NARRATOR: In the criminal justice system
the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups,
the police who investigate crime,
and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.
These are their stories.
I'm telling you, it was fantastic.
Skiing in Japan, who knew?
I just got tired of the Pyrenees, year in, year out.
So rude. I hate when people do this.
Guess who?
Those have been in there for days.
What are you gonna do?
Teach our friend in 1G some manners.
Walderman! You left your laundry in the dryer. Again.
Walderman!
Walderman?
Walderman!
My God.
Neighbor down the hall found him. Said the door was unlocked.
Oh, it's cold in here.
Windows are open, heat's off.
Looks like he went a couple rounds with somebody.
ED: Hey. Hey.
I don't see any blood on that knife.
Looks like he got strangled. Got raccoon eyes, bruising around the ears.
God, it must be 40 degrees in here.
Is that gonna mess with your time of death?
Yeah. Two days, a week, maybe.
Hopefully you can narrow that down.
(LAUGHS)
Well, it seems he tried to defend himself.
Or he started something he couldn't finish.
Either way, he's finished now.
Did anybody else have access to his apartment?
Even the super didn't have keys.
Ira kept changing the locks so we couldn't get in.
Why is that? He was paranoid.
Thought we were trying to take his apartment away from him.
Were you?
Please.
Two bedrooms, two baths. That's pretty big for one dude.
Rent-controlled, at that. Seven hundred a month.
Well, you can get 10 times that much now.
You'd think. Although crime scene and homicide
aren't exactly the kind of extras that attract buyers.
Buyers?
Oh, most of the rest of the building
went co-op ages ago. Ira was the last holdout.
And how much can you get for that now?
(SCOFFS) A million, a million five.
Uh, you said he was the last renter. How long was he there?
Ira grew up in that apartment.
His parents lived there, too, until they passed away four or five years ago.
ED: Any other family?
In fact, when we transferred the lease into lra's name after his parents passed,
he listed his boss as an emergency contact.
Sad, really.
FONTANA: Did he work here a long time?
Twenty years.
You two were friends?
I was the man's boss.
Did you ever meet any of his family or friends?
I'm sorry. He didn't have any particular friends in this office.
How about a girlfriend?
Girlfriend? Ira?
Was he gay?
(LAUGHS) Uh, just hopeless.
You know that show Queer Eye For A Straight Guy?
Even they couldn't do anything for Ira.
Well, how about enemies, people he didn't get along with?
Well, that was everybody, in a way.
Ira had a mild disdain for other human beings.
Nothing worth getting killed for.
There's gotta be something you can tell us about this dude.
Had black coffee with two sugars and a hot pastrami sandwich on rye for lunch.
Every day?
I'm trying to tell you this guy was not exactly Mr. Excitement.
That's the picture we're getting, too.
Did he have any interests or hobbies?
Basketball. Pro and College. Knew all the stats.
Bore you to death. That's the only thing he ever talked about.
You mind if we look around a little longer?
If it helps.
Thank you.
Nothing here but a bunch of take-out menus.
ED: Datebook. Doesn't have one appointment in it.
Radio.
Last week's paper.
Sports page. He's got New York, Washington and Indiana circled.
Well, he knew how to pick 'em. All those teams won.
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
Hello?
If I had to take a guess, I'd say our friend is a gambler.
All right. We'll be right there.
M.E.'s ready for us.
The M.E. on the scene said that he was probably strangled.
Well, from the bruising, it looks like somebody put him in a choke hold,
but that's not what actually killed him.
Second and third vertebra were fractured. Somebody snapped his neck.
How hard is that? It's not easy.
Takes a lot of leverage.
Like a hanging.
Yeah, exactly like a hanging.
He was lifted off his feet by his neck.
The drag from his body weight helped to break the vertebrae.
And Walderman was what, 5'9? Roughly.
So we're looking for somebody who was what?
Well over six feet. And muscular.
Whoever did this was a big, strong guy.
Latent lifted a good thumbprint off his watch, but no hits.
If it is our killer's, he's not in any of the databases.
And no other usable prints in the apartment?
Just Walderman's, and his are on the knife, too.
Well, what do we know about Mr. Walderman?
We think he was a gambler betting on professional basketball teams.
We pulled his bank records. He made an $80,000 deposit last month.
Cashier's check.
That's a pretty nice score.
Well, if he deposited his winnings in cash, he's not betting online.
Well, some of us do prefer to squander our cash in the old-fashioned way.
Well, see if you can find out who was taking Mr. Walderman's action.
If he was betting enough to get himself killed, he memorized his bookie's number.
Where was he calling him from, though? Pay phone? He didn't have a cell phone.
