Today, a federal jury in New Jersey threw out a case brought against Sopranos creator David Chase by a certain Robert Baer. After the verdict was read, following less than two hours of deliberations, the defense attorneys hugged one another.
As we reported yesterday, Mr. Baer, a budding screenwriter and onetime prosecutor, claimed that he was not adequately compensated for helping Mr. Chase in 1995, when he was developing the pilot episode. Mr. Baer apparently arranged for the writer-producer to meet with several mafia experts during a tour of New Jersey, Mr. Chase’s native state. Both the Sopranos creator and Mr. Baer testified that the latter man turned down Mr. Chase’s offers to pay him thrice. He did, however, claim that Mr. Chase said he would “take care of him” if they show was a success.
