Under the American system of law the Ghostbusters were entitled to have their guilt or innocence determined by a jury. But for some reason there's no jury at their trial. I'm guessing it's because the inevitable result would have been a verdict of innocence because of jury nullification and then the judge couldn't have gone on the tirade that brought back the Scoleri brothers.
shareI think it's because they were caught by cops and Con Ed workers vandalizing a street. When your crime is witnessed by so many people you don't get a jury I don't think. Or having a jury would have made the scene too long.
shareHaving a jury trial in the U.S. has nothing to do with the number of witnesses. It's a constitutional right for every defendant regardless of factors like the number of witnesses. Having a jury at the trial wouldn't have made the scene too long. The movie could have just shown the jury sitting there doing nothing during the trial and then added an extra 10 seconds before the judge's tirade to show the jury annoucing their verdict of guilty.
shareSo you mean to tell me that if someone walks into a gas station without a mask or hat on, robs the cashere, and gets caught on a security camera doing so, that there will be a jury to decide whether or not he/she did it? If so, that is dumb! Also if you plead guilty I think there is no jury.
shareIn the U.S., whether or not you have a jury trial has absolutely nothing to do with the actual facts of the alleged crime. It has nothing to do with the level of proof against you. It's a constitutional right for all defendants. They're entitled to be judged by a jury only to the extent that they want their case to go to trial. If there's overwhelming evidence against you then the most likely result is you would plead guilty and avoid a trial altogether. If you plead guilty then there is no jury because there is no trial.
shareIt appears to be a bench trial. They must have taken that bad advice from Tully or since there was no denying the facts of what happened and who tore up the road it was their cheapest and fastest path to take. They did not know they were going to get that particular judge I guess and figured they'd just have to pay to fix the road.
The movie never showed Tully or the Ghostbusters asking for a bench trial or even discussing the issue. And Tully didn't even really want to be their lawyer. It's hard to believe even Tully would be stupid enough to think that any potential judge would be more likely to declare them innocent. It would be clear to them that they would stand a much better chance with a jury. With a jury there was a chance of complete nullification or at least a hung jury. Just look at the audience reaction when Venkman explained to the prosecutor that "sometimes shit happens, someone has to deal with it, and who you gonna call?". The entire audience erupted with cheers and applause. That audience represented potential jurors in their trial. The Ghostbusters knew such people would be much more likely to take their side. Even if the Ghostbusters couldn't deny the facts of what they did in digging up the street they would surely know that any given jury would be likely to look past the facts and go for outright nullification.
share"would be likely to look past the facts and go for outright nullification."
Not if the power outage was a giant pain in the ass for the whole city like Tully suggested it was.
I think the fact that there is no jury leads us to assume it's a bench trial and that must be the way they chose to go. If everyone thinks they are fakers and there is no denying that it was they who caused the outage and they had no permission to dig up the street and were found with equipment they were barred from having, it kind of does seem like they are going to be found guilty either way.
I'm sure there were behind the scenes reasons they chose to do it this way and possibly even for the judge flipping like he did but he could still have done that when reading the sentencing with a jury.
I made a point of noting the audience reaction in the courtroom to Venkman asking "Who you gonna call?" for a reason. Literally everyone cheered and applauded. That leaves me to believe that the movie's understanding of New Yorkers' feelings about the Ghostbusters was thoroughly positive. That cheering and applauding shows that New Yorkers were looking past the power outage and were more focused on all the good accomplished by the Ghostbusters in the first movie. That cheering and applauding shows the Ghostbusters had a really good chance at nullification with a jury trial.
I guess the most likely explanation for the lack of a jury at their trial is that they requested it but doing that just makes the Ghostbusters look really stupid, especially because of the reasons I outlined in the previous paragraph.
Real Reason: It worked better for the movie.
But if we want to make it work for the sake of the move:
Obviously the Ghostbuster's chose a bench trial over a jury trial. Why would do that? Maybe they thought their chances of a lighter sentence would be better if they got a favorable judge. They knew they were guilty; it was just a question of what their punishment would be. They could have walked away with a fine to cover the damage, and probation. Obviously, that backfired on them when they drew The Hammer.
Also, a bench trial could be done much quicker. The movie made it seem like it was only a few days after the blackout. A jury trial would have taken much longer, as now you have to deal with the jury selection process, as well as deliberations and sentencing. And since the Ghostbusters equipment and the slime was considered evidence, they would not be able to get any of it back until the trial was over. They especially wanted the slime so they could begin to study it.
The public perception of the Ghostbusters was pretty hard to tell at this point. They did have people who believed in them. Ray and Winston were still getting hired for parties, Egon was heading a research project and Venkman was on TV. The kid at the party said his dad said they were full of crap, and judge wasn't a fan. So it was hard to tell what they would get for a jury. Regardless of how people saw them, it doesn't change the fact that they were guilty of all the crimes and would be convicted. And you mention the audience cheering for Venkman but take a look at who is in that crowd. The people cheering are other defendants, their lawyers, and family members. So of course they loved it when Peter stuck to the prosecution and the judge. But they aren't the kind of people who end up on juries.