Well, check his office LUDs. Maybe he was betting from work.
Oh, well, here's a number he called one, two,
five times in two days last month.
Who?
Oh, I'm sorry. I got the wrong number.
Sorry, bye-
The Lexington Grand.
That's a nice hotel.
Maybe he had a friend in for a visit.
Cross-check the hotel's records,
see if anybody called him back.
You get the room number.
Okay.
A bunch of junk mail.
Hey. Rosalie Horton, apartment 4A.
What would he be doing with his neighbor's mail?
Which one of you is my driver?
(CHUCKLES)
Neither, actually. Uh...
I'm Detective Fontana. This is Detective Green, New York City Police.
Are you Mrs. Horton?
Taka Furukawa.
Mrs. Horton moved out nearly a year ago.
This about the dead guy in 1G?
Yeah, Ira Walderman. Did you know him?
Not really. He said if I held onto Mrs. Horton's mail he'd make sure she got it.
You mind if I keep packing? I've got a plane to catch.
Sure. Where you off to?
London. I'm a Nylon.
A what?
Nylon. New York Londoner.
That's a hell of a commute.
Tell me about it.
Man, it's hard to believe that this is the same building.
I was about to say, Mr. Walderman's apartment don't look like this.
He was rent-controlled. So was Mrs. Horton.
I'm co-op.
Do you know where Mrs. Horton moved to?
Sorry. Are you going to see her?
We hope so.
When you do, can you give her these?
I was afraid of something like this. lwarned him.
Warned him about what?
Mr. Levin. The owner. He wanted all of us out.
ED: The rent-controlled tenants.
Ira was the only one who stayed.
Did Mr. Levin threaten you?
Well, not exactly.
He just made it impossible to stay.
Then he offered me money.
How much? $20,000.
I told Mr. Levin thanks, but no thanks.
I've been here 30 years. I'm too old to move.
Then hejust let the place go to hell. First my electricity went out.
He said it was the wiring. I asked him to fix it he said,
"Maybe you should move to a place that has direct sunlight."
So you moved.
We all did. But I took the money first.
Last time I saw Ira, he told me that
Mr. Levin had just cut off his heat, too.
Have a seat, Mr. Levin.
I have a meeting in an hour.
I could reschedule if you think this is going to take a long time.
How does 20-to-life sound to you?
Detectives, I had nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Walderman's death.
Oh, no? He was sitting on a gold mine. One that belonged to you.
Yeah, what's that apartment going to be worth after it goes co-op?
Amillion? A million five?
I'm a businessman. I solve problems with money, not murder.
Is that why you gave Walderman 80 grand to move?
Nothing wrong with a little financial incentive. Perfectly legal.
But he didn't move. He double-crossed you, right?
Now, that had to piss you off.
Now, we know you didn't strangle him because
you're not big enough or strong enough.
But he is wealthy enough. He could pay somebody to do it for him.
We had an agreement. A contract. He reneged. That's what lawyers are for.
Lawyers? You sued him?
Hey. He sued me first.
Which Ira Walderman lawsuit did you want?
ED: There's more than one?
He's the plaintiff in several.
Okay, so what's he got versus Jonathan Levin?
Restraining order against Mr. Levin.
We'll take a copy of that.
Hey, what are the other lawsuits?
He's suing the Basketball League of America,
the Philadelphia Cannons, the New York Empires...
ED: Wait.
He was one of the fans who got beat up in that big brawl?
You saw the footage? It's incredible footage.
I think the whole bunch should've been tossed for life.
Mr. Walderman claims he was seriously injured. His back.
He's also suing one of the players. Silas lnwood.
Oh, lnwood. Commissioner suspended him for the rest of the season.
But he's still playing while the Players' Association takes the League to court.
The sports page nowadays,
you read it, it's like reading the crime blotter.
You can't tell the felons without a scorecard.
Hey, what was he asking for in that suit?
$20 million.
Oh, baby.
ED: You must be dealing with a whole lot of lawsuits because of this brawl.
We've already settled most of them.
You didn't have much of a choice, did you?
Oh, no admission of wrongdoing.
The League felt it was the right thing to do.
No admission of wrongdoing?
They went into the stands, for crying out loud.
The League knows a few players need to learn how to conduct themselves better.
That's why we suspended every player who left the bench
to throw a punch during the brawl.
A mere slap on the wrist.
Silas lnwood was suspended for the remainder of the season.
That's not a slap on the wrist. It's serious money.
That is if the suspension is upheld. But right now he's playing, isn't he?
A fan, Ira Walderman, he claims that
Silas lnwood threw him down, injured his back.
