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Justice Stephen G. Crane papers on the Bernhard Goetz trial and other cases

Call Number

MS 3152

Date

1981–2000, inclusive

Creator

Crane, Stephen G., 1938-

Extent

10 Linear feet in 10 record cartons, plus two oversize artifacts.

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Trial docket books (1981–2000) and clipping and subject files (1982–1991) of New York Criminal Court and Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Crane, who presided over the sensational trial of Bernhard Goetz, the so-called "Subway Vigilante." Goetz, a white electronics engineer, shot four African American youths who asked him for money aboard the No. 2 train on December 22, 1984. He was acquitted of attempted murder, but found guilty only of illegal possession of a handgun. The collection includes a 9,505-page transcript of the proceedings of The People of the State of New York v. Bernhard Goetz (1986–1987), plus two artifacts signed by the trial participants—the judge, jurors, attorneys, court officers and reporters, and the defendant himself.

Biographical / Historical

Cornell Law School graduate Stephen G. Crane (J.D., 1963) practiced law in New York City from 1963 until 1981, when he became a Judge for the Criminal Court of the City of New York. Crane was appointed Acting State Supreme Court Justice in 1984, and served in that position through 1989, during which time he presided over the controversial trial of so-called "Subway Vigilante" Bernhard H. Goetz. Crane became a Supreme Court Justice in 1990, and served as Administrative Judge of Supreme Court, Civil Branch for New York County from 1996 until 2001. That year, he was designated an Additional Justice for the Appellate Division, Second Department, and in 2005 was officially designated as an Associate Justice for that Court. He was promoted to Senior Associate Justice for the Appellate Division, Second Department in 2008, the year he retired.

On December 22, 1984, Bernhard Goetz, a white, 37-year-old electronics engineer riding the No. 2 subway, shot four African American youths—Barry Allen, Troy Canty, Darrell Cabey, and James Ramseur—who asked him for money. Goetz was indicted for attempted murder, and his subsequent trial brought intense debate to the subjects of self-defense and public safety. Some members of the public painted the shooter as a hero fighting the dangers of urban crime. Others viewed him as a depraved vigilante whose excessive force was racially motivated. Although Darrell Cabey was left paralyzed and brain-damaged by the shooting, Goetz was acquitted of attempted murder, and found guilty only of illegal possession of a handgun. He was sentenced to a year in prison (he served eight months at Riker's Island) and five years' probation.

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This note is adapted from Justice Stephen G. Crane's biography on the website of the Historical Society of the New York Courts (https://history.nycourts.gov/biography/stephen-g-crane/) and Robert Sanger Steel's entry on "Bernhard Hugo Goetz" in The Encyclopedia of New York City, 2nd ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2010), 514. For a chronology of the Goetz shooting and trial, see the Wikipedia article 1984 New York City Subway shooting.

Arrangement

The collection is organized in four series:

Series I.
Trial docket books, 1981–2000
Series II.
Clipping and subject files, 1982–1991
Series III.
People v. Goetz trial transcript, 1986–1987
Series IV.
People v. Goetz trial artifacts, 1987

Scope and Contents

Aside from the trial docket books in Series I, which record proceedings heard by Justice Stephen G. Crane in the Criminal Court of the City of New York (1981–1983) and New York State Supreme Court (1984–2000), the bulk of this collection centers on the criminal trial of "Subway Vigilante" Bernhard Goetz (1985–1987). Series II includes subject files on various aspects of The People v. Goetz, containing such material as handwritten notes, photocopies of laws and precedents, court documents, and scattered correspondence. More focused correspondence—much of it from interested members of the public who offered Crane their opinions both for and against Goetz (in sometimes racially-tinged language)—may be found in Box 6, Folders 1–8. And extensive newspaper clippings on the Goetz case, trial, and sentencing, may be found in Box 5, Folders 8–47. A copy of the official 9,505-page trial transcript fills three record cartons and provides minute coverage of the proceedings; see Box 8, Folder 1 for a detailed table of contents and an index to witness testimony. The collection also includes two unusual, autographed mementos of the Goetz trial (see Series IV). One, a 108-inch-long computer printout, presents the jury's admonition or oath with an inscription "To Justice Stephen G. Crane with respect and admiration" and signatures of the jurors and alternates. The other, a remnant of the jury box from the courtroom at 111 Centre Street, Manhattan, where the Goetz trial took place, is a 99-inch-long wooden plank signed by all the participants (excluding the victims): the judge, the jurors, their alternates, the attorneys, court officers and reporters, and the defendant, Bernhard Goetz, himself. See the note at Series IV for a description of this item's creation.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Use Restrictions

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the "Justice Stephen G. Crane Papers on the Bernhard Goetz Trial and Other Cases, MS 3152, New-York Historical Society."

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact manuscripts@nyhistory.org prior to your research visit to coordinate access. Keep in mind that it will take between two (2) and five (5) business days for collections to arrive, and you should plan your research accordingly.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Hon. Stephen G. Crane (Ret.), 2019 (accession no. MS-2019-057).

Collection processed by

Joseph Ditta

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:00 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in October-November 2020.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024