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'Sopranos' Creator Goes To Court Over Show Origins

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Dec 12, 2007 11:45 am US/Eastern

'Sopranos' Creator Goes To Court Over Show Origins

TRENTON (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: David Chase, creator of "The Sopranos," is shown in this file photo.
AP

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"Sopranos" creator David Chase is headed to federal court to defend his role in creating the popular HBO mob drama.

Jury selection began Wednesday in Trenton in the case of a former New Jersey municipal court judge who claims his ideas helped Chase come up with the plot for the hit HBO drama.

Chase arrived at the Trenton courthouse Wednesday morning with two lawyers, but declined to comment when asked about the case.

Robert Baer, also a former assistant prosecutor in Union and Hudson counties, sued Chase in 2002, claiming he suggested a TV show about organized crime in New Jersey and give Chase a crash course on the North Jersey mob. He wants credit and compensation.

A federal judge dismissed Baer's suit twice, but those rulings were overturned.

The legal dispute centers on Baer's role in developing the show back in 1995, years before "The Sopranos" became a cable sensation.

Baer claims Chase's ideas came after Baer arranged meetings with police detectives and other experts and escorted him around mob sites in the Newark-Elizabeth area.

Chase called Baer's claims "grossly distorted, petulant and self-aggrandizing" and that Baer provided a "modest service," arranging to introduce him to individuals who where experienced in certain facets of organized crime.

"The Sopranos" ended its six-season, eight-year run of original episodes in June. The show was mostly shot on location in northern New Jersey, Manhattan and Brooklyn.