Clifford Banks

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Clifford Banks is a fictional character introduced during the second season of the television program Murder One. Banks was portrayed by character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince.

A vigilante, Banks viewed himself more as an executioner than a murderer; All of his victims were criminals who he felt the justice system had not properly punished. Usually, Banks would dispense his form of justice shortly after his victim had been released from prison. For this, he was dubbed "The Street Sweeper."

Banks claimed that he began killing after his mentally retarded brother, Tommy, was killed during a robbery of the Banks home. When the man charged with the murder avoided a long prison sentence by entering into a plea bargain with the district attorney, Banks snapped and began his killing spree.

Banks' killing spree came to an end when he was arrested during a routine traffic stop; the police officer who stopped him claimed to see a leg protruding from a duffel bag in the back of Banks' van. Banks ultimately hired Jimmy Wyler (played by Anthony LaPaglia) to represent him in his trial. Ironically, it was Wyler, a former assistant district attorney, who had prosecuted Tommy's killer (who was played by Robert LaSardo). Just as Banks' trial is set to begin, he, through Wyler, sought permission from the court to marry a woman with whom he has been corresponding. The request was granted by the court, and Banks was married on the eve of trial. Banks would later discover that his wife was merely using the marriage as a means to derive fortune from his notoriety.

Banks' criminal trial spanned several episodes of the second season of Murder One. In fact, it was in the series finale of the program in which the Banks plotline ultimately resolved itself.

Banks' relationship with his attorneys was often fractious, as he wanted to use the trial to publicly condemn the American criminal justice system. Banks, however, regained some level of respect for his attorneys when Wyler discovered that the officer who initially detained Banks during the traffic stop could not have seen a leg protruding from the duffel bag. After finding a paramedic who testified that the bag was fully zipped at the time of the traffic stop, Wyler moved to have all of the evidence against Banks excluded as the result of an illegal search of the vehicle. This evidence included materials discovered at Banks' home. Ultimately, the trial court judge reluctantly granted this motion and dismissed all charges against Banks.

In the aftermath of the ruling, Wyler worried that Banks would kill again. Shortly thereafter, Wyler learned that Banks himself killed Tommy, and the resulting trauma prompted his vigilantism. When Wyler confronted Banks with this knowledge, Banks went into a rage and confronted him at his office with a gun. Banks told Wyler that he could decide if he is going to kill Wyler or himself. Finally, Banks was overcome with guilt and dropped the weapon. The series ended with Banks pleading guilty to the murder of his brother and requesting the maximum allowable sentence under the law.