SwackhamerStarsGeorge DzundzaChris NothDann FlorekA woman claims she shot two punks on a subway car in self-defense, but investigators and prosecutors are not sure that they believe her.Not very difficult to see this episode is based on Bernie Goetz, the man who shot 4 African-American teens who had asked him for money while on the subway. He claimed self-defense, saying the boys were going to attack him, and was celebrated as a vigilante hero for stopping them before they could. He was charged with 4 counts each of attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment and one count of criminal possession of a weapon. He was only convicted on the final charge and served less than a year in prison. However, one of his victims filed suit against him in civil court and was awarded $43,000,000. As for all the boys he shot, one was convicted for his part in gang-raping a pregnant woman. One has served several stretches in prison for crimes ranging from assault to shoplifting. One was convicted of robbery in 1991. One is in a wheelchair, brain-damaged and with the mental capacity of an 8-year old.
- DirectorJace AlexanderStarsJerry OrbachJesse L. MartinS. Epatha MerkersonA therapist is charged with murder after an 11-year-old girl dies during a "rebirthing" procedure.This episode tackled the case of 10-year old Candace Newmaker, who died while undergoing a controversial therapy known as "rebirthing", in which an adopted child who is having difficulties adjusting to their new life is basically tightly cocooned in a "womb" of sheets and blankets and made to force their way out of them, being reborn in a sense. 4 grown adults took turns sitting on Newmaker as she tried to fight her way out of her "womb". She kept yelling out that she couldn't breathe; the adults only pushed her down harder. Candace ended up dying of asphyxia during the procedure. Her birth mother, who had been desperately trying to get her back, was not told what had happened to her until five months later. As for those who were present during the rebirth ceremony, Newmaker's adoptive mother pled guilty to abuse and neglect and was given a 4-year suspended sentence. Her therapeutic foster parents pled guilty to criminally negligent abuse and were given 10-year suspended sentences and 1000 hours of community service each. The other two adults chose to go to trial, where the video that was made of the entire incident was shown to the court. Both were convicted of reckless child abuse resulting in death and given 16-year prison sentences.
- DirectorMartha MitchellStarsJerry OrbachBenjamin BrattS. Epatha MerkersonA rebellious child dies during an unsanctioned exorcism ceremony. The defendant claims that St. Michael instructed her to perform the exorcism.For this episode, the writer looked to the case of 8-year old Terrance Cottrell, who was severely autistic. As he was acting up on the street one day, a woman from the Faith Temple Church approached Terrance's mother and told her that the church could spiritually heal him. A single mother who was already struggling with Terrance and his sister, she agreed. She began fervently attending church services, and her friends and neighbors began to fear she was being brainwashed. Terrance was involved in prayer sessions that were held 3 times a week, 2 hours each session, during which he showed no improvement in his behavior. He would often kick, scratch, bite, and punch the congregation that was attempting to restrain him. Finally, the brother of the church's founder convinced Terrance's mother that he was possessed and offered to perform an exorcism. Ray Hemphill, who suggested the exorcism, would lay on top of Terrance's chest while praying for the demons to leave him, all while Terrance struggled to push him off. Other members of the congregation held down his arms and legs. After an hour, Terrance stopped struggling...and breathing. An attempt was made at CPR, but it was too late. Hemphill was charged with child abuse recklessly causing great bodily harm. The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervision. Several people felt that this "holy man" got away with murder.
- DirectorStephen WertimerStarsJerry OrbachJesse L. MartinS. Epatha MerkersonWhen a suspected murderer tries to seek shelter in Israel, the DA's office faces the difficult task of extraditing and trying him in New York while also satisfying the Jewish community.In 1997, Alfredo Tello's badly mutilated and burned body was found in an abandoned garage in Maryland. One of his killers, Samuel Sheinbein, used the Law of Return to flee to Israel and avoid prosecution, mainly due to the harsh realities of what serving time in a US jail could be like. Prosecuters focused on whether or not he was truly a citizen of Israel, mainly because his father was born in British-mandated Palestine in 1944, 4 years before the State of Israel existed. While prosecuters kept putting the pressure on Israel to extradite Samuel back to the United States, a Jerusalem district judge suggested a compromise: Sheinbein could return voluntarily to the States, and if found guilty at his trial, could serve his sentence in an Israeli jail. Sheinbein seemed happy to accept, but the Americans refused to budge. After all the legal and political wrangling, the Israeli Supreme Court stated that although the US and Israel have an extradition treaty, Israeli law took precedence. Sheinbein was to be tried in Israel, as an Israeli citizen. Several officials in the US and Israel were disgusted with the decision. Sheinbein ended up pleading guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. in 2014, he shot six prison officials and another prisoner, and was then himself killed by the police in the ensuing standoff.