Murder One

Premise

In its first season, the series starred Daniel Benzali as defense attorney Theodore (Ted) Hoffman, a criminal litigator and the principal of his own firm, Hoffman and Associates. Backed by a cadre of young associates, Hoffman was a gruff, masterful criminal lawyer who zealously represented his clients in high-profile cases. Patricia Clarkson played his wife, Annie. Unique for a television drama at that time, the first season of the series revolved around a single high-profile criminal case. Stanley Tucci played Richard Cross, a charming but morally ambiguous philanthropist and the first man arrested for the murder of 15-year-old Jessica Costello. Bobbie Phillips played Julie Costello, the murder victim's sister and the girlfriend of Richard Cross.

For the duration of season one, Hoffman defended Neil Avedon (Jason Gedrick), a young Hollywood star accused of the murder of Costello. During the first part of the season, Hoffman's associates also handled smaller cases which were usually wrapped up within one episode. While there were many plot twists and misdirections, fundamentally the entire season consisted of one defense case for Hoffman & Associates.

In the second season, Benzali was replaced by Anthony LaPaglia as Jimmy Wyler, a former assistant district attorney who took over Hoffman's firm. The second season also featured this type of seriality, to a limited extent: three unrelated trials, over 18 episodes.

The serial nature of the drama may have been problematic, leaving viewers who either missed episodes or did not see the series from its premiere at a loss. As a result, from about halfway through the first season, an increasingly detailed introduction began to take up several minutes at the start of each episode. Following somewhat disappointing ratings, ABC and Bochco revamped the show significantly for the 1996–97 season. Gone were Benzali and his character, as well as many of the show's former regulars including Clarkson, Gedrick, Tucci and Dylan Baker.

The producers brought in LaPaglia as the new owner of the firm to replace Benzali, but the second season of the show was far less successful than the first. The original concept of the series, a James Bond-like defense attorney, could not be salvaged with a replacement lead – not least of which because LaPaglia's character spent most episodes trying to borrow money to keep the firm afloat. Other cast members brought in for the second season included D. B. Woodside and Jack Kehler. ABC aired all the episodes filmed, and the plot was prematurely wrapped up in the final episode. ABC ordered the final six episodes to air as a three-night miniseries in the spring of 1997. As the hopes for a series renewal diminished, the three-night miniseries was rescheduled for the less-viewed Memorial Day weekend. The series was dropped at the end of the 1996-97 season.

Characters

Season 1

Daniel Benzali as Theodore Hoffman

Mary McCormack as Justine Appleton

Michael Hayden as Chris Docknovich

Grace Phillips as Lisa Gillespie

J. C. MacKenzie as Arnold Spivak

Stanley Tucci as Richard Cross

Dylan Baker as Detective Arthur Polson

Vanessa Estelle Williams as Lila

John Fleck as Louis Hines

Kevin Tighe as David Blalock

Barbara Bosson as Deputy District Attorney Miriam Grasso

Patricia Clarkson as Annie Hoffman

Jason Gedrick as Neil Avedon

Donna Murphy as Francesca Cross

Bobbie Phillips as Julie Costello

Linda Carlson as Judge Beth Bornstein

Stanley Kamel as Dr. Graham Lester

Gregory Itzin as District Attorney Roger Garfield

Joe Spano as Ray Velacek

John Pleshette as Gary Blondo

Nancy Lee Grahn as Connie Dahlgren

Adam Scott as Sidney Schneider

Season 2

Anthony LaPaglia as Jimmy Wyler

Mary McCormack as Justine Appleton

Michael Hayden as Chris Docknovich

J. C. MacKenzie as Arnold Spivak

D. B. Woodside as Aaron Mosley

Barbara Bosson as Deputy District Attorney Miriam Grasso

Clayton Rohner as Det. Vince Biggio

Jack Kehler as Frank Szymanski

Linda Carlson as Judge Beth Bornstein

Gregory Itzin as District Attorney Roger Garfield

John Fleck as Louis Hines

Pruitt Taylor Vince as Clifford Banks

Eileen Heckart as Frances Wyler

Ralph Waite as Malcolm Dietrich

Pauley Perrette as Gwen

Episodes

Storylines

Season 1

Ted Hoffman defends young Hollywood heartthrob Neil Avedon on criminal mischief charges after he attacks a swan and urges him to change his Hollywood lifestyle of sex and drugs before he gets into serious trouble. Neil ignores his advice, and Ted instructs his office to no longer take Neil's calls.

A media explosion occurs with the murder of 15-year-old Jessica Costello, who is found raped, tied up, and strangled in her apartment. Jessica was promiscuous with many powerful men in Hollywood, making them suspects and the case a media frenzy. One of these men, multi-millionaire Richard Cross, whose mistress Julie Costello is Jessica's older sister, is arrested after the police have a security video of Richard in the building at the time of the murder. Ted is hired and quickly has the charges against Richard dismissed for lack of evidence.

