What a lousy lawyer !


How could Kimble's lawyer not find Sykes in such ample time ? We don't know how much time elapses between his arrest and conviction in court, but I guess it was at least weeks if not months, and it is fair to assume that the lawyer of a wealthy surgeon like Kimble would have no trouble hiring the best private detectives in town to track down the real culprit... So, given all his resources and time, this guy can't locate Sykes, but Kimble is able to do so within days after his escape and with no outside help ??

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It proves one thing: just because you're a gifted surgeon doesn't mean that you know how to choose legal counsel.

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I believe they did "find him", because Sykes tells Gerard that he has been questioned before, that he wasn`t in Chicago that night, he was on a business trip and 15 people verified it. How they were able to verify it is a mystery, though.

But I do agree that it`s a flaw in the movie that we never hear from the defense during the trial, because the defense should have some very good points in Kimble`s favor.

Why Would Kimble be stupid enough to not make it seem there was a forced entry? Why would he be stupid enough to wait at home to be picked up by the police if he was guilty?

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I was referring to the flashback scene when the lawyer was saying, " We can't find the guy ! ". Sykes wasn't found by Kimble's defense team, he was telling Gerard that he had been questioned by the police and 15 people verified his statement about not being in Chicago on the night of the murder.

Yes, Kimble's trial was kind of rushed in the movie, if this was a real life case, I'm sure a good defense team would find enough evidence to get him off the hook.

And if he were the killer, why would he give his wife the chance to make the 911 call ? He deals with human body every day; he, of all people, would make sure that she is dead, before proceeding with the rest of his plan..

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His attorney looked really old and incapable as well, when you hire someone that old to represent you your up the creek pretty much. If he would have had someone in his age range he very well could have stood a chance.

This movie is a great attack on the legal and judicial system for how they convict people wrongfully.

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Matlock would have gotten him off …. for $100K … and he's old too !!

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I didn't think of this but it makes sense. The old lawyer it appears might have been selected because of a personal relationship which is a theme of the movie regarding all the relationships Kimble had with Bones and the other doctors.

The old lawyer seemed kinda deafist. He said to Kimble on the payphone call "as your friend and legal counsel you should turn yourself in". He is not really providing the best advice for Kimble really he is just saying "give up".

A preponderance of the evidence pointed to Richard being the culprit. The standard is reasonable doubt but a preponderance is a factor. The one thing Richard needed to exonerate him was not available. That is, the positive identification of one-armed man culprit.

The prosecution has no interest in locating the one-armed man and questioning him more thoroughly. They think Kimble did it so they are not going to explore exculpatory evidence/ other parties who did potentially commit the crime.

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The people who "verified" it were colluding/ covering for Sykes. Sykes handles security for Devlin officers the people that verified him being away from Chicago were in on the story. I can't confirm this b/c they don't show it in the film but that is what I surmise.

Sykes is in with the Devlin people as reflected in the photos of Sykes in Cancun Mexico on the fishing trip.

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It might not have just been Kimble's incompetent lawyer who got him convicted. It could have been a lousy jury too. If they hated the way Kimble looked or the fact that he was rich or any number of other things, they could have convicted him--even though they're supposed to be objective and base their verdict on the evidence. Juries have the same biases and foibles as the rest of us.

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A wealthy surgeon would have had a team of lawyers, along with a private eye working on his case. This was another one of the movie's ridiculous story lines. Plus, his trial would have been dragged out for a couple of years, not counting appeals. The 911 phone call was stupid too. WTH does that prove? Nothing. No jury would convict based on that and b\c his wife had money. No DNA evidence?

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One its not shown his trial happened immediately after and he could have asked for a speedy trial believing he could easily prove he was innocent. He escaped on a transport, he would obviously still be appealing for years considering the due process involved in a death penalty sentence. Its the early 90's, DNA evidence wasn't as wide spread, the prosecution presented motive (money), signs that there was no forced entry or robbery (limiting the intruder theory), and the 911 call was questionable but still convincing. He probably would of had a lead lawyer like he had and associates who worked under that guy working on the case. Also because a private eye was never shown it doesn't mean he didn't have one. This movie was about a man trying to prove his innocence while on the run from the law, it would not have been a good thriller if they spent all their time in the intricacies of the investigation and trial (if you want to watch judicial movies watch To Kill a Mockingbird or Anatomy of a Murder)

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I realize they can't show every aspect of the trial but they jump flew through that to the point of being silly. It's a good popcorn movie but not very realistic or plausible.

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it would've been a longer movie if it was realistic or plausible.

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I agree with your post.

