On the Set : The Long, Lurid Arm of ‘Texas Justice’

Relaxing in his trailer, Dennis Franz reaches up to scratch his noggin. Then he stops, rolls up his big eyes and grins. “I keep forgetting I have this thing on my head,” he says, a bit sheepishly. The “thing” is a toupee the actor liked so well he took it home after the shoot.

Fans of the rumpled, recovering alcoholic Det. Andy Sipowicz on “NYPD Blue” will blink when they first see Franz in the ABC two-part movie “Texas Justice,” which starts Sunday. The pate is hairy, the upper lip smooth and the suit three-piece and natty. Then there are the boots and the big Western hat.

Without the lip spinach, Franz says he can slip around unnoticed. “A lot of people don’t give me a second look. I sense those that are looking at me peculiarly. They want to know where they recognize this face from but they’re not sure.”

On his hiatus from “NYPD,” he’s playing super lawyer Richard (Racehorse) Haynes, who once successfully defended a Houston plastic surgeon accused of murdering his wife with poisoned pastries. Here, he’s defending a multimillionaire oil man from Ft. Worth in another twisting, highly charged homicide case.

The richest man ever to be tried for murder, T. Cullen Davis was acquitted of premeditated murder only to be jailed again nine months later, accused of trying to buy a “hit” on the judge in his divorce case. Peter Strauss plays the enigmatic playboy tycoon. Heather Locklear portrays his tiny, silver-blond, sexy wife Priscilla, whose favorite necklace spells “Rich Bitch” in gold letters.

On Aug. 2, 1976, a man in a black wig entered the Davises’ $6-million, 20-room hilltop mansion and murdered Priscilla’s 12-year-old daughter, Andrea Wilborn, and 6-foot-9 boyfriend Stan Farr. Then he shot Priscilla through the chest; she survived.

Three eyewitnesses at the scene identified Davis as the man in the black wig, but after a sensational trial he walked away a free man.

“This is stranger than fiction,” Franz says. “The characters are fascinating. The whole piece is rich with flavor.”

But it was the meaty role of a flamboyant lawyer that sold him on the script. “You don’t get too many opportunities to play a character like Racehorse Haynes. I was looking for an opportunity to break away from playing policemen. The one I’m playing on ‘NYPD Blue’ is my 28th cop, so this was of big interest to me.”

And, no, he never met the man he’s playing, though he admits to “sort of spying” on him. “I’ve watched interviews with him, I’ve certainly studied him, but I haven’t had a direct conversation with him.”

A friend gave him the lawyer’s phone number. He nearly called. “Then I thought I would be better off trying to create my own interpretation of this character rather than trying to imitate the real Racehorse. I’m trying to disassociate myself from the impression people have of me as Sipowicz rather than make myself Richard Haynes.”

Executive producer Ken Kaufman first read Gary Cartwright’s book, “Blood Will Tell: The Murder Trials of T. Cullen Davis,” in 1977. “I remember thinking how fascinating it was, but it couldn’t be made at that time. Then a year-and-a-half ago, Nancy Hardin, our co-producer, brought it to me with Gary’s blessing, and we thought this might be the time to get it made.” The producers puzzled over how to sell it to the network.

“After all, T. Cullen Davis was never found guilty of any crime,” says Kaufman, “but I think we found a way to tell the story that is satisfying to the audience.”

It was time that allowed them to finally tell the tale on TV, he says.

“Also, it’s the way we’re telling the story. We’re certainly not calling him guilty. We let the audience decide,” Kaufman adds. “We went to the network and I think they liked the idea of an exciting story that was set in the past but has reverberations in the present.”

The Davis trials are legal history now. But the outcomes still rankle prize-winning writer Cartwright, contributing editor to Texas Monthly magazine. A fearless investigative reporter, he followed the story of Cullen and Priscilla Davis from the start, interviewing nearly everyone involved. His book serves as the basis for the ABC script by T.S. Cook.

“In ‘Texas Justice,’ Peter Strauss has done the impossible,” says the author. “He’s given Cullen a personality, a sense of humor and a chin. He plays him very well. He catches that boisterousness of a guy who’s unsure of himself but is trying to act very cocky. Cullen’s walk with his shoulders back. He watched newsreels and studied his mannerisms.”

At first, Cartwright says, he couldn’t imagine Locklear as Priscilla Davis. “But she’s really good. She doesn’t try to copy Priscilla’s accent. I suggested to (director) Dick Lowry that she watch Holly Hunter in that cheerleader murder movie. That was a great poor white trash accent, but she had the good sense not to do that. Heather picked up Priscilla’s mannerisms, her saucy, sexy, tossing-her-hair-behind-her attitude.”

“Texas Justice” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and Monday at 9 p.m. on ABC.