Posted by Eugene Volokh:
*Godfather* and the Law:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_06_14-2009_06_20.shtml#1245343337
From [1]U.S. v. Kincannon (7th Cir.):
The government�s closing argument came next, during which the
prosecutor made an analogy to an Academy-Award-winning movie: The
Godfather. Recounting a pivotal scene where the director
simultaneously presented assassinations orchestrated by the
protagonist, Michael Corleone, the prosecutor explained that he,
like the movie�s director, would attempt to seamlessly tell the
�story of what happened� in this case....
Kincannon ... argues, for the first time on appeal, that the
prosecutor inflamed the passions of the jury, rendering the trial
unfair, by referring in closing argument to The Godfather ....
The prosecutor�s reference to The Godfather does not approach
impropriety. It would be one thing if the government compared
Kincannon to Michael Corleone, an organized crime kingpin
responsible for murders and a whole host of other criminal
activity. Such an analogy would be utterly unmoored from the
record, which is probably why the government made no such
connection. It was not Corleone�s criminality, but Francis Ford
Coppola�s direction that was at the heart of the prosecutor�s
closing remarks. The prosecutor alluded to the pivotal point in the
movie where Corleone attends his godchild�s christening. Coppola
cuts to various scenes of assassinations orchestrated by Corleone
as a priest dubbed him the child�s godfather. The poetic
implication is that the murders, like the priest�s liturgy, made
Michael the godfather of the Corleone crime family. As the
prosecutor said, �[n]ow that is how you present events that occur
simultaneously in a movie so the viewer can understand it very
easily.� We agree, as did the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, who nominated Coppola for an Oscar for best director.
[Footnote: In an upset along the lines 2 of the 2009 Kentucky Derby
win by Mine That Bird, the 1972 Oscar went to Bob Fosse (for
Cabaret) rather than Coppola.] The prosecutor explained to the jury
that he would try to do orally what Coppola did in his film -- that
is, tie together the events that occurred during the two controlled
buys into one seamless story. To do so as eloquently as Coppola is
a tall task, but there is certainly nothing improper about the
attempt.
An interesting fact about the case, from the start of the opinion, "At
77 years old, James Kincannon makes for an unlikely methamphetamine
dealer. But looks can be deceiving." And from later on, "Kincannon was
in his fifties when his criminal record started and days away from his
73rd birthday when he was last released from prison after being popped
for distributing drugs."
References
1. http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/OG1FG1LS.pdf
_______________________________________________
Volokh mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
