TWO FAMOUS TRIALS ARE PORTRAYED
Some of the most famous trials in American history are portrayed as biopics:
MIRANDA’S VICTIM FOCUSES ON WOMAN RAPED BY MIRANDA
A lawyer for Ernesto Miranda (Sebastian Quinn) successfully argued that his kidnapping and rape confession was coerced because he was denied an attorney before and during interrogation. The case was the most prominent of four similar cases that were reviewed in which the U.S. Supreme Court during 1966 established the “Miranda right” by a 5-4 vote. Police interrogators now must inform anyone being questioned that they have the right to an attorney as well a right to silence, and police must inform anyone questioned to ensure that the rights are understood. The immediate impact of the case Miranda v Arizona was to reverse his conviction, whereupon Arizona decided to retry the case without information derived during interrogation.
Miranda’s Victim, directed by Michelle Danner, focuses on Patricia (“Trish”) Weir, who experiences the kidnapping and rape in 1993 at age 18 and is psychologically devastated. Although her older sister Ann (Emily VanCamp) evidently wants to press the case to the police, her mother is skeptical that the criminal justice system will provide justice. Nevertheless, a trial is held in 1963, and 24-year-old Miranda is convicted largely due to his confession. However, in 1964 the U.S. Supreme Court in Escopedo v Illinois ruled that such confessions are inadmissible, so the verdict is appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, which reaffirms Miranda’s conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1966 throws out the guilty verdict trial and remands the case back to Arizona, which decides on a re-trial during 1967, though in a different county. Throughout the legal proceedings, the victim is portrayed as forced to re-experience the trauma, though at no point in the film does she express ironclad determination to press her case in court. Titles at the end provide information on some of the lawyers involved and offer statistics to demonstrate that few rape cases ever result in justice for the victim. An appeal at the end encourages filmviewers to support the cause of rape victims. The Political Film Society has nominated Miranda’s Victim as best film on human rights of 2023. MH
THE BURIAL DEMONSTRATES HOW CLEVER ATTORNEYS IMPRESS JURIES
Much less is known about the lawsuit in The Burial, directed by Maggie Betts. Jeremiah O’Keefe (played by an aging Tommy Lee Jones) is the owner of several burial companies as well as a burial insurance company in Mississippi. After World War II, O’Keefe contributed to civil rights progress but now is desperate to preserve his company, which is faltering. A longtime lawyer friend, Mike Allred (Alan Ruck), suggests that he sell a few of his funeral homes to Canadian millionaire Ray Loewen (Bill Camp), who owns a large number throughout the United States. A contract is written, O’Keefe signs, but Loewen sits on the deal, clearly hoping that O’Keefe will get more desperate over time and sell his entire business for much less than the current value. Attorney Hal (Mamoudou Athie) then suggests that O’Keefe sue Loewen for breach of a contract that was never breached, locating the civil case in Hinds County, where the population is mostly African American. But to win the case, he suggests that the most successful African American attorney, charismatic Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx), present the case to the jury. O’Keefe observes Gary’s performance in a case in his native Florida and agrees. Loewen, in turn, hires Mame Downes (Jurnee Smollett), a top African American female attorney, to defend him. What then plays out are Gary’s acrobatics before the jury, which overwhelm the case put forward by Downes. The racial backgrounds of the principal characters are recounted, mostly to memorialize the plaintiff and his top attorney. Indeed, the jury awards damages that are judged sufficient to bankrupt him, though trimmed to $75 million when the award is appealed. Even so, Loewen eventually files for bankruptcy. All along the case appears to be a fantasy, but filmviewers are informed that the story is based on “true events,” a trial that actually took place during 1995, when overshadowed by the O.J. Simpson trial. David’s triumph over Goliath prompts the Political Film Society to nominate The Burial as best film exposé of 2023. MH