Gregory Waples

Gregory Lane Waples is an American lawyer and prosecutor most notable for representing the four teenagers who were shot by Bernhard Goetz in the 1984 New York City Subway shooting. He served as a trial attorney for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. He had also prosecuted Donald Nash in the CBS murders. He left the DAs office and is currently Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Vermont.

Prosecution of Bernhard Goetz

Waples represented the prosecution for Barry Allen, Troy Canty, Darrell Cabey, and James Ramseur, who were shot by Bernhard Goetz on a New York City Subway. According to Chapter 18 of Elliot William's book Five Bullets, Waples used various tactics to convince the jury, including reading of the Bible during his arguments and psychological persuasion (for examples, he wanted to be perceived as a humble public servant, rather than an expert attorney, so he never got chauffeured and sat by himself in the courtroom). The Times also described him as 'a man who loves facts'. During the trial, Waples' closing argument was that Goetz was not acting out of self-righteousness, and that the attack was not self-defense.

Personal Life

Waples was originally from Iowa, but grew up in Palo Alto, CA. He attended Yale University, studying American studies as part of the class of 1971, and later graduated top of his class at Columbia Law School. After federal clerkship, Waples went to the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, which he described as "miserable". In 1977, Waples wrote a letter to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau "on a lark". Upon reading it, Morgenthau gave Waples an interview, and later hired him as Assistant DA. According to Williams in Chapter 16, colleagues found Waples to be specific in his tastes, organized, serious, and unpretentious. In 1989, Waples left the Manhattan DA's office, and became the Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Vermont. He is married to Nancy Waples.

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