Capturing the Friedmans Page #6

The People versus Arnold

Friedman and Jesse Friedman.

Indictment 67430.

Step up, please.

So began the very first time

cameras were permitted

in a Nassau County courtroom.

Fifty-six-year-old

Arnold Friedman

and his 18-year-old son Jesse

heard the court clerk read off

a 91-count indictment

charging them with

sodomy and sexual abuse.

Arnold Friedman, how do you

plead to this indictment?

Guilty or not guilty?

Not guilty.

And Jesse Friedman, how do you

plead to this indictment?

Not guilty.

My brother and Jesse kept

saying they're innocent.

"This is trumped up charges."

And they got

a McMartin's, you know?

They somehow got one kid to,

they got the police to be

able to convince the kids,

"Well, all of your friends

said something happened."

Didn't something happen?

Something must have happened,"

et cetera, et cetera.

And they were convinced.

They kept saying

they were innocent.

And I just kept thinking,

"I have to believe them."

It's very hard for people to

accept him as a pedophile.

Arnold Friedman was

an award-winning teacher.

All over the house were plaques

and newspaper articles

written about him.

He had been given an award,

"Computer Teacher of the Year."

He also taught piano.

David plays beautifully.

And his father taught him

how to play the piano.

It was when he died

that I realized

how much of an impact

he had on my life.

Take a bow.

He was very supportive of my

magic when I was a kid.

When I was about 6, my father

took me to a magic show.

And it's probably

my earliest memory.

You know when your son goes

to college and you say,

"Go to college," and

"What are you going to be?

"Be a doctor. Be a lawyer."

I tried to make him into

a doctor or a lawyer.

You know, my mom would

always say, you know,

"Get a job. Get a job."

But my dad would say to me,

"You know, David,"

I can't tell you what to do,

because you know what I did

"when I got out of college."

He blew off his chemical

engineering degree,

which he could have worked

for an oil company

and made tons of money.

Instead, he played

in the mountains,

which is a total blow-off,

follow your dream,

artistic thing.

And I totally love him for that.

Trust your children to somebody

who was a schoolteacher

for over 20, 30 years,

a member of your community.

All you heard were accolades

about this person,

and now all of a sudden,

he's a monster.

And things that were being said,

you know, upset the community,

because you don't

expect that here.

Great Neck is a peninsula.

It's a very insulated community.

This was a certain kind of

person that lived in Great Neck.

It's on the North Shore

of Long Island,

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