On December 22, 1984, four men, Barry Allen, Troy Canty, Darrell Cabey, and James Ramseur, were shot and wounded by Bernhard Goetz. On his way home, Goetz shot the four black robbers on a New York City subway. While he claimed this was an act of self-defense, the action sets off a controversial, tabloid-fueled trial which earned Goetz the nickname "Subway Vigilante," as he said he shot the four boys after an attempted mugging.

On the morning of February 4, 1999, a 22-year-old Guinean immigrant named Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975) was shot and killed by four New York City Police Department plain-clothed officers—Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss after running from the officers when asked to show his hands. Diallo was shot 41 times. Diallo was unarmed and had no criminal record. Despite the overwhelming evidence against the officers, all were found not guilty.

Richard Scrushy, founder of HealthSouth Corporation, was charged with 36 of 85 counts of accounting fraud in 2004.

The case of Cheryl Araujo: After a woman is raped on a bar's pool table, the trial is televised live on CNN, revealing the woman's identity and the brutal cross-examination.

When Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich finds himself facing a corruption trial, he tries to embrace the media and even goes on "Celebrity Apprentice."