I'm not at liberty to discuss Mr. Walderman's claims.
His lawsuit is still pending. League policy.
Well, I can't tell you if Mr. Walderman was at that particular game
but he is a season ticket holder. Has been for the last 15 years.
ED: Where did he sit?
One level up from courtside.
Wow, that's gotta cost.
$1,900 a seat,
41 home games a year. You do the math.
Eighty grand.
That's what Mr. Levin gave him when he wanted him to move.
Yeah. Now we know what he was doing with his money.
He wasn't betting on the games, he was coming to them.
Our season ticket holders are pretty dedicated.
Each section is like a little neighborhood. Everyone knows everybody.
You make friends. Or enemies.
So who were lra's neighbors?
I'm sorry, I can't give that information out.
I'll tell you what.
Why don't you have the people that sit around Ira give us a call.
You can do that.
We talked to the M.E. about Walderman's back injuries
and it turns out he does have a herniated disc.
The only problem is you can't tell if he got it 20 years ago or at the game.
Keep your eyes on number 17. That's Silas lnwood.
(ALL YELLING)
VAN BUREN: There.
That white guy running for the exit?
That looks like it might be Walderman.
You can't tell if anybody hit him or not.
VAN BUREN: Keep going.
(YELLING CONTINUES)
He leads the League in technicals. He gets tossed at every game
and he's involved in the biggest brawl in sports history.
And they're trying to kick him out for the rest of the season.
That means he's gonna lose about three million bucks.
Hey Ed, a Troy Johnston called.
Something about season tickets.
If you need a date for an Empires game, let me know.
Ira could be pretty rough. He was always on lnwood's case.
Just rode him unmercifully every time the Cannons came to town.
It was embarrassing, really.
Could lnwood even hear him from down on the court?
Oh, yeah. Ira had lungs of steel.
One time Ira had him so riled up, he gave Ira the finger
and then missed two critical free throws.
And then the League fined him 10 grand for unprofessional behavior.
After that, there was no stopping him. Ira was all over him like a cheap suit.
So what happened that night?
Ira was on a roll.
And then the fight broke out. What a disgrace.
Game used to be played by gentlemen, you know, Bird, Magic, Michael Jordan?
Did you see how the fight started?
I don't know who threw the first beer. But somebody did
and then all hell broke loose.
Did you see Walderman get hit?
I wouldn't be surprised, you know.
He was one of the guys throwing beers.
So you don't know if he was injured in that fight or not?
I don't. But he looked just fine when I ran into him last Friday night.
ED: Where was that?
They had a promotion for a new video game at that sports bar in midtown.
Uh, Time Out. On 48th Street.
Was Silas there, too?
Yeah, yeah, as a matter of fact, Silas was there.
Did Walderman go after him at the bar, too?
He wouldn't. Guys like Ira, they only yell
that really ugly stuff when they're safe, you know, in a crowd.
Thanks a lot. We'll be in touch.
Walderman picks a fight with this dude,
sues him for 20 million dollars,
then he shows up at a sports bar
to watch him promote his new video game?
And three days later he turns up dead.
Yeah, I worked the night of the video game promotion. The tips sucked.
You know, the richer the customer, the tighter they are.
They're so used to getting everything for free.
Do you remember seeing this dude here?
Look, all I see are foreheads and receding hairlines.
You know what I mean. They don't usually look at my face.
Why don't you give it a shot anyway?
Actually, yeah, I do remember him.
He got into it with one of the basketball guys.
Another player?
This other guy my boss said was Silas lnwood's agent.
What do you mean, they got into it? They have a fight?
No, just loud. But the agent was all up in the guy's face,
ripping him a new one.
Guy looked a little shook.
What did the agent look like?
Uh, tall, black, built.
I actually thought he was a basketball player, too.
ED: Thanks a lot.
So Walderman had a confrontation with lnwood's agent
a few days before his body was found.
It might have been the night of the murder. It fits the time frame.
Silas lnwood's agent, by the way, also happens to be his cousin.
His name is Reggie Uggams.
What do we know about him?
He used to be a point guard at Georgetown.
But he blew out his knee and then went to law school.
Now he works on the business side of the game.
Making deals for his famous cousin, huh?
So now we've gone from no suspects to two suspects.
Inwood does have the bad boy reputation but look,
Walderman let that killer into his apartment.
And we don't think he would open the door for Uggams after what happened
between them at the sports bar.
Well, they're both physically capable of breaking someone's neck.
So, you think he'd open the door for lnwood?
A basketball nut like Walderman? Yeah!
But why would lnwood go after Walderman on his own?
He's got lawyers, agents, an entourage, a lot of people to do his dirty work.
