Chapter 2

1986

My attorney, Ed Hayes, seemed a bit nervous. Perhaps it was his upcoming marriage next month to Susie Gilder, or maybe it was something to do with another case, but I was sure he wasn’t concerned with my case. Purely a classic case of self-defense, purely, we argued. I myself spent time on the stand, and then there were all of the character witnesses from Columbia and other prestigious schools.

We had a few minutes to wait, and a messenger came up to Ed and handed him a note. Ed read it, and a smile appeared on his face. He looked over at me.

“Tommy is dedicating his new book to me,” he said proudly. “It’s called The Bonfire of the Vanities.”

He was referring to Tom Wolfe, a close friend of his. Ed knew people. He was friends with Tom, Andy Warhol, and some of the other A-list people in the city. I was supremely confident that when I hired Ed, he’d live up to his slogan of “I can get ya’ outta’ anything.”

There was an undertone of anticipation as the jury entered the courtroom and took their seats. About a minute later, the bailiff announced the judge, and everyone stood and waited until he took his seat.

Another minute went by as the judge shuffled some paperwork. I took this time to look at the jury. None of them would meet my eye except for the oldest one, a kindly older lady with near-white hair and small, round glasses. She smiled at me, and that helped quell some fears that started to surface.

“We got this,” I said to Hayes, who was re-reading the note.

“Mr. Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?” asked the judge a bit wearily, it seemed.

A short, burly man who looked more suited for a Cecil B. DeMille blockbuster than a jury foreman stood up.

“Yeah, Judge, we did,” he said, his thick, Brooklyn accent easily heard throughout the courtroom.

The foreman handed a slip of paper to the bailiff, who delivered it to the judge. He looked at it and then, with a slight raise of his eyebrow, handed it back to the bailiff, who reversed the process.

“On the count of involuntary manslaughter, we, da’ members of da’ jury, herewith find the defendant, Joseph Kellerman, guilty.”

The crowd was stunned for a moment, and during that brief silence, the loudest sound was my huge intake of breath.

“On the count of reckless endangerment, we, da’ members of da’ jury, herewith find the defendant, Joseph Kellerman, guilty.”

Now the courtroom erupted with noise, and while the judge was pounding his gavel, trying to restore order, I sat in stunned silence.