TRENTON, NJ – Not even “The Sopranos” had an ending like this.
A New Jersey jury yesterday whacked a former judge’s claim that he co-created the hit HBO mob series, and denied his request to be compensated for consulting fees.
“This was like a fly buzzing in my bathroom for seven years, and we finally swatted it,” series producer David Chase crowed after the verdict, hugging his wife, Denise, and his lawyers. “[The plaintiff] tried to be a writer, and he failed, and he took it out on me.”
Former municipal judge and would-be writer Robert Baer had sued the “Sopranos” creator, saying that the TV executive reneged on a promise to pay him for his ideas and inspiration that led directly to the blockbuster show.
Baer said that for three months in 1995, he introduced Chase to key players with knowledge of mob activity in northern New Jersey and even gave the writer a tour of haunts like the strip club and meat market that would eventually find their way into TV lore. Chase said he did nothing more than exchange favors with the aspiring screenwriter: Baer showed him around, and Chase read a couple of his scripts in return.
The jury of seven women and one man said Baer deserved nothing more than a few professional courtesies. They said Baer had a reasonable expectation to be compensated somehow, but that Chase doesn’t owe him a dime.
Baer, who wanted $150,000, somehow took a small victory out of the ruling and said the case might have been different if the jury had heard about all the services he performed.
“I feel partially vindicated,” Baer said. “They didn’t know what all of those services were, and if they had seen it, theywould have had a different view of it.”
The jury needed only 80 minutes, slightly longer than a Sopranos episode, to reach its verdict after a morning and afternoon of closing arguments.
“I expected compensation, however it came, whether it was with money or whether it was with something else,” Baer said.
Baer’s lawyer, Harley Breite, portrayed Chase as an opportunist who took advantage of people with connections.
“David Chase has never paid Robert Baer one dime,” Breite said. “He’s never once acknowledged the role Baer played in this critical stage of ‘The Sopranos.’ He’s never even said ‘Thank you.’ ”
Now Chase is just thankful the trial is over – but he did say that the case may “inspire” his writing in the future.
Additional reporting by Hasani Gittens