Dramatic courtroom thriller movie discussion
This article discusses scenes in a dramatic courtroom thriller movie where Daniel Kafee, a young military lawyer, defends two Naval Soldiers charged allegedly for assault on Private William Santiago. Lt. Kafee is supported by Lt. Commander Joanne Galloway, who leads in a comprehensive fact-finding investigation on the ‘Code Red’ orders. According to Thompson and Scurich (2019), prosecutors’ cross-examination procedures provide legal records that help courts provoke witnesses for comprehensive evaluation and case facts searches. The case findings reveal that, on August 6, 1992, Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Louden Downey used soaked rags to choke PFC Santiago (Sorkin, 2001). The killing has a suspicious nature that involved Lt. Col. Jonathan Jessep. Evidence proved his intent to kill Private Santiago, supported by facts obtained in the cross-examinations conducted on witnesses. Lt. Col. Jessep was charged on legal baselines, including perjury, and breach of provisions of The Uniform Code of Military Justice (Sorkin, 2001). Lt. Kafee questioned Col. Jessep of his past relationship with Santiago, which included several phone calls and visits, which facilitated the development of a conclusive legal understanding of experiences faced by the deceased at the hands of Senior Naval Soldiers.
‘A few good men’ perfectly present a legal drama when Col. Jessep commits to witness the defendant soldiers indicted of murder cases. In an attempt to hide the facts, Col. Jessep disregards Lit. Kefee’s commands, however, litigation skills of latter proved fruitful in unraveling evidence of proof through cross-examination of key witnesses, including Kendrick and Dr. Stone, thus court resolution on outcomes. Lt. Kafee conducted a cross-examination with leading questions about whether the witnesses had information regarding the meeting held to plan Private Santiago’s murder (Sorkin, 2001). Based on the information obtained from Corporal Carl Edward and Mr. McGuire, Private Santiago had received threats due to his involvement with reports over the fence-line shooting of a guard. Founded on legal information from the cross-examinations, the two marine soldiers have received orders to kill Santiago. Therefore, they were liable to charges of conspiracy in the murder of the first degree and the conduct of unbecoming the United States Marine.
Col. Jessep is revealed to constitute a force behind ‘Code Reds,’ which was illegal in policy enacted to infringe fellow soldiers. During the court proceeding, Prosecutor Ross engaged key witnesses with leading questions, “Would you tell the Court the substance of that meeting?”, which intended to uncover facts of Col. Kendrick’s involvement with the crime (Sorkin, 2001). The interrogations utilize leading to questions to obtain information from witnesses who pose a threat to the credibility of the evidence (Gous & Wheatcroft, 2020). This indeed helped to solidify the involvement of both Kendrick and Jessep in the matter as far as the planning of crime was concerned. Significant information was provided through a detailed investigation of Hammaker, who echoed what had been discussed in the meeting between marine soldiers to plot the death of Santiago for reporting to NIS (Sorkin, 2001). Hammaker confessed that Private Santiago had betrayed the code of military operations, which demanded that none of the soldiers report practices within any agency. Col. Jessep committed a crime of falsifying legal information to protect the two soldiers whom they had issued with an order to kill Private Santiago (Sorkin, 2001). According to the cross-examinations, all witnesses revealed the anger and rage that led to Col. Kendrick and Jessep to order for Private Santiago’s murder. Due to pieces of evidence from the witnesses cross-examined, the court would affirm to the Conspiracy of Murder charges against Col. Jessep (Sorkin, 2001).
The ruling could borrow evidence from Dr. Stone, who confirmed that Private Santiago’s death would be of poisoning, which probably resulted from the rags used to suffocate the victim. The affirmation of the witness was authenticated by professional knowledge from Dr. Stone, who supported his decision through forensic analysis in the post-mortem done on Private Santiago. Furthermore, Prosecutor Ross used leading questions in direct examination to the defendant’s witnesses about their knowledge of ‘Code Red’ orders and demanded that Jessep disambiguate the applications of the orders that demanded squad members to obey while at Guantanamo Naval Base. The witness’s impeachment followed observation of evidence confirming the defendant’s engagement in crime based on Code Red provisions. Lit. Kafee proved extraordinary in cross-examining Col. Kendrick, which provided substantial information on what transpired before Private Santiago’s murder (Sorkin, 2001). The court ruled that Col. Jessep had ordered both Dawson and Downey to carry out the crime; however, they were discharged on counts of “conduct of unbecoming a United States Marine” (Sorkin, 2001). Col. Jessep was charged for the Private Santiago’s death. Meanwhile, Col. Kendrick would be arrested on two charges, including perjury and cover-up on legal investigations.