Court System In The Film A Few Good Men

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The movie A Few Good Men, although in a military setting, depicted many different aspects of any regular court system that we discussed in class. This movie, which I was able to rent from a local Family Video store, focused on a major military trial. The movie involved plea bargaining, and an accurate representation of a how a court system works, including correct portrayals of the different jobs of courtroom workers such as the defense attorney, prosecutor, bailiff, and witness. Some of the main characters included Daniel Kaffee, who played the defense attorney, Jack Ross, the prosecutor, Harold Dawson and Louden Downey, the defendants, and Nathan Jessep, a witness that was actually found guilty during the trial. To begin with, one of the many ideas we discussed in class was plea bargaining. An example of plea bargaining happened during the beginning of the movie. Kaffee was a defense attorney for a case, and as he was out…show more content…
Bailiffs are meant to keep peace in the courtroom, and this job was accurately depicted in the movie. The bailiff during the Downey and Dawson trial ordered everyone to rise as the judge entered the room, escorted Downey and Dawson to and from their seats, and eventually arrested Nathan Jessep, the witness who was found to be guilty during the trial. Each of those actions is something a typical bailiff is supposed to do in a courtroom setting. Next, as we discussed in class, witnesses are an important part to trials. Expert witnesses are especially important due to their knowledge in a certain area. An expert witness can only be named as an expert by the judge, making their testimony mostly unquestionable. The expert witness in the Downey and Dawson case was a doctor who examined the man the defendants were accused of murdering. Because he was an expert, his findings could not be questioned, though his opinion could be, and was questioned in the
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