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By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN – 4 hours ago
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — David Chase offered his version Tuesday in federal court of dealings 12 years ago with a former New Jersey municipal court judge who claims he supplied ideas for “The Sopranos” and never got credit.
Chase testified he had always been interested in the mob since watching “The Untouchables” television series as a child.
At issue is whether the services Robert Baer provided during Chase’s development of “The Sopranos” pilot should be compensated, and if so, their value.
Baer, also an aspiring screenwriter and former prosecutor, arranged meetings with experts during a three-day tour of New Jersey mob sites in 1995.
Baer’s attorney finished presenting his case Monday.
Chase’s attorney, Peter Skolnik, said he expected to question his client for at least two hours Tuesday morning.
Also expected to testify are an expert witness, Jake Jacobson, and Dan Castleman, the Manhattan district attorney who provided consulting services to Chase after Fox Broadcasting declined to pick up “The Sopranos” and Chase needed a “true Mafia expert” to help him as he rewrote the script. HBO later picked it up.
Baer testified that he declined Chase’s offer of payment several times but said Chase agreed to “take care of him” if the show became a hit.
In court documents, Chase has called Baer “self-delusional.”
Chase said he was “keenly aware of a `mob presence’ in New Jersey” because he grew up in the Garden State.
HBO is owned by Time Warner Inc. Fox is a unit of News Corp.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h3IVAZu-NSh2L7vaaeBYwzPvobowD8TJU3S80
In this artist’s rendering, attorney Harley Breite, standing,
next to attorney Michael S. Kasanoff, third left, speaks to a jury in behalf of
his client Robert Baer, foreground left, who claims his ideas helped Sopranos
creator, David Chase, second right, sitting with his wife Denise Chase, right,
during court proceedings in the courtroom of U.S. District judge Joel Pisano,
center rear, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, in Trenton, N.J. (AP Photo/Andrea Shepard
)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007 BY JEFF WHELAN
Star-Ledger Staff
Six months after he teased, tortured and impressed millions of viewers with his stunningly abrupt series finale, David Chase finally has some answering to do about the Sopranos.
And this time, he’ll do it under oath.
Chase is expected to testify in Trenton against a former North Jersey municipal judge who for years has claimed he helped create the blockbuster series and deserves to be paid for it.
The former judge, Robert Baer, even promises to introduce jurors to the Jerseyan he alleges was the real-life inspiration for Tony Soprano during a trial that opens tomorrow in federal court.
The HBO series transformed Chase from a respected but little-known screenwriter into one of television’s most respected producers. The show collected a mantel full of Emmys, and Chase reaped millions of dollars.
Critics, fans and bloggers have long sought to trace the gritty characters, plots and locales back to their real-life inspiration. While Chase has discussed the subject in interviews over the years, court papers in the case provide the fullest account yet.
“As a young man growing up in suburban North Jersey, I was fascinated with music and with the Mafia,” Chase swore in one certification. “I was also aware that my own family had tenuous links to the North Jersey Mafia.”
Baer, also a former prosecutor in Hudson and Union counties, first filed his breach-of-contract lawsuit five years ago, claiming it was he who suggested to Chase in 1995 the idea of a mob show based in New Jersey. Chase has acknowledged enlisting Baer’s help during his research, but has dismissed Baer’s claims as “egocentric fantasies.”
Baer has not found a sympathetic audience in U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano. The judge dismissed the case twice, citing the statue of limitations. An appeals court overturned Pisano both times, but upheld much of his rulings. The case survived, but was narrowed dramatically.
As the suit continued this spring, Pisano ruled that it is “clear” Baer did not assist in the creation or development of the Sopranos. But he found Baer acted as a location scout, researcher and consultant. He said a jury should decide if and how much he should be paid.
The dispute now largely boils down to a three-day trip Chase took to New Jersey in October 1995, just two months before he finished writing the pilot script.
By that time, Chase, who grew up in North Caldwell, had moved to Los Angeles and become a screenwriter. He’d already written a few scripts featuring mobsters based in North Jersey, he said, but wanted to learn more for a new project.
Chase had met Baer, an aspiring screenwriter, through a mutual friend and thought his law enforcement background would be useful, he said. He flew back to his native state for a whirlwind tour arranged by Baer.
They visited reputed mob hangouts, including a pork store in Elizabeth and a go-go bar in Newark, met investigators, and listened to hours of wiretapped conversations of the DeCalvacante crime family. Those stops and others, Baer alleges, inspired characters, plot lines and locations.