If this thing got personal,
lnwood's the type of dude that would wanna handle it himself.
All right. Philly's an hour and a half by train.
FONTANA: Silas lnwood?
Excuse me, Silas lnwood?
Look, I'm eating, all right?
No autographs.
ED: We didn't come here for an autograph.
We came here for some answers.
I'm Detective Fontana. This is Detective Green,
New York City Police Department.
Philadelphia's kind of far out of your jurisdiction.
Who wants to know?
ReQQie Uggams.
President and founder, Uggams Sports Agency.
Let me give you my card.
Well, thank you very much, Mr. Uggams.
If we have questions for you, we'll know where to find you.
But right now, we'd like to speak with Mr. lnwood.
So speak. Bark. Roll over.
FONTANA: Are you talking to us?
Because the only dog that's gonna get put down around here is you.
You want to tell your baby cousin to put a muzzle on it?
Silas, chill.
What's this in reference to?
The murder of Ira Walderman.
REGGIE: Who?
You don't know him?
Never heard of him.
You? No.
That's funny because you gave him the finger at a game last season.
It cost you 10,000 and you got into his face
at the video promotion last Friday night.
Obnoxious fans are ubiquitous in this business.
Ubiquitous?
A dime a dozen. Yeah, we know what it means.
Are you sure you don't know who we're talking about?
Look,
all the fans look alike, all right? Especially the jerks.
What time did you leave the video game promotion?
REGGIE: We both left at 7:00.
I drove back to Philly and Silas had a plane to DC to catch.
All right, we're gonna need proof of that.
The ticket, the credit card, receipt, something.
I went out to Queens first. I didn't get to DC until the next day.
Remember I told you I had dinner with my old coach from St. James.
Coach Dyer. That's right, now I remember.
Listen, I already gave a statement.
None of my guys were at that strip club.
(LAUGHING)
No, coach, actually, we're here to ask you something else.
Would you mind telling us where you were Friday night.
Having dinner with Silas lnwood. At my house.
ED: What was the occasion?
No occasion.
We talk on a regular basis. I've always had a good relationship with Silas.
On and off the court. Like with most of my players.
Except maybe that Silas gave you a little more trouble than most of your players?
Misunderstandings.
Some guy in a bar picks a fight with Silas, that's not his fault.
And he calls you, Coach, and you straighten everything out?
Like I would for my own kids.
For most of these boys I'm the first real father figure they've ever had.
It was about eight years ago. lnwood's senior year.
He was charged with assault two, criminal possession of a weapon.
He whacked some guy in the head with a vodka bottle.
Cut him up pretty good.
We ran lnwood through NCIC.
There was nothing there.
The D.A. declined prosecution.
The victim didn't want to press charges?
He was convinced it would be beneficial to his bank account not to.
Somebody paid him off.
I heard maybe it was the coach, with the help from some St. James alumni boosters.
Whatever they did, it worked out good for everybody.
Inwood got to play out the year, St. James went to Final Four,
and lnwood was a first-round draft pick.
And you personally put lnwood through the system?
I drove him down to central booking myself.
Inwood lied to us about what he did after the sports bar event.
He said he had dinner with his college coach in Queens.
But he was ticketed for parking in front of a hydrant
a block down from Walderman's building.
The Sergeant confirmed the old assault charges were dropped?
If the charges were dropped, the records were sealed.
You know, not always. Not in the CARS database.
Well, see what you can come up with.
I'll never understand why they didn't close that loophole.
I hope they never do.
There he is. You're kidding.
Well, in that case, I wonder if his fingerprint card
is still on file down at 1 Police Plaza?
You know what? It's worth a shot,
especially since the Cannons are playing in New York tomorrow.
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
Some autographs? Okay, I'll sign 'em.
All right, all right, all right, okay.
Silas lnwood. Welcome back to New York.
You two need to work on your timing, all right? Now's bad.
Is there ever really a good time to get arrested?
Hey, you want to do this inside
or do you want us to cuff you in front of your fans?
(SCOFFS)
That's on you.
Here, let them see how the police do me.
Okay.
Silas lnwood, you're under arrest for the murder of Ira Walderman.
FONTANA: No autographs, folks.
"Docket number 4-7-2-3-8. People v. Silas Inwood.
"Charge is murder in the second degree."
I guess Philly won't be going to the playoffs this year.
Don't count them out just yet, Your Honor.
How does Mr. lnwood plead?
Not guilty.
We have forensic evidence, the defendant's fingerprint on the victim's wrist watch.
My client and the victim attended the same event that evening.
Most likely the fingerprint was left then.
