Overturning a conviction? (The Fugitive)
Sep. 8th, 2023 07:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doranwen posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
little_detailsMost of you have probably seen The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, among others. I'm trying to write a fic for it, set right after the film ends, and have been struggling to figure out Richard Kimble's legal situation. For anyone who hasn't seen the film, I'll summarize the key points (and spoil you completely, so you might not want to read further if you plan on watching it):
- His wife was murdered
- Police arrested him for it, based on "no forced entry" into their home, a 911 call that sounded like it implicated Richard (his wife was calling out for him, hearing him enter the room, but it sounded like she was trying to say he attacked her), the "one-armed man" he said he fought with, they couldn't find (but it's also doubtful how much they looked), and superficial DNA evidence (his skin under her fingernails because she scratched his neck when he tried to move her)
- Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death penalty
- Escaped and committed small crimes as a fugitive (theft, breaking in to someone's house)
- Unearthed evidence of who the real killer was (an ex-cop who turned out to be hired by Richard's supposed best friend to kill both Richard and his wife, Richard escaped only because he got called into work in an emergency and sent his wife home by herself)
- Unearthed evidence of WHY he was targeted in the first place (discovered fraud in a drug trial his supposed best friend was running)
The evidence uncovered is corroborated by the deputy marshal hunting him, who, by the end of the movie, is trying to keep Richard alive as well as capture him because the ex-cop is trying to kill him on orders, the police want to kill him because they think he shot at one of their own (was the ex-cop trying to get Richard instead, but the reports are unclear at this point). The deputy marshal knows Richard is innocent at this point, and the cops look guilty as sin because the real killer is an ex-cop and they're going to look like they knew he was the killer and covered it up (reality is they were just super incompetent).
All that said and done, I'm trying to figure out what he can actually DO about getting himself freed. A few searches come up with overturning a conviction? This page says appeal or writ. From what I could find (but admittedly this is very fuzzy searching) appeals have a limited time requirement, and assuming nothing was filed right at the trial conviction (his lawyer/attorney was terrible), one has to factor in his escape and however long the manhunt took. (The movie's fuzzy on that too, I'm thinking a few weeks at most but am open to hearing someone else's opinion.) I'm guessing it's too late to appeal. Which leaves a writ, from what that page said?
I'm just having a really hard time taking the general pages I'm finding in search and drilling it down to "this is what they're going to do next". Like, obviously finding a new lawyer is a top priority… Can anyone help who *can* see the pathway for what happens next? My characters know it, I just don't, which makes it hard to write, lol.
- His wife was murdered
- Police arrested him for it, based on "no forced entry" into their home, a 911 call that sounded like it implicated Richard (his wife was calling out for him, hearing him enter the room, but it sounded like she was trying to say he attacked her), the "one-armed man" he said he fought with, they couldn't find (but it's also doubtful how much they looked), and superficial DNA evidence (his skin under her fingernails because she scratched his neck when he tried to move her)
- Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death penalty
- Escaped and committed small crimes as a fugitive (theft, breaking in to someone's house)
- Unearthed evidence of who the real killer was (an ex-cop who turned out to be hired by Richard's supposed best friend to kill both Richard and his wife, Richard escaped only because he got called into work in an emergency and sent his wife home by herself)
- Unearthed evidence of WHY he was targeted in the first place (discovered fraud in a drug trial his supposed best friend was running)
The evidence uncovered is corroborated by the deputy marshal hunting him, who, by the end of the movie, is trying to keep Richard alive as well as capture him because the ex-cop is trying to kill him on orders, the police want to kill him because they think he shot at one of their own (was the ex-cop trying to get Richard instead, but the reports are unclear at this point). The deputy marshal knows Richard is innocent at this point, and the cops look guilty as sin because the real killer is an ex-cop and they're going to look like they knew he was the killer and covered it up (reality is they were just super incompetent).
All that said and done, I'm trying to figure out what he can actually DO about getting himself freed. A few searches come up with overturning a conviction? This page says appeal or writ. From what I could find (but admittedly this is very fuzzy searching) appeals have a limited time requirement, and assuming nothing was filed right at the trial conviction (his lawyer/attorney was terrible), one has to factor in his escape and however long the manhunt took. (The movie's fuzzy on that too, I'm thinking a few weeks at most but am open to hearing someone else's opinion.) I'm guessing it's too late to appeal. Which leaves a writ, from what that page said?
I'm just having a really hard time taking the general pages I'm finding in search and drilling it down to "this is what they're going to do next". Like, obviously finding a new lawyer is a top priority… Can anyone help who *can* see the pathway for what happens next? My characters know it, I just don't, which makes it hard to write, lol.
