AUTHOR’S NOTE

This is a true story. It reports a criminal trial I followed from the day the jury was chosen until its very end. During the proceedings I interviewed both the judge and the defense attorney. To make certain that I would not impart confidential information to either side, I waited until after the verdict to talk to the prosecutor and the detectives who broke the case. The events that I did not personally witness were reconstructed from more than one thousand seven hundred pages of pretrial and trial transcripts, as well as from my own interviews.

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The New York City District Attorney’s office was concerned for the safety of the victims and the informants who were witnesses. They asked that I not reveal the names or locations of these individuals. I agreed to this request in advance.

The defense attorney’s concern was that his client receive a fair trial. He would not allow me to interview the defendant because our conversations could subject me to being called as a witness by the prosecutor.

In fairness to the other Chinese participants whom I did not personally interview, I changed their names in order to respect their privacy.

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Since I am not a lawyer, I wanted to be careful in describing the complexities of the criminal justice system. After I wrote the manuscript, I gave it to the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense attorney to check for accuracy. Then legal scholars and other lawyers read it as well. In spite of this help, mistakes may have slipped through the cracks. I plead guilty to any and all errors.

In order to make it easier to keep track of the legal issues and terminology used in the actual trial, I’ve put relevant explanations in boxes alongside the text and definitions in the glossary. When appropriate, I’ve repeated some explanations as reminders.

I am deeply grateful to Judge Bernard J. Fried, Assistant District Attorney Leemie Kahng, and Glenn Garber, defense attorney, for their time, candor, professionalism, and friendship. I could not have written this book without them.

My thanks to the following people who helped me along the way:

New York County District Attorney’s office—

Robert Morganthau, Jim Kindler, Caroline Basile;

Major Case Squad—

David Chan, Hayman Goon;

Judge Fried’s staff—

Mary Cassidy, Elizabeth Candreva, Esq., Esther Josiah;

Brooklyn Law School—

Professor Susan Herman, Professor Robert Pitler, Professor Tony Sebok, Sara Robbins, law librarian;

University of Connecticut Law School—

Professor Leonard Arland;

University of International Business and Economics (Beijing)—

Professor Wang Pei, Professor Jaio Jin Hong;

Friends and Family—

Refna Wilkin, Eliza Dresang, Nancy Machinton, Elizabeth Levy.

A special thanks to my editor, Marc Aronson, who took on a very lengthy, intricate manuscript and guided me through a number of drafts. Last, but hardly least, my husband, Bailey, who suggested that I write this book and then lived with it (and me) for the next two and a half years. He devoted countless hours reading drafts, asking probing questions, and teaching me the foundations of law. For his immeasurable love and encouragement, I dedicate this book to

Bailey H. Kuklin

and students of law,

past, present, and future