Your Honor, the victim was suing Mr. lnwood for $20 million.
And Mr. lnwood may have blamed him for his suspension,
which has cost him dearly both financially and professionally.
This is almost as exciting as Mr. lnwood's last game.
JUDGE: People on bail, Ms. Borgia?
The people request remand.
Mr. lnwood is clearly not a flight risk. Where could he go without being recognized?
He has the financial resources to go anywhere in the world
where he won't have to worry about extradition.
Bail is set at five million.
Hardly guarantees his appearance, Your Honor, given his last contract.
Sorry, Ms. Borgia. There'll be no home court advantage for you today.
(GAVEL BANGS)
Not only is lnwood out on bail but he's asked the court for scheduling
consideration so he wouldn't have to miss any games.
If I made $75,000 a game, I wouldn't want to miss one either.
Most people don't get to set their own calendar when they're on trial for murder.
Silas lnwood isn't most people. We all know there are two sets of rules.
One for celebrities and one for everyone else.
That's what worries me about the jury. I don't want them to be starstruck.
It might never come to that.
Defense motion to dismiss.
They claim lnwood's fingerprints were illegally obtained.
How is that possible?
Talk to Lieutenant Van Buren. Find out what's going on.
The CARS database doesn't purge sealed records. It never did.
Silas lnwood was arrested in college, but the charges were dropped?
So he had an old print card that should have been sealed along with his arrest record.
The fingerprint tech who gave it to my detectives had no way to know
that case was sealed.
But your detectives did. And lnwood shouldn't have been in
the police database to begin with.
Like I said, it's a glitch in the system.
And Fontana and Green exploited it.
For information.
They didn't find out about lnwood's old arrest from that database.
All this could have been avoided if they'd come to me first.
I could have gotten an order to unseal the records.
I don't mind your guys working the system
but they need to keep me in the loop.
And once they found out that lnwood was their guy,
they should have gotten a legal fingerprint match somehow.
They did. When they arrested him.
Let's hope we get the rightjudge.
Eight years ago, my client was arrested. The D.A. declined prosecution,
and as Mr. McCoy is fully aware, all records relating to that arrest
should have been sealed.
The People are allowed to take fingerprints for use at a later date,
Your Honor, just because the case was denied prosecution,
doesn't mean that lnwood's prints were unlawfully obtained.
The arrest itself was legitimate.
But retaining his print card wasn't.
The defendant has no constitutional protection against wrongfully retained
evidence, just wrongfully obtained evidence.
Retained, obtained. The People are splitting hairs, Your Honor.
The government isn't supposed to have that evidence, period, Mr. McCoy.
The police would have obtained lnwood's prints legitimately
through independent investigation.
Would have, could have, and certainly should have, but they didn't.
In fact, a print card was obtained legally
when Mr. lnwood was arrested for the murder of Ira Walderman.
Mr. McCoy's putting the cart before the horse.
Mr. lnwood wouldn't have been arrested but for illegal use of fingerprint evidence
to secure a warrant.
That's patently untrue. Mr. lnwood was already the prime suspect.
The policejust didn't have proof.
Do the People have evidence to offer besides fingerprint evidence?
The defendant's Porsche was ticketed on the victim's block on the night of the murder.
We don't know for a fact that Mr. Walderman died that evening.
The murder could have occurred almost 24 hours later.
I have to agree with Mr. Chiles. It's not nearly enough.
I'm dismissing the indictment without prejudice.
JACK: I want to refile.
Where was he that night before he drove to Walderman's apartment?
At a sports bar in midtown with his agent at a promotional event.
Were any other players there?
Sure, from the Cannons and the Empires.
Start with his teammates.
Yeah, I was at the video game signing.
I'm featured in it. They got myjumper and my hook.
Not as sick as mine, but it's a pretty good game.
Do you know what Silas lnwood did after the signing?
I thought that case was dismissed.
The D.A. isn't gonna let a murder go unprosecuted.
You come sniffing around me to help you pin this on Silas?
This is all because of that damn fight.
If you know something...
I know just because you buy a ticket doesn't mean you own me.
If a fan puts his hands on me, I'm gonna put my hands on him.
Is that what Silas lnwood did?
Kevin, we'll finish this up later.
Now, how would you like it if people threw things at you
and heckled you while you're trying to work?
Try walking through a cellblock at Rikers.
Look, the fans are out of control.
Every time the team plays New York, Silas gets these obnoxious
crank phone calls at his hotel room.
Obnoxious how?
Heavy breathing, hang ups?
Worse.
Ira Walderman was clearly harassing Silas lnwood for the last two seasons.
I pulled LUDs from his home phone.
