The movie takes place in rural Mississippi, where Carl Lee Hailey's daughter Tonya, is raped and beaten by two white men at the beginning of the movie. Fearing that justice want be properly served, Carl Lee takes the law into his own hands and kills the two suspects on their way to their arraignment. The movie fails to show a judge issuing any warrants; it just skips to the sheriffs coming to Carl Lee's house to arrest him. Most law enforcement officials would take some caution in attempting to arrest a man who just committed two brutal murders, but the sheriff calmly knocks on the door and takes him away. Carl Lee is never informed of his Miranda rights, which is unconstitutional.

The next step in the criminal process is a hearing by a grand jury. This is when a panel decides if there is indeed sufficient evidence to try the case. Although there was without doubt sufficient ev

If the grand jury decides the case should be tried, the defendant then has an arraignment hearing. This is where the defendant is made aware of what charges have been brought against him. The defendant has the opportunity to plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest. In this case, Carl Lee pleads not guilty and his trial date is set. The movie did portray this aspect of the legal system accurately.

The wheels of justice turn slowly but this wasn't the case in A Time To Kill. The murder trial of Carl Lee Hailey took but a few short weeks. Most murder trials take many months and sometimes years. Many very important processes in the legal system were simply left out or portrayed as insignificant. The unruly courtroom conduct, the death threats, the conduct of the jurors, the tampering of evidence, the illegal obtainment of evidence, and the final verdict are all factors which made this a Hollywood fantasy and not a factual court case. A Time To Kill was a best selling book by John Grisham and an award-winning movie, but when one takes the time to thoroughly compare A Time To Kill to the American legal system; its shortcomings are endless.

Opening statements officially start the trial. The prosecutor opens first, usually explaining the facts of the trial, and how he intends to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense then informs the jury of why his client is not guilty and how he intends to go about proving it. In Brigance's opening statement, he continually refers to the rape of Carl Lees daughter even though the judge warns him not to. The rape is not the crime being charged and is therefore insignificant. In a real trial if a lawyer repeatedly ignored a judge, he would be held in contempt of court. Throughout the trial, both lawyers and witnesses disobey the judge's orders. This would also be totally unacceptable in a real court of law.

The jury decides the fate of the defendant so obviously the voir dire process holds great significance in the outcome of the trial. In the movie, this significance is not emphasized very much. Also, the district attorney illegally obtains a confidential list of the potential jurors so he is obviously better prepared for the voir dire process than the defense. If this were to happen in an actual court case, a mistrial would definitely occur. The jury is supposed to consist of ones peers, but in the movie the jury is all white. Wi

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1624
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)