But perhaps most important, according to Baer, was the lunch they had at The Madrid restaurant in Elizabeth with Tony Spirito, a 54-year-old waiter from Elizabeth.
Spirito said he regaled the producer with tales of the wiseguys he’d met growing up. He told Chase about characters such as “Little Pussy” and “Big Pussy” Russo, a pair of cat burglar brothers.
Spirito also told Chase he’d been forced out of his family restaurant business — a local Elizabeth institution called Spirito’s. In a bitter family struggle, he said, his uncle and mother aligned to take over after his father died in a fist fight.
“David Chase didn’t know Jack about organized crime. He didn’t even know what the ‘vig’ was,” Spirito said during a recent interview in a Linden diner. “That guy don’t know the street.”
Spirito admits he has been a mob observer only. His only brush with the law was in 1989 when he was indicted for illegal possession of a handgun, according to court records, but the case was dismissed after he completed pre-trial intervention a year later.
ROBERT V. BAER, :
:
Plaintiff, : Civ. No. 02-2334 (JAP)
:
v. ::
ORDER
DAVID CHASE, et al., :
:
-3-
ORDERED that Baer may introduce evidence to support his claim for quantum meruit
for his services to Chase as location scout, researcher, and consultant; and it is further
ORDERED that Baer is specifically precluded from testifying, eliciting testimony,
introducing evidence, or making references in questions to witnesses, during opening statements,
closing arguments, or at any time in the presence of the jury, concerning any of the following:
(1) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to create a film or television
show about crime in New Jersey, to shoot movies or television shows about crime
in New Jersey and North Jersey mobs modeled on the DeCalvacante Family, or
concerning stories about crimes and crime syndicates in New Jersey;
(2) All specific factual information about crime, criminals, mobsters, organized
crime, criminal organizations, criminal syndicates, and the law provided to Chase
by Baer, Koczur, Jones, Spirito, Urbanczyk, Khoury, Wisnewski, Fitzgerald,
Vitelli, or any other friend, acquaintance, or colleague of Bear’s;
(3) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to base the “Tony Soprano�
character on Tony Spirito, or any assertion that “Tony Soprano� is based on
Spirito;
(4) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice about incorporating Tony
Spirito’s personal history into a storyline involving a feud between the son of a
deceased mobster and his uncle, and/or an alliance between the son’s mother and
uncle(s), and/or loss of a business due to loan-sharking debts;
(5) Any assertion that the relationships among “Tony Soprano,� “Livia Soprano,� and
“Corrado ‘Uncle Junior’ Soprano� are based on Tony Spirito’s personal history;
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 3 of 6
-4-
(6) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to base a character on Morris
Levy, and all factual information about Levy provided to Chase by Baer, Jones, or
others;
(7) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to use the names “Little Pussy�
and “Big Pussy� Russo;
(8) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning Mafia involvement
in the carting or waste management industry;
(9) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning “turf wars,� and any
assertion that the inspiration for a “turf war� storyline in The Sopranos pilot
episode was the result of Chase’s meeting with Koczur;
(10) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning loan-sharking, and
any assertion that the inspiration for a storyline in the pilot episode in which a
character named “Spiros� loses his business due to a loan-shark debt came from
Chase’s meetings with Spirito, Koczur, and Jones;
(11) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning cutout schemes, and
any assertion that the inspiration for a storyline in the pilot episode in which
“‘Uncle Junior’ Soprano� concocts a cutout scheme involving frequent flier miles
was a story told to Chase by Jones;
(12) Any assertion that the inspiration for “Tony Soprano� to tell his daughter,
“Meadow,� that a church was built by their relatives was a story told to Chase by
Koczur;
(13) Any assertion that the inspiration for “Hesh Rabkin’s� horse farm was a story
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 4 of 6
-5-
Chase was told by Jones about Morris Levy’s horse farm;
(14) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning strip clubs, and any
assertion that the inspiration for the “Bada Bing� was a visit Chase paid with Baer
and Koczur to a strip club in Newark, New Jersey;
(15) Any assertion that the inspiration to use the Packanack Country Club in the pilot
script was Chase’s relationship with Baer and Urbanczyk, both of whom were
from Packanack Lake in Wayne, New Jersey;
(16) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning the relationship
between the Mafia and the Church; and
(17) The financial success of The Sopranos or Chase’s own earnings from the show;
and it is further
ORDERED that, in the event that Robert Jones, Thomas Koczur, and Antonio Spirito
testify, their testimony is limited solely to the factual circumstances of the meetings with Chase
and/or Baer and cannot extend to any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice Jones,
Koczur, and Spirito offered to Chaser and/or Baer because such ideas, suggestions,
recommendations, and advice are not relevant or probative to Baer’s cause of action; and it is
further
ORDERED that Baer’s expert witness, John Agoglia, is barred from (A) attributing any
value to, and/or (B) testifying as to any opinion that Baer is entitled to compensation for: (i) any
stories, information, and/or personal experiences relating to the North Jersey Mafia told to Chase
by non-parties; (ii) Baer providing Chase with information and/or stories relating to the North
Jersey Mafia; or (iii) Baer making suggestions and/or giving advice to Chase regarding themes,
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 5 of 6
-6-
characters, and/or stories.
