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CJS/220 final Project

CJS/220 Final Project: Fiction versus Reality The law in the movies is sometimes skewed to meet objectives other than the portrayal of law. For one thing most movies cannot afford to get into the full process of what is going on, the process of trial courts becomes background material, if you do not know what to look for you will miss it. Despite the plot that directors are forced to follow through expedience, and therefore are not able to involve all aspects of a courtroom trial, many court room and law drama TV shows and movies involve a good portion of legal perspectives that you will see if you know what to look for. So what are some shows that have a reliable legal basis, and which are shows that are purely or mostly fictional? Let’s look at a few. “A Few Good Men” The movie “A Few Good Men” was a great movie for legal enthusiasts because not only do they go into fairly good detail about most of the trial, but it is a military court martial which of all the court room movies is rarely seen. Then again while it is a military court martial the legal concepts are the same and after everything is shown there is very little deviation from a civilian court martial as we will see. The role call for the movie and the positions in the court room were: 1. Lt. Kaffee- Lance Corp. Dawson’s defense attorney and appointed lead counsel 2. Lt. Commander Galloway- Pfc. Downeys defense counselor 3. Lt Weinberg- assistant counsel for the defense 4. Lance Corporal Dawson and Pfc. Downey- defendants, accused of murdering Pfc. William Santiago in 5. Captain Jack Ross- Lead counsel for the prosecution 6. Judge Julius Alexander Randolph- Judge of the court 7. Lawrence Lowe ( actors name, no character name)- bailiff, in a military court martial they are called Sergeant At Arms 8. Jan Munroe (actors name)- jury foreman Evidence discovery started, for the defense attorneys, with a preliminary report by the investigators at Guantanamo Bay, where the alleged homicide, and plot for the movie, occurred. Negotiations actually occurred next, although starting during the middle of the discovery process, with first the head prosecutor, Captain Ross, offering to drop conspiracy and conduct unbecoming, and giving the defendants 20 years. Head defense attorney renegotiated for twelve years and eventually got it. After that it was up to the defense team who interviewed witnesses, gathered documentation that included transfer orders, records of flight manifests, and letters from the victim. They reviewed the crime scene that had been sealed off and remained unchanged. With new information gathered the plea bargain with the prosecution dropped to assault, 2 years. None of the plea bargains were followed through with and the case proceeded to trial. No jury selection was shown in this movie. Pre-trial motions included Lt. Commander Galloway gaining direct defense for Pfc. Downey, and another was almost issued when Lt. Kaffee intended asked the court for new counsel to be assigned to the case but changed his mind at the last minute. Opening statements were given by Ross and Kaffee, Ross as Government prosecutor called witnesses, Kaffee as lead counsel for the defense cross examined then called the defense’s witnesses and Ross cross examined. The jury deliberated, gave its verdict, and the defendants were sentenced by the judge. This movie was very good for an example of a court room trial but skipped over some important differences that go with a military court martial. In a court martial the defendants get a lot of power over how they are tried. At the arraignment they get to decide who defends them, either an appointed military lawyer, another military lawyer if not already on another case, or a civilian lawyer at their own expense. The defendants get to decide whether to be tried by a judge or a jury panel. As for the jury they have to be of higher rank than the defendants and if elected to give a verdict then they also give the sentencing. In general this movie would do fine for how a court room works despite its alternate military genre, it involves the plea, plea bargaining, witness examining, various motions of objections, jury verdict, and sentencing, and even an arrest during the trial when a witness confesses to a crime. Although accounting for military court martial’s for the purposes of time constraints in a movie setting glosses over some traditions. “The Devils Advocate” The Devils Advocate is another very good court room drama which includes good showmanship and cross examination in the courtroom as well as many twists in the discovery process from less than honest defendants. Although none of the trials go into great detail all by themselves all together many different parts are shown that occur in a courtroom and without. First trial Defense counsel, Kevin Lomax Defendant, Mr. Gettys Prosecutions main witness, the alleged victim, Barbara Anonymous prosecutor and judge Jury selection scene, Voire Dire Lead counsel for defense, Meisel Defense counselors, Kevin Lomax and Leoman Heath Anonymous defendant, banker Anonymous judge and prosecutor Anonymous jury members Second trial, bench trial Defense counsel, Kevin Lomax Defendant, Phillipe Moyez Counsel for the prosecution, Assistant District attorney Arnold Merto Judge, Theo Sklar Third trial Lead counsel for the defense, Kevin Lomax Defendant, Alexander Cullen Judge, Poe Lead counsel for the prosecution, Mitch Weaver All the trials involve discovery with the third trial showing even more with continual twists by the defendant lying about most of his story. All the trials involve cross-examination although the actual order of events is not clear. The jury scene is good, although not connected to any of the trials in the movie, showing how jurors can be cut from the panel if the counselors do not like what they see as well as showing tactics in letting the other side cut some members they do not like. The second trial is a bench trial that is sometimes shown in movies although some people may not be aware of the possibility in trials. No verdicts are shown in detail although two of the trials have the verdict insinuated through the course of the movie. Although the trial process is not clearly defined in this movie and would not be able to give an unknowledgeable person an idea of court room flow, the different aspects shown are in good detail as to how the different parts of the court room process are pursued, cross-examination and jury selection. Within those two realms any individual would get a good feel for what would happen in a courtroom, this movie also shows the behind the scenes coaching that would appear in some cases. As well as the normal jury trials a bench trial is shown with just the attorneys stating their cases for a defense desired dismissal. Although no movie drama can show all aspects of a court room process some give a very good accounting of the different steps and how they are executed. The law field is a good genre for movies as they can be easily accommodated to film based on reality unlike some genres such as science fiction. Both of the movies presented showed good civilian court room practices and were solid, in regards to reality, on the executions of each portion of the process shown in its story. References 1. Waddington, M. (2008). Courts Martial Trial Practice & Procedure. Ezine Articles. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Courts-Martial-Trial-Practice-and-Procedure&id=875540 2. Meyer, J., & Grant, D. (2003). The Courts in our Criminal Justice System. [Axia College Custom Edition e-text]. Published by Prentice Hall. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from Axia College, rEsource, CJS220— Week 8, Chapter 12 reading. 3. The Internet Movie Database. (1990-2008). Full cast and Crew for the Devil’s Advocate. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118971/fullcredits#cast 4. The Internet Movie Database. (1990-2008). Full cast and Crew for A Few Good Men. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/ 5. Lemkin, J. & Gilroy, T. (1997). The Devil’s Advocate by Neiderman, J. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/devils_advocate.pdf 6. Sorkin, A. (1991). A Few Good Men. Retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/fewgood.shtml
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