12 Goetz Jurors Take Silent Tour of Subway Train

Twelve jurors, trailed by lawyers and a horde of reporters and photographers, descended into a subway station Friday to silently tour a train resembling the one where Bernhard H. Goetz shot four young men.

The jurors, four alternates, Justice Stephen Crane, court officers and attorneys boarded a graffiti-covered subway car in a Lower Manhattan subway station.

“Some of them looked around, some of them walked through the cars--whatever they felt like doing,” said Goetz attorney Barry Slotnick, who requested the tour so that jurors could “see what Bernhard Goetz faced” on Dec. 22, 1984.

The car in which the shootings occurred has been taken out of service.

Forbidden to Speak

Jurors were forbidden to speak to one another or to reporters, and neither Slotnick nor Assistant Dist. Atty. Gregory Waples was permitted to address them.

The group entered the car at 10:50 a.m., and after about 15 minutes the train pulled out of the Chambers Street station and into the subway tunnel. They returned to the station at 11:30 a.m.

Asked why the train was moved, Transit Police Lt. John Cullen replied, “Probably to get away from that zoo,” referring to the reporters and photographers who crowded the subway platform.

Goetz Remains Behind

Goetz declined to accompany his attorney into the station, which is five blocks from where he shot Troy Canty, James Ramseur, Barry Allen and Darrell Cabey, all 19 at the time.

Goetz is charged with attempted murder, but says he fired in self-defense because he thought the youths were trying to mug him. They say they were just panhandling for money to use in video games when they asked for $5.