/s/ Joel A. Pisano
JOEL A. PISANO, U.S.D.J.
Orig: Clerk
cc: All parties, File
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 6 of 6
By JANET FRANKSTON LORIN | Associated Press Writer
5:37 PM EST, December 11, 2007
“Sopranos” creator David Chase will testify in federal court against a former New Jersey municipal court judge who claims his ideas helped Chase come up with the plot for the hit HBO drama. The trial starts in Trenton Wednesday.
Robert Baer, also a former assistant prosecutor in Union and Hudson counties, sued Chase in 2002, claiming he suggested a TV show about organized crime in New Jersey and give Chase a crash course on the North Jersey mob.
In court documents, Chase countered Baer is “self delusional.” Chase is expected to testify at the trial, though it’s not clear if he will be in court when jury selection begins Wednesday.
A judge dismissed Baer’s suit twice, but those ruling were overturned.
Chase, a New Jersey native, was criticized for the way he ended the popular series last June. In the final scene, the show faded to black while fictional mob boss Tony Soprano sat in a New Jersey diner with his family.
Almost six years ago a former NJ Judge, Robert Baer, filed a law suit claiming that he helped David Chase to create and develop the “Sopranos.” The case was thrown out two times by Federal District Court Judge Joel Pisano. But, Judge Pisano was reversed both times by a federal appellate court and now the case is set to begin trial in Trenton, NJ on December 11th, 2007.
Recently Judge Pisano signed an order that prevents Baer from showing the jury nearly all of the things he did for Chase. All of the information, stories and ideas that Baer gave to Chase which Chase immediately used to write the Sopranos pilot script have been excluded from the trial. Even the real Tony Soprano, who Baer introduced to Chase, is not allowed to tell his true story.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
____________________________________
:
ROBERT V. BAER, :
:
Plaintiff, : Civ. No. 02-2334 (JAP)
:
v. ::
ORDER
DAVID CHASE, et al., :
:
Defendants. :
____________________________________:
Presently before the Court is a motion in limine filed by Defendants David Chase
(“Chase�) and DC Enterprises, Inc. to exclude certain evidence from trial. This motion follows
this Court’s Opinion and Order on Defendants’ motion to limit damages, entered on April 27,
2007. Baer v. Chase, 2007 WL 1237850 (D.N.J. 2007). In that Opinion, the Court found that
during the summer and fall of 1995, when Chase was developing the idea for a
television series and working on the pilot story, [Plaintiff Robert V. Baer (“Baer�)]
filled roles that could fairly be characterized as location scout, researcher, and
consultant. Indeed, it is undisputed that Baer showed Chase various locations in
northern New Jersey, introduced Chase to individuals who shared facts and stories
with him, answered questions that Chase posed about organized crime, conducted
research, and offered comments on the first script of The Sopranos. It is further
undisputed that those services are compensable in quasi-contract and that Baer is
entitled to engage in discovery and present evidence, including expert discovery and
evidence, regarding the value of those services.
Accordingly, the Court finds that it is improper for Baer to introduce at trial proofs of any of the following general matters:
(1) Baer’s claim that he suggested to Chase that Chase shoot movies or television
shows about crime in New Jersey and North Jersey mobs, modeled on the
DeCalvacante Family;
(2) Any specific organized-crime-related information given to Chase directly or
indirectly by Thomas Koczur, Robert Jones, Antonio Spirito or any other nonparty;
(3) Any of Baer’s own purported “ideas� or “suggestions� regarding Chase’s potential
development of characters, situations, or plots from the information provided by
others; and
(4) Baer’s claim that he suggested and advised Chase how to best shape and develop
those ideas.
