After a homeless man is convicted of murder, his lawyer files an Fourth Amendment appeal claiming an illegal, unwarranted search of his personal property.After a homeless man is convicted of murder, his lawyer files an Fourth Amendment appeal claiming an illegal, unwarranted search of his personal property.After a homeless man is convicted of murder, his lawyer files an Fourth Amendment appeal claiming an illegal, unwarranted search of his personal property.
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Did you know
- TriviaThis episode appears to be based on the 1987 David Mooney case. In August 1987, Mooney--who lived under an on-ramp to Interstate 91 in New Haven, Connecticut--was arrested for the murder of Theodore Genovese. Genovese, a supervisor in the radiology department at Yale-New Haven Hospital, was found strangled with an electric cord in his home. Evidence led police to Mooney, and he was picked up for questioning. Mooney's girlfriend led the police on a search for the spot beneath the highway where he kept his belongings and he slept. In a cardboard box, the police found a 38-inch belt matching the waist size of the victim. In a duffel bag, they found a pair of bloody trousers. Mooney was later released due to homeless rights advocates: during Mooney's trial, they raised the question of whether the privacy of homeless people is protected by the Fourth Amendment. They pointed out that Mooney had an expectation of privacy, and the police had no search warrant to look into his belongings.
- GoofsIrving Metzman is credited as Judge Strozzek, but his character sits on the judge's bench with his name tag in full view as "Hon. Robert Streebie".
- Quotes
Miss Elsie Hatch: And night before last, there was a naked man with a crossbow running up and down West 74th Street.
Det. Mike Logan: Where did he keep the arrows?
Miss Murdoch: How come every freak in the country lives in New York? Why don't some of you people move to Nebraska?
Sal Violet: [a man dressed in drag] I'm from Nebraska, sweetie. How do think I got this way?
- ConnectionsReferences The Dating Game (1965)
But a couple of truly stupid rulings by the trial judge and the Court of Appeals threaten this verdict. Civil liberties attorney Michael Tolan takes up the cause of the murderer Stuart Rudin because Paul Sorvino and Chris Noth did not get a search warrant for the bushes in Central Park this man calls home.
This is the kind of case that would make cops and prosecutors just throw in the towel. The wonder is that Tolan really believes he's won a great victory for civil liberties. Rudin is one really evil dude as well.
Matthew Cowles is outstanding as the other homeless guy who is really non compas mentus. His scenes in and out of court with Michael Moriarty are outstanding.
One of the best early episodes.
- bkoganbing
- Aug 11, 2017