Character Relationship Map: True Believer

Characters

• Eddie Dodd (played by James Woods) — protagonist

  Eddie Dodd is a burnt-out attorney who has abandoned civil rights work to defend drug dealers. Encouraged by Roger Baron, he takes Shu Kai Kim's case, investigates the wrongful conviction, exposes the...

• Roger Baron (played by Robert Downey Jr.) — protagonist

  Roger Baron is an idealistic young legal clerk fresh out of law school. He persuades Eddie Dodd to investigate Shu Kai Kim's conviction rather than dismissing the case, and works with Dodd as the inve...

• Shu Kai Kim (played by Yuji Okumoto) — supporting

  Shu Kai Kim is a young Korean man imprisoned for a gang-related murder in New York's Chinatown eight years earlier. After killing a fellow inmate in self-defense, he becomes the focus of Eddie Dodd an...

• Art Esparza (played by Miguel Fernandes) — supporting

  Art Esparza is a police informant and the true murderer whose identity was concealed in the earlier case. He is part of the conspiracy with Robert Reynard and the police officers, who frame Shu Kai Ki...

• Chuckie Loeder (played by John Snyder) — minor
• Cecil Skell (played by Tom Bower) — supporting
• Vincent Dennehy (played by Charles Hallahan) — minor

  Vincent Dennehy is a police officer involved in framing Shu Kai Kim and is dying of cancer. During Eddie Dodd's courtroom questioning of Robert Reynard, Dennehy enters and sits with Dodd's team, clear...

• Laura Gayley (played by Deborah Offner) — minor
• Brian Nevins (played by Gerry Bamman) — minor

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Roger Baron → Vincent Dennehy (Professional Investigator And Former Detective) — Roger participates in examining Vincent's account as part of the effort to reconstruct what happened to the victim.

  The lawyers turn to Vincent Dennehy after his account of transporting the victim's body leaves an unexplained gap in the timeline.

• Roger Baron → Laura Gayley (Professional Investigator And Witness) — Roger is part of the investigation that seeks Laura as a possible source of information.

  The lawyers pursue other witnesses, including Laura Gayley, as they investigate Shu's case.

• Roger Baron → Cecil Skell (Professional Investigator And Witness) — Roger participates in seeking out Cecil as the lawyers examine the original identification.

  Eddie and Roger pursue surviving witnesses, including Cecil, during their investigation.

• Eddie Dodd → Cecil Skell (Professional Investigator And Witness) — Eddie relies on Cecil's eyewitness account to reassess the identification that led to Shu's conviction.

  Eddie seeks help from Cecil, one of the surviving eyewitnesses. Cecil insists that the killer was not Chinese.

• Eddie Dodd → Brian Nevins (Professional Defense Attorney And Client) — Eddie represents Brian in a drug case and argues that the jury should reject police tactics that invade privacy.

  Eddie delivers a closing argument in the drug case against Brian Nevins.

• Eddie Dodd → Shu Kai Kim (Professional Defense Attorney And Client) — Eddie takes up Shu's case and investigates the identification and evidence that led to his conviction.

  Eddie believes Shu was wrongly identified and investigates the murder for which Shu was convicted.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Eddie Dodd → Vincent Dennehy (Conflict Questioner And Former Detective) — Eddie follows up on the discrepancy in Vincent's account, treating it as a lead in the investigation.

  Eddie and Roger turn to Vincent, whose account of transporting the victim's body leaves an unexplained gap in the timeline. Eddie goes to question Den...

• Roger Baron → Art Esparza (Conflict Suspected Murderer And Investigator) — Roger helps develop suspicion of Art as the possible killer whose identity was concealed by the mistaken identification.

  Roger works with Eddie as they examine Art's connection to the victim and conclude that Art may have been responsible for the murder.

• Eddie Dodd → Art Esparza (Conflict Suspected Murderer And Investigator) — Eddie investigates Art after a photograph makes him look strikingly similar to Shu and other details cast doubt on Shu's identification.

  Eddie and Roger conclude that the eyewitnesses may have identified the wrong man and suspect Art was responsible for the murder.

• Eddie Dodd → Chuckie Loeder (Narrative Investigator And Potential Witness) — Eddie seeks Chuckie's possible testimony, but Chuckie's death removes a potential source of information and raises Eddie's suspicion of murder.

  Eddie and Roger pursue Chuckie, a former convict who may know something about the killing. Chuckie is found dead before he can testify.

• Roger Baron → Shu Kai Kim (Alliance Advocate) — Roger works with Eddie to examine the case against Shu and pursue evidence that may undermine the conviction.

  Roger becomes involved with Eddie's investigation into the case in which Shu Kai Kim was convicted.

• Eddie Dodd → Roger Baron (Alliance Investigative Partners) — Roger's involvement helps turn Eddie's attention toward the old murder case, and the two work together to challenge Shu's conviction.

  Roger begins working with Eddie and becomes involved in investigating Shu Kai Kim's conviction. They jointly pursue witnesses and question the evidenc...

Story Analysis

Eddie Dodd and Roger Baron investigate whether Shu Kai Kim was wrongly convicted, following witness accounts and evidence that point away from the original identification.

Plot Progression

1. A Conviction Reopened — Eddie argues a drug case involving Brian while Roger joins his practice. Together they take up Shu's old murder conviction and seek the surviving eyewitness Cecil.
2. A Witness Dies — The lawyers pursue witnesses, including Laura and Chuckie. Chuckie's death is called an overdose, but Eddie suspects he was killed to prevent testimony.
3. The Wrong Man Identified — Maraquilla's connection to the victim and her fear of Art draw attention to Art's past. A photograph and Cecil's account make the original identification of Shu increasingly doubtful.
4. Evidence and an Unfinished Lead — Eddie and Roger question the ballistics evidence and find a gap in Vincent's account of transporting the victim's body. Eddie leaves Roger in court to question Dennehy's family, but the story ends bef...