Therefore, pursuant to the Court’s authority to manage and control the case, and for good cause
shown, the Court finds it appropriate to specifically limit the parties’ submissions of evidence to
that which is probative and relevant to the cause of action, and, thus, IT IS
ON this 20th day of November, 2007,
ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion in limine (Dkt. # 106) is GRANTED; and it is
further
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 2 of 6
-3-
ORDERED that Baer may introduce evidence to support his claim for quantum meruit
for his services to Chase as location scout, researcher, and consultant; and it is further
ORDERED that Baer is specifically precluded from testifying, eliciting testimony,
introducing evidence, or making references in questions to witnesses, during opening statements,
closing arguments, or at any time in the presence of the jury, concerning any of the following:
(1) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to create a film or television
show about crime in New Jersey, to shoot movies or television shows about crime
in New Jersey and North Jersey mobs modeled on the DeCalvacante Family, or
concerning stories about crimes and crime syndicates in New Jersey;
(2) All specific factual information about crime, criminals, mobsters, organized
crime, criminal organizations, criminal syndicates, and the law provided to Chase
by Baer, Koczur, Jones, Spirito, Urbanczyk, Khoury, Wisnewski, Fitzgerald,
Vitelli, or any other friend, acquaintance, or colleague of Bear’s;
(3) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to base the “Tony Soprano�
character on Tony Spirito, or any assertion that “Tony Soprano� is based on
Spirito;
(4) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice about incorporating Tony
Spirito’s personal history into a storyline involving a feud between the son of a
deceased mobster and his uncle, and/or an alliance between the son’s mother and
uncle(s), and/or loss of a business due to loan-sharking debts;
(5) Any assertion that the relationships among “Tony Soprano,� “Livia Soprano,� and
“Corrado ‘Uncle Junior’ Soprano� are based on Tony Spirito’s personal history;
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 3 of 6
-4-
(6) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to base a character on Morris
Levy, and all factual information about Levy provided to Chase by Baer, Jones, or
others;
(7) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice to use the names “Little Pussy�
and “Big Pussy� Russo;
(8) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning Mafia involvement
in the carting or waste management industry;
(9) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning “turf wars,� and any
assertion that the inspiration for a “turf war� storyline in The Sopranos pilot
episode was the result of Chase’s meeting with Koczur;
(10) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning loan-sharking, and
any assertion that the inspiration for a storyline in the pilot episode in which a
character named “Spiros� loses his business due to a loan-shark debt came from
Chase’s meetings with Spirito, Koczur, and Jones;
(11) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning cutout schemes, and
any assertion that the inspiration for a storyline in the pilot episode in which
“‘Uncle Junior’ Soprano� concocts a cutout scheme involving frequent flier miles
was a story told to Chase by Jones;
(12) Any assertion that the inspiration for “Tony Soprano� to tell his daughter,
“Meadow,� that a church was built by their relatives was a story told to Chase by
Koczur;
(13) Any assertion that the inspiration for “Hesh Rabkin’s� horse farm was a story
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 4 of 6
-5-
Chase was told by Jones about Morris Levy’s horse farm;
(14) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning strip clubs, and any
assertion that the inspiration for the “Bada Bing� was a visit Chase paid with Baer
and Koczur to a strip club in Newark, New Jersey;
(15) Any assertion that the inspiration to use the Packanack Country Club in the pilot
script was Chase’s relationship with Baer and Urbanczyk, both of whom were
from Packanack Lake in Wayne, New Jersey;
(16) Any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice concerning the relationship
between the Mafia and the Church; and
(17) The financial success of The Sopranos or Chase’s own earnings from the show;
and it is further
ORDERED that, in the event that Robert Jones, Thomas Koczur, and Antonio Spirito
testify, their testimony is limited solely to the factual circumstances of the meetings with Chase
and/or Baer and cannot extend to any idea, suggestion, recommendation, or advice Jones,
Koczur, and Spirito offered to Chaser and/or Baer because such ideas, suggestions,
recommendations, and advice are not relevant or probative to Baer’s cause of action; and it is
further
ORDERED that Baer’s expert witness, John Agoglia, is barred from (A) attributing any
value to, and/or (B) testifying as to any opinion that Baer is entitled to compensation for: (i) any
stories, information, and/or personal experiences relating to the North Jersey Mafia told to Chase
by non-parties; (ii) Baer providing Chase with information and/or stories relating to the North
Jersey Mafia; or (iii) Baer making suggestions and/or giving advice to Chase regarding themes,
Case 2:02-cv-02334-JAP Document 115 Filed 11/20/2007 Page 5 of 6
-6-
characters, and/or stories.