Final Project: Fiction versus Reality
CJS/220
May 7, 2011
Timothy Hanson

There are many aspects of a working courtroom, and each aspect has a special value that it adds to justice proceedings. However, the courtroom proceedings seen in movies, or on television, are rarely the same as what. The reality of what happens in a courtroom has been completely sensationalized to make it more exciting. The complexity of what takes place in real life courtrooms has remained consistent throughout the years. Looking at the novelty of fictional drama and comparing that to what takes place in a traditional courtroom will show the differences, if any. Take into consideration the movie, “My Cousin Vinny.” This movie is mostly held in a courtroom. Included are the judge, the prosecution and defense attorneys, the jury, the bailiff, court recorder, witnesses, even an audience included in the scenes and processes of the case. While in a completely fictional movie, the roles and actions of each individual seem to be indicative of reality. Keeping in mind that there has been a major amount of comedic properties added to the characters of the movie to make it more entertaining, the true roles of the characters stayed very true to reality. The defense and prosecuting attorneys exchange information during discovery, and interviewing witnesses. Also involved, are the examinations and cross examinations done by the attorneys are very comparable to reality. Then there is the court reporter, the bailiff, the jury, and even the witnesses. All of these characters portrayed in the movie, acted just the same way that reality shows. The bailiff was responsible for maintaining order in the courtroom, swearing in the witnesses, and handing information from the attorneys to the judge. This is the same in reality. The court reporter took down the proceedings on the recording