''Criminal Justice'' is a 1990 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by

Andy Wolk Andy Wolk is an American television and theatre director. His television credits include '' Tales of the Crypt'', ''The Sopranos'', '' Arli$$'', ''The Practice'', ''The Division'', ''Medium'', ''Ugly Betty'', and ''Criminal Minds'', as well as a ...

. The film stars

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Forest Whitaker, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award ...

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

Rosie Perez Rosa Perez (born September 6, 1964) is an American actress, choreographer, dancer, and activist. Her breakthrough came with her portrayal of Tina in the film ''Do the Right Thing'' (1989), followed by ''White Men Can't Jump'' (1992). Perez's perf ...

Jennifer Grey Jennifer Grey (born March 26, 1960) is an American actress. She made her acting debut with the film ''Reckless'' (1984), and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986). She subsequently earned worldwide ...

Tony Todd Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film ''Platoon'' (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990–1991) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Ni ...

and Saundra McClain. The film premiered on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

on September 8, 1990.

Plot

A young prostitute is robbed in the vestibule of a building after having bought drugs and in the encounter suffers a deep and disfiguring slash to her face. The detectives called to the crime scene, take the injured victim to the police station where she is handed photographs of some felons on their records. She identifies the perpetrator of the crime in the photograph. The police arrest the suspect and after the victim again identifies her assailant in the police line-up, the perpetrator is charged with aggravated robbery. At the arraignment, his bail is set at an unaffordable amount. Despite having to remain in custody, he denies any wrongdoing to his keen legal-aid lawyer. On account of his repeated claims of innocence, he refuses to accept any plea-bargain deal, no matter how favourable. On the other hand, the District Attorney, battles to make the best of the victim/complainant’s case which, despite her positive identification of the accused, is based only on her sole evidence. Coupled with this, the District attorney has reason to believe she might not have been truthful about her reason for being in the building where she was assaulted and robbed in the first place. The complainant is apprehensive about the legal system but certain that the accused was her assailant. Bail is refused for the accused and several court appearances take place while he awaits trial. The complainant, who suffers the effects of a drug lifestyle is outraged at the refusal of the accused to plead guilty, and, becomes increasingly unwilling to testify. The trial date is set and, to the relief of the District Attorney on the day, the complainant enters the courtroom to commence her testimony. Upon seeing her enter the courtroom, the accused volubly instructs his lawyer to make a plea-bargain deal so that the trial is stopped. For pleading guilty to both the robbery and slashing of the complainant, he is sentenced to years in the penitentiary. From their divergent perspectives both the complainant and the mother of the accused feel dissatisfied about the outcome of the case.

Cast

as Jessie Williams *

as David Ringel *

as Denise Moore *

as Liz Carter *

as Detective Riley *Saundra McClain as Loretta Charles *

Joe Lisi Joe Lisi (born September 9, 1950), also credited as Joe Lissi, is an American television actor. He appeared in the NBC television show ''Third Watch'' as NYPD Lieutenant Swersky from 2000 to 2005. He also appeared on the NBC television show '' La ...

as Detective Lane *Stephen Pearlman as Judge Ratner *William Cameron as Mitchell * Chuck Cooper as Judge Whitney *Bill Dalzell as Ratner's Clerk *Charles Sanders as A.D.A. Crosley *

Don Brockett Don Brockett (January 30, 1930 – May 2, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, producer, and director from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was known for his portrayal of Chef Brockett on ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. He had small parts in ma ...

as Judge Mulino *Rick Applegate as A.D.A. Matson *Ro'ee Levi as T.N.T. Officer Rivers *Benjamin J. Cain Jr. as P.J *Jacquay L. McCall as Jessie's Son *

Yancey Arias Yancey Arias (born June 27, 1971) is an American actor. He played Miguel Cadena in the NBC series '' Kingpin'' and Gabriel Williams in the FX series ''Thief''. Life and career Arias's mother, Miriam, is Puerto Rican and his father, Tony, is Col ...

as Raymond Alvarez *Marc Field as Ratner's Law Secretary *Patricia Hicok as Juror Carson *Lonzo Green as Juror Evans *Ellsworth Gearinger as Juror Hughs *Etta Cox as Juror Gibson *Peter Wolk as Weiss

References

External links

* {{Andy Wolk 1990 television films 1990 films 1990 drama films HBO Films films Films directed by Andy Wolk Films scored by Elliot Goldenthal American drama television films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films