The next suspect is Neil Avedon who begs Ted to defend him. The state has a vast amount of evidence against him: Neil's fingerprints were found all over the crime scene; his DNA was found inside Jessica; he was known for indulging in sadomachistic sex and strangling his lovers; and he allegedly confessed to his psychiatrist Graham Lester that he killed Jessica. Neil admits to making love to Jessica around the time of the murder but denies killing her or confessing to it. Knowing that this will be the next trial of the century Ted takes the case and puts the young attorney Chris Docknovich as second chair. From the beginning Ted finds Richard is interfering with the case. He sends Neil to the psychiatrist Graham Lester to supply drugs. Ted and Chris get Neil into a drug rehabilitation center so he can remain sober for the first time in a long time.

Ted's private detective Davey Blalock has a stunning revelation. A criminal friend is brokering a videotape said to prove Neil's innocence. Davey calls and confirms its authenticity and Ted authorizes the purchase at an enormous price. However, the next day Davey and his friend are found murdered in a motel room with an empty VCR. Ted suspects the video implicated Richard who then hired a professional assassin to retrieve the tape.

The focal point of the trial becomes Neil's alleged confession to Dr. Lester. Ted pokes holes in Lester's story. A nurse did not note the confession phone in her logbook which she lost because she spilled coffee on it. Ted finds that the nurse's brother has AIDS and is undergoing expensive experimental treatment paid for by Richard. When Dr. Lester takes the stand he refuses to testify citing doctor-patient privilege. When the judge tells him this does not apply he still refuses and is jailed. This victory for the defense turns out to be a ruse because a week later Dr. Lester agrees to testify. His earlier protection of Neil makes his testimony all the more damning. For the defense Ted must discredit Dr. Lester. Their star witness is Julie Costello, who has turned against her boyfriend Richard. She believes that Richard killed Jessica and will testify about how Dr. Lester would drug and rape her and other patients.

Season 2

Assistant District Attorney Jimmy Wyler is outraged when he is denied his promotion to prosecute major crimes. He confronts District Attorney Roger Garfield who is running for governor of California. Garfield tells Jimmy that when he's governor they won't have to work together anymore. Jimmy responds, "You're elected governor and I'll kiss your ass in Macy's window."

The next morning Jimmy sees on the news that the current governor, Tom Van Allan, who was running for reelection was assassinated along with one of his mistresses in a beach house. At the office Jimmy learns that the killer was caught fleeing the scene. Sharon Rooney, one of Van Allan's many mistresses was a woman scorned who used her roommate's pistol to kill the two. With overwhelming evidence the police and district attorney have no doubt she's guilty. Jimmy visits Sharon in her holding cell. She is exactly the emotional wreck the police described. Angry about his denied promotion, Jimmy offers to switch sides and defend Sharon pro bono. She accepts, and confesses to Jimmy that she is indeed guilty as charged.

Jimmy next visits Hoffman and Associates. Without Hoffman, the associates are barely able to keep the firm up and running and Chris had offered the firm to Jimmy. Jimmy asks for their help on the case assuring them that after he wins the trial of the century the business will boom. Wyler and Associates is born. Jimmy assigns Justine Appleton as second chair because she is a woman approximately the same age as Sharon.

The prosecuting assistant district attorney Miriam Grasso lays out the strongest case possible. Sharon left her husband to become Van Allan's mistress. When Sharon became pregnant Van Allan forced her to have an abortion. After the abortion Sharon became mentally unstable and Van Allan ended the affair. Forensic evidence shows Sharon at the crime scene and she was caught fleeing the crime scene. The recovered gun ballistically matches the bullets used to commit the crime and was registered to her roommate.

Jimmy quickly loses friends and makes enemies as he attempts to discredit his former friends in the police department. Miriam is angry that he overheard discussions related to the case before he quit the district attorney's office. During the trial, Jimmy uses information from his past as a DA to discredit his former co-workers; for example, Detective Biggio sent an innocent man to prison where he was killed before his release, and he uses a forensic examiner's attention deficit disorder (ADD) to try to convince the jury that he may have been confused at the crime scene

Crew

The series was created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee and Channing Gibson. All three were regular writers and Bochco and Eglee were executive producers for the series. William M. Finkelstein was an executive producer and writer for the third season. Michael Fresco served as co-executive producer and a regular director for the first season, he was promoted to executive producer for the second season. Joe Ann Fogel served as a supervising producer and regular director for the first season, she was promoted to co-executive producer for the second season. Marc Buckland served as a producer and a regular director. Geoffrey Neigher worked as a producer and regular writer for the first season and was promoted to supervising producer for the second season. Doug Palau served as a story editor and regular writer for the first season and was promoted to executive story editor and then co-producer for the second season. Shannon Downs worked as a regular writer for the second season. Ann Donahue served as a supervising producer and regular writer for the first season. She was replaced by Nick Harding for the second series.

International airings

In the United Kingdom, the series appeared on Sky One during the first half of 1996. Each episode of the first twenty was rerun on BBC Two about seven weeks later. Due to the 1996 Summer Olympics there was a break before the last three episodes, causing an outcry against sport disrupting the schedules, and the last three episodes were screened over two nights after the games.

In Germany the series was first shown on VOX.

Home releases

20th Century Fox has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1, 2, and 4.