In the last 18 months he's made over
40 calls to lnwood at his home, at his hotels, on the road.
So lnwood's claim that he didn't know Walderman isn't true.
Their history goes back well before the big brawl.
Any idea what Walderman said in these calls?
Walderman left messages, but there's no way to recover them.
Without the fingerprint evidence it's a weak circumstantial case.
But, in conjunction with Walderman's lawsuit and his behavior at the games,
the phone calls start to look a lot more like stalking than harassment.
Well, it's far from a slam dunk, so to speak.
Now, we'd be wise to make a deal.
Inwood walked into the man's home and snapped his neck like a twig.
He doesn't deserve man one.
And he might not get murder two if there are any basketball fans on the jury.
You got a celebrity sports star.
Rae Carruth was convicted of murder.
And Ray Lewis was allowed to plead a murder charge down to one year probation.
I'll make the offer.
I take it you have a new indictment?
Before we rearrest your client, we thought you might be interested in a deal.
Not for something I didn't do.
Man, this isn't fair. What do you want from me?
We know Ira Walderman was harassing you
every time you came to New York to play.
All the hard core fans know where the visiting teams stay.
Harassment is just nothing out of the ordinary.
He also called you at your home in Pennsylvania, your unlisted number.
Is that who that was? I didn't know.
I just changed my number.
Walderman took the train to Philadelphia
half a dozen times in the last three years.
We have logs from the cab companies who took him to your house.
One driver will testify that he saw you walking across the lawn,
yelling and cursing at Walderman, calling him by name.
What are you offering?
Man one.
CHILES: Man two, no jail time, community service.
Man one. Best I can do.
(WHISPERING INAUDIBLY)
Mr. lnwood admits killing Mr. Walderman.
Then we have a deal.
We're arguing self-defense.
What jury is going to believe that a professional athlete like Mr. lnwood
felt threatened by a middle-aged couch potato?
He attacked my client with a knife.
What were you doing at Walderman's apartment to begin with?
Look, I went to reason with him, all right?
I told him to be a man about it.
To leave me and my family alone.
But he went off on me. Came at me with a damn butcher knife.
I had no choice but to take him down.
It was him or me.
I don't see how they're gonna argue self-defense.
Inwood would have had to have believed he was in imminent danger of death,
and had to use deadly force to protect himself.
It's always the same problem,
keeping the victim alive in the mind of the jury.
I'll continue to stress
the disparity in size and strength between the two men.
I keep wondering why lnwood went to Walderman's apartment that night.
Something happened at the bar.
All the witnesses say lnwood and Walderman never exchanged two words that whole evening.
That lnwood's posse kept him away from the table.
Maybe it was just the sight of him, the fact of his showing up.
That he had the gall to crash lnwood's party.
Exactly, I mean, that's the rub, right there.
These fans, who think their ticket entitles them to a piece of the players.
Maybe that's all it was.
Walderman got too close once too often. And lnwood snapped.
I buy it.
Let's hope the jury does, too.
I've been a professional basketball coach for the last 20 years.
JACK: Did you ever coach the defendant?
Yes, for two seasons, when I was with the Philadelphia Cannons.
How would you describe yourexpefience with Mr. lnwood?
Difficult.
I was the coach and Silas didn't think that he needed one.
So, we fought about everything.
You fought?
Yeah, we'd scream at each other in practice.
I told him there was no "I" in team,
and he said, "Yeah, but there is an 'l' in win."
I mean, they make so much money these days.
As soon as their paychecks have more zeroes than yours,
well, you can just forget about it.
Did your fights with Silas lnwood ever become physical?
Once. He was late to practice. It was the second time that week.
And I told him that rules were for everyone.
And he told me that
it would be better if I didn't talk to him for the rest of the day.
So a little while later we were running drills, I asked him
if he had joined the team and he just went off.
"Went off"? He jumped me.
From behind. He put me in a choke hold.
He's so strong, he actually picked me off the ground.
My feet were dangling. I blacked out.
I really don't know what would've happened
if the other players hadn't pulled him off.
Was the defendant punished for attacking you?
The owners didn't want the League to find out,
so he was never punished or reprimanded, fined, anything.
And what happened to you?
I was fired.
Because?
It was him or me.
Who do you think management's gonna side with, the coach or the star?
The, uh,
second season that you coached Mr. lnwood and the Cannons,
I mean, that was widely considered a disappointment, wasn't it?
We had a lot of injuries.
You finished 15 games under 500. I mean...
Isn't that right? Yeah.
The media speculated that you were already gonna be fired,
and this was long before the incident with my client.
You know, I don't even recall.
You were fired and you blame my client for it.
