The Fertile Fields (Season 2, Episode 19)
Premise: A diamond dealer’s burned body is found in an Upper West Side alley after witnesses see a group of Black teenagers running from the area.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 2, Episode 19
- Detectives
- Sgt. Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- David Spielberg as Isaac Shore, Tom Mardirosian as Joe Tashjian, Daryl Mitchell as Reginald Beggs
- Director
- Ed Sherin
- Writers
- Michael S. Chernuchin & René Balcer
Summary
The Investigation
“The Fertile Fields” opens with police finding a man’s body on fire in an alley. He is Ezra Shore, a Jewish diamond dealer from West 47th Street, and he was beaten to death before he was set alight. Officers saw four or five Black teenagers running from the area, and Logan fears a repeat of Crown Heights, but Cerreta notes there is no blood at the scene, which suggests Ezra was killed somewhere else. His brother Isaac says Ezra left the store that night carrying diamonds, and the trail leads to importer Joe Tashjian, who says Ezra bought sapphires and rubies from him and left to find a cab.
Ezra’s son Caleb attacks a teenager, Reginald Beggs, who has been bragging that his friends killed Ezra. A shoe print puts Reginald in the alley, and he names three others: Harley Monks, Cyrus Tanner and Fontaine Robinson. Despite doubts about the forensics, Schiff wants an indictment, and the three are charged with murder and robbery.
The Trial
Before the grand jury, Reginald changes his story: he only saw Fontaine set fire to a man who was already dead, and his boasting was for street credibility. Stone withdraws the case. Isaac, who has been given immunity, demands the grand jury transcripts and claims a racial whitewash. When the business’s books show $900,000 in uninsured diamond purchases, Isaac suddenly confesses to the killing, but Stone believes he is protecting someone.
The purchases turn out to be paper deals with Tashjian, a laundering scheme for profits from counterfeit goods. Threatened with federal racketeering charges and the loss of his family’s assets, Isaac testifies that Ezra discovered the scheme, confronted Tashjian, and was beaten to death with a cane while Isaac watched. Tashjian’s threats against the family kept him silent. The defense attacks Isaac as a man who lied to everyone, including the grand jury.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury finds Tashjian not guilty of murder, and as the courtroom erupts after the verdict, a gunshot rings out.
Why it stands out
- The case begins as an apparent racial attack and ends as a dispute over laundered money.
- Stone’s only eyewitness is a man who earlier confessed to the murder himself.
- The episode ends with an acquittal rather than a conviction or plea.