Netflix Bernhard 'Bernie' Goetz, the New York subway shooter
On Netflix’s new series Trial by Media the creators seek to examine “some of the most dramatic and memorable trials in recent history” through the lens of the idea that “courtroom dramas have increasingly been transformed into a form of entertainment.”
One of the trials they look at is the case of Bernhard “Bernie” Goetz, dubbed the “subway vigilante” in 1984 after his shooting spree on a New York City subway. Here’s what you need to know about the case and where he is today.
Bernie Goetz Today
In the years since, Goetz has appeared on Larry King Live and Aftermath with William Shatner, claiming that his shooting incident led to major changes in the way New York City addressed crime — which is partially true. Jurors in cases of self-defense justification are now told to consider whether a hypothetical reasonable person would feel imperiled if that reasonable person were in the defendant’s situation.
Goetz unsuccessfully ran for mayor of New York City in 2001. He was arrested for marijuana possession in 2013 but the charges were dropped the following year.
Since then Goetz has stayed out of the spotlight. On the 35th anniversary of the shooting, Inside Edition took a look back at its impact on New York City, but Goetz declined to comment, saying he was “not doing any interviews at this time.”
Bernie Goetz Shot Four Men on the Subway
In December 1984, four men — Barry Allen, Darrell Cabey, Troy Canty, and James Ramseur — were on their way to rob an arcade in Manhattan. When Goetz boarded the subway car, they approached him and demanded he give them $5. Goetz stood up, fired multiple rounds at all of them from the handgun he was legally carrying concealed. According to the New York Times, Goetz purchased the gun after he was mugged by three youths in 1981. A police spokesman corroborated the mugging and said it was handled by a mediator.
There are different accounts of the shooting and how many times each man was shot, but the bottom line is that all four of them were hospitalized, two in critical condition. Cabey was paralyzed from the waist down. He would later tell newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin that they were intending to rob Goetz because he looked like “easy bait,” according to the New York Times.
After the shooting, Goetz went on the run for over a week before turning himself in to police.
Goetz Was Indicted Twice
Initially, a lot of the public saw Goetz as a hero who was defending himself against would-be attackers, especially in light of the prior criminal records three of the four men had. However, others saw Goetz’s actions as racist and an overreaction to the men, all of whom were black.
According to the New York Times, in the statements made after he turned himself in, Goetz said he feared being “beaten to a pulp” by the men and then admitted, “My intention was to murder them, to hurt them, to make them suffer as much as possible. … If I had more bullets, I would have shot ’em all again and again. My problem was I ran out of bullets.”
However, even in light of those statements, the first grand jury refused to indict Goetz on the serious charges of attempted murder, assault, or reckless endangerment. They only indicted him on gun charges — one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, for carrying in public the loaded unlicensed gun used in the subway shooting, and two counts of possession in the fourth degree, for keeping two other unlicensed handguns in his home.
After Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau obtained a new witness, a second grand jury was convened and they indicted Goetz on the more serious charges. But Judge Stephen Crane dismissed the new indictments based on alleged errors in jury instructions and that he believed two of the victims had perjured themselves.
But in 1986, the New York Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal and reinstated all counts.
But the Criminal Trial Acquitted Goetz of Nearly All Charges
After the Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal, Goetz still had to stand trial before a jury — which acquitted him of all charges except criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree.
But in a civil suit, Goetz was ordered to pay $43 million to Cabey, the victim who was left paralyzed after the shooting. Goetz eventually filed for bankruptcy to free himself from his $16 million in legal debts, but he was still on the hook for the $43 million in damages owed to Cabey, according to the New York Times.
Trial By Media is out now on Netflix.
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