I blame the system
for coddling these guys. I mean, they make more money than God
and nobody says no to them.
So this is payback. You're testifying against Mr. lnwood
because you're angry about losing your job.
I'm testifying against Silas lnwood because he's dangerous.
He could have killed me and I think it's time that we got him off the streets.
Basketball was lra's life. He loved the Empires.
How did he behave at the games?
He liked to scream and shout.
(LAUGHING) He got into n.
He got into it?
That's what the teams want. They,uh“.
They play all this loud music, and they have cheerleaders, everyone's drinking beer.
They rev up the crowd so you feel like you're part of the team,
like you're contributing.
It's the home court advantage. It's real.
Do you think Ira Walderman felt he was part of the team?
Definitely. He'd like to say that he was the sixth man.
How did he feel about Silas lnwood?
Ira hated him.
He felt if he could throw lnwood off his game, the Empires would win.
What would he do to throw lnwood off his game?
He'd call him names, yell stuff. Whatever it took to get under lnwood's skin.
Did it work?
Oh yeah. Once Walderman made a comment about lnwood's baby's mama
and lnwood looked right at him and gave him the finger.
He was so angry that he missed two free throws that would have iced the game.
And how did Walderman react?
He couldn't believe that he'd gotten a rise out of lnwood.
But after that it was all lnwood, all the time.
He just lived to torment him.
Other than that one incident,
did Mr. lnwood react to Mr. Walderman's taunts?
No.
You were at that game when what's now come to be known
as the "big brawl" broke out,
isn't that right? Yeah, I was.
Sitting next to Mr. Walderman.
Yes.
Did Mr. Walderman do anything to provoke any of the players?
He threw a beer.
The beer that hit Mr. lnwood
while he was lying on the scorer's table?
I don't know. Might have been.
There were a lot of people throwing things onto the court.
Did you see Mr. lnwood leave the court?
Yeah. He jumped off the table and just charged right into the stands.
Did you see him go after Mr. Walderman?
It was pretty chaotic.
Well, I'm sure it was. But did you see him go after Mr. Walderman?
No.
Hit him, beat him, physically assault him? No.
Did you see Mr. Walderman in a physical confrontation with any of the players?
No.
But when you read about his lawsuit against the League and Mr. lnwood...
Objection.
Your Honor, The People posit that lawsuit as part of my client's alleged motive.
I'll allow it. Witness may answer.
Honestly, lthought it was a scam.
To defraud Mr. lnwood?
That, and to make his life miserable.
Thank you.
With all of the hostile basketball fans in New York,
how did Mr. lnwood even know who Mr. Walderman was?
Because Walderman was especially obnoxious and mean-spirited.
Fans yell things all the time and players learn to deal with it.
But Walderman really crossed the line.
How so?
He'd show up at Silas' house in Philadelphia,
and his hotel in New York.
He'd also call in the middle of the night, the night before a game.
How often would he call his hotel?
Three, four times a day.
Every time he played in New York.
Did you ever hear any of these phone calls?
Yes. In fact, I saved one.
Now, Your Honor, I'd like to play a message left for Mr. lnwood by Mr. Walderman.
Go ahead, Mr. Chiles.
I own you, lnwood, you lazy mutt.
You're nothin' but a dumb jock.
No more free ride for you.
My boys are gonna kick your overpaid ass back to Philly.
Better put the kids to bed unless you want them to see Daddy get schooled.
(mm. TONE)
And what effect did these phone calls have on Mr. lnwood?
He was unnerved.
As a black man in America,
any time you get a white man saying things with even a hint of racial bias, it's...
It's upsetting.
What were racial about these phone calls, in your opinion?
The words "lazy," "overpaid," "dumb."
From a white fan to a black player?
It's code. It makes you uncomfortable.
Hmm.
Now, what happened the evening
of the video game promotion?
It was supposed to be a fun, low-key, family type of event.
Silas got upset when he saw Walderman in the crowd.
CHILES: What did you do?
I asked Mr. Walderman to leave Silas and his family alone.
We've heard testimony that you confronted Mr. Walderman.
I told him what I thought of him.
That he was pathetic and needed to get a life.
He said the only reason why Silas' son had shoes on his feet
and clothes on his back was because of fans like him.
He said he owned Silas.
CHILES: Owned Silas lnwood?
He said he was public property.
And that's when I really went off on him.
Thank you.
JUDGE: Mr. McCoy?
The People have no questions for this witness at this time, Your Honor.
Trial is recessed until tomorrow.
(GAVEL BANGS)
Let's find out just what family lnwood had at that event.
Inwood's mother and his ex-girlfriend were at the sports bar.
