presumed innocent

Director: alan j. pakula

Actor: harrison ford,raul julia,greta scacchi,brian dennehy

Data Published: Fri Jul 27 1990

Genres: Mystery,Thriller

Key Words: adultery,neo noir,woman murders a woman,murderess,5th amendment

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100404/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumed_Innocent_(film)

Description: Presumed Innocent is a movie starring Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, and Greta Scacchi. As a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else.

Plot: Rozat "Rusty" Sabich is a prosecutor and the right-hand man of district attorney Raymond Horgan. When his colleague Carolyn Polhemus is found raped and murdered in her apartment, Raymond insists that Rusty take charge of the investigation. With the election for District Attorney approaching, Tommy Molto, the acting head of the homicide division, has left to join the rival campaign of Nico Della Guardia. Rusty, a married man, faces a conflict of interest since he had a brief sexual affair with Carolyn. As he had shown little ambition and would have therefore been of little use in advancing her career, Carolyn abruptly dumped him. Rusty has since reconciled with his wife Barbara, but is still obsessed with Carolyn. Detective Harold Greer is initially in charge of the murder investigation, but Rusty has him replaced with his friend Detective Dan Lipranzer, whom he persuades to narrow the inquiry so that his relationship with Carolyn is left out. Rusty soon discovers that Molto is making his own inquiries. Aspects of the crime suggest that the killer knew police evidence-gathering procedures and covered up clues accordingly. Semen found in the victim's body contains only dead sperm. The killer's blood is type A, the same as Rusty's. When Della Guardia wins the election, he and Molto accuse Rusty of the murder and push to get evidence against him. Rusty's fingerprints are found on a beer glass from Carolyn's apartment, and fibers from his carpet at home match those found on her body. Lipranzer is removed from the case, and Greer's inquiries uncover the affair. Raymond grows furious with Rusty's handling of the case, but admits that he had also been romantically involved with Carolyn at one time. Rusty calls on Sandy Stern, a top defense attorney. At trial, it is revealed that the beer glass is missing, and Stern persuades Judge Larren Lyttle to keep this from the jury. Raymond testifies and perjures himself, claiming that Rusty insisted on handling the investigation, thus confirming the defense's claim of a frame-up. Rusty discovers that Carolyn had acquired a file for a bribery case involving a man named Leon Wells. Upon being confronted by Rusty and Lipranzer, Wells confesses that he paid Judge Lyttle $1,500 to have criminal charges against him dropped, with Carolyn acting as a facilitator. The thrust of Stern's defense is that Della Guardia and Molto have framed Rusty in order to cover up the bribery case. During the cross-examination of the coroner, it is revealed that Carolyn underwent a tubal ligation, thus having no reason to use the spermicidal contraceptive which was found on her. Stern asserts that the only explanation for this discrepancy is that the fluid sample was not actually taken from Carolyn's body. Based on the disappearance of the beer glass, the lack of motive and the fact that the fluid sample was rendered meaningless, Judge Lyttle dismisses the charges. Rusty confronts Stern for bringing up the bribery file in the case. Stern swears him to secrecy, revealing that Lyttle had a brief sexual encounter with Carolyn. Stern also confesses that he and Raymond knew that Lyttle was taking bribes, and although Lyttle had offered his resignation, Raymond felt that he was a brilliant judge and deserved another chance. Lipranzer meets with Rusty and reveals the missing beer glass, explaining that he never returned it to evidence when the investigation was turned over to Della Guardia and Molto. Rusty throws it into a river. At his home, Rusty discovers a small hatchet covered with Carolyn's blood and hair on it. As he washes the tool, Barbara admits that she murdered Carolyn, her motive being Rusty's adulterous affair. She expresses that she had left enough evidence for Rusty to know that she committed the crime, but did not anticipate him being charged with the murder. In a voice-over, Rusty explains that Carolyn's murder has been written off as unsolved, since trying two people for the same crime is "a practical impossibility" and he cannot leave his son without a mother even if she could be tried. Rusty regrets that it was his own lust that caused his wife to commit murder.