I also thought that the conspiracy to murder Richard/Helen was not known to Kimbal, the detectives or the defense lawyers or prosecution. The parties to the trial can only go on what they know and what the evidence poses a picture of.

Detective Kelly even said "nothing was taken" so he is intimating that if this assailant was a burglar Richard claims was in his house then why are no valuables missing? The detectives as well as everyone else are thinking of a burglar or Richard did this crime not a far larger scheme involving a big pharma company and frame job. It is not even conceivable to the detectives, Kimbal or anyone else that is some crazy plot involving Devlin. Plus, Richard had no known enemies at his job; no one had the key other than the maid. There was no one else to point to who committed this crime. Prosecutor's gotta convict someone to create "justice" so they went for Kimbal.

Prosecutor's are robots. In an adversarial justice system they are not paid to inquire as to the truth instead they are paid to push a narrative. Narrative-based prosecution doesn't even operate on evidence. The prosecutor's opening statement was a narrative that Kimbal is the guy who did the crime.

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Kimble's demeanor is cold which the judge I believe even sorta mentioned in the sentencing. It doesn't endear you to juries or the judge to be emotionless like he was.

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I believe they did "find him", because Sykes tells Gerard that he has been questioned before, that he wasn`t in Chicago that night, he was on a business trip and 15 people verified it. How they were able to verify it is a mystery, though.

Multi-billion dollar company. They all lied and were payed off, obviously.

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I think Sykes was lying about the police questioning him and about 15 people verifying he was out of town. Judging from how Gerard acted in that scene and the next scene of him saying he's dirty, I think Gerard didn't believe his story.

When the Story Lady tells us about the naughty boy who blew up his goldfish.

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"Judging from how Gerard acted in that scene and the next scene of him saying he's dirty, I think Gerard didn't believe his story."

I felt that Gerard grew more suspicious when he started questioning Sykes about the Cancun trip.

"Kimball go with you?"

"You don't see him in the pictures, do you?"

And after he says that Gerard, just stares right back at him, a look of questioning on his face at that response.


"Thanks, guys." "So long, partner."

- Toy Story 3 (9/10)

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The thing that baffled me was we kept seeing flashbacks of how Kimble and the one armed man wrestled & fought, then the one armed man fell down steps. But never any evidence of him being in the apartment. Amazing that a thread of clothes, piece of glove, bit of saliva or mark made from the hook didn't exist

Of course, that might not be enough to get Kimble off, but enough to raise reasonable doubt to have him avoid the death penalty

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Indeed absolutely no forensic evidence on a third man for a murder that was mucked up so much...and if they were trying to frame him for his wife's murder you think someone would do a better job or at least the cops would investigate a little more instead of just booking him.

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wat are you lookin' at...

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In films like The Fugitive and The Next Three Days, the producers don't want the audience forensically scrutinizing the trials, which are just mechanisms for placing their defendants in places they'd rather not be and so their workings are simply glossed over.

Even though spouses are responsible in roughly 90% of domestic homicides, IMO, Kimble with a good defence team would certainly beat the charges laid on him in this movie, for many of the reasons already listed above, much less being sentenced to death (with no appeal??).

Even the timeline mitigates against a conviction. 1 They've been seen canoodling at the party. 2 He obligingly saves a life on the operating table when called in. 3 Only to go home (clearly not being affected by drugs or alcohol) and then savagely murder his wife with no real motive, other than she came from a rich family. Yeah sure!🐭

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I just watched it again and thought that maybe they didn't want to murder the wife, but him, and the one-armed man was not a professional killer and ran into the wife first. He killed her because no witnesses, and then when he wanted to kill Kimble as well Kimble fought back and overpowered him so he had to flee. Then the whole framing Kimble for the murder was an improvisation. He would have other worries than to ask what became of the liver probes and the new drug.

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I expect any competent defence counsel could pick apart the circumstantial evidence against Kimble and get him acquitted. But if that happens here, THERE IS NO MOVIE.

The trial is simply a device to establish that Richard Kimble is an innocent man wrongly convicted, so he can spend the next 90 minutes being a fugitive and trying to prove his innocence.

Much the same as a movie where dinosaurs are recreated in a way that wouldn't actually be possible. If the movie is good enough to convince me to suspend my disbelief, I'm happy to give the filmmakers a pass.

It is after all a movie and not real life.

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My husband is a retired JAG sergeant and combat medic and refuses to watch this movie for those reasons.

Few people realize that attorneys can be sued for malpractice. I know I would have taken that lawyer to the cleaners.

But you're right; it's a movie.

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