His ex is the mother of his seven-year-old son, Trey,
who was also there.
Did you talk to the two women?
Itried. They weren't very cooperative.
I did find a waitress who remembers Walderman
at their table, trying to talk to the son.
The mother and the ex were shooing him away.
I'd be upset if the man who'd been harassing me
suddenly turned his attention to my child.
I'll see what else I can find out.
After the video game event, I went to his place.
I thought if I talked to the man face to face...
CHILES: What happened when you got to Mr. Walderman's apartment?
I told him that I wanted a truce, and that we needed to talk.
And what did he say to that?
He said to come in.
I told him all the phone calls and nonsense had to stop.
And what did he say?
He denied it, so I called him a liar.
You argued?
Yeah, it got pretty hot.
And then what happened?
We go back and forth.
Next thing I know, he's coming up out of the kitchen at me with a knife.
And what did you do?
I grabbed him by his arm.
I got behind him and put him in a chokehold.
Just to chill him out, you know?
And he still had the knife?
He kept trying to turn and get at me with the knife.
So ljerked him up.
Told him to hold still.
Then he quit moving.
But I didn't mean to kill him. I swear to God I didn't.
Did it ever occur to you that Mr. Walderman picked up a knife because he was scared?
Look, all I know is he attacked me.
I never put my hands on him till then.
I just wanted him to leave me alone.
You?
Or your son, Mr. lnwood?
Objection, relevance.
Goes to motive.
I'll allow it.
JACK: Was your son Trey at the video game signing?
Yeah.
Did you see Mr. Walderman approach your son?
I was busy signing games.
My cousin told me about it.
And you were angry.
Harassing you was one thing, but now he was harassing your son.
Objection.
Sustained. Ask a question, Mr. McCoy.
Did you ask Trey about it afterwards?
Yeah. He said some guy came up to him at the party
and said something ugly about me.
And what did Mr. Walderman say to him?
I don't know, exactly. Something disrespectful.
And how did your son respond?
He was upset.
And that upset you?
How would you feel
if some guy said something bad about you to your boy?
So you went to his apartment and confronted him?
CHILES: Objection! JUDGE: Sustained.
What did you say to Mr. Walderman
about what he said to your son?
Look, I just told him that I didn't appreciate it,
and that he definitely crossed the line when he did that.
Did you threaten him?
I just told him all of it had to stop. Now.
And his response?
That's when the dude attacked me.
How tall are you, Mr. lnwood?
6' Q" .
How much do you weigh?
Two-fifty.
Mr. Walderman was 5'8",
and weighed 190 pounds.
SILAS: So?
An overweight, 42-year-old man
who worked at a desk all his life.
He had a knife.
So you say.
Of course, we only have your word for what happened that night.
Mr. Walderman isn't here to tell us his side of the story.
YourHonon Mr. McCoy should save his closing arguments
for the appropriate moment.
I agree. Mr. McCoy?
Your Honor, at this time I would like to illustrate more concretely for the court
the disparity in size and strength between the victim and the defendant.
CHILES: Your Honor?
What do you have in mind, Mr. McCoy?
If Mr. lnwood would step down for a moment from the witness stand
so that we can compare him
to someone roughly Mr. Walderman's height, age and weight...
I object, Your Honor. Such a presentation would be highly prejudicial.
JACK: It's one thing to say
that Mr. lnwood is a 6'9", 250-pound professional athlete
and Mr. Walderman was a foot shorter,
60 pounds lighter, 15 years older and an accountant.
It's another thing to see the two men side by side,
and since Mr. Walderman can't be with us.
I'll allow it. The witness will please step down for a moment.
Stand there, Mr. lnwood, please.
Officer, please step forward.
How tall are you, sir? 5'10".
And how much do you weigh?
195.
I take judicial note of the court officer's height and weight.
Please stand next to the defendant.
Thank you.
Now,
we can't know exactly what happened that night
between Ira Walderman and the defendant,
Silas lnwood,
but...
Judge for yourselves.
Your Honor.
Please sit down, Mr. Chiles.
Has the jury reached a verdict?
FOREWOMAN: We have, Your Honor.
In "The People v. Silas Inwood, "
we, the jury, find the defendant guilty as charged.
A League spokesman was making the rounds of the morning talk shows.
Let me guess,
now they're denouncing lnwood for the thug that he is
and distancing themselves as fast as they can.
The Cannons are trying to cancel his contract. Morals clause.
It took long enough to exercise it.
Did you see this morning's headline?
"Inwood Out Of Luck."
I was referring to other one,
"lnwood Selling Out."
His jersey became the number-one sports memorabilia item overnight.