Running head: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM MODELS 1

The criminal justice system models’ in My cousin Vinny

Sarah Davidson

Seton Hill University

SCJ 225 01 Criminal Courts

Derek Enciso
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Movies, while not often being factual, have shown the criminal justice system in the past

in many forms. My cousin Vinny is one of those prior said movies as it focuses on a newly

passed bar lawyer named “Vinny” Gambino and how he takes on a murder case consisting of two

youths and a shot clerk. The boys due to a miscommunication in the detainment period are

charged for murder and accessory to murder. Vinny takes on this case but is unwholly unaware of

court proceedings and is held in contempt multiple times due to his brash ignorance of the

“rules”. In the end he does prove the innocence of the boys by disproving the witness testimonies

and offering up new information that was proven by his fiancé who was used as an expert

witness due to her knowledge about cars. This paper will discuss types of models in the criminal

justice system and how they can be seen in said movie. The models are as the following: The

Crime Control Model, The Due Process Model, The Punitive Model, and the Non-Punitive

model.

In the movie there are many examples that represent both the due process model and the

crime control model. The overall theme of the prosecuting side was to punish the two defendants

rather than offer any other option of “punishment”. At the very beginning of the movie when the

two youths are arrested, they aren’t told until they have been arrested and in custody for a

mentionable time period. This act of not notifying the defendants of the charges goes against

them could be seen as going against due process as it is against their constitutional rights to be

notified of their charges. There was probable cause to stop them due to witness testimony’s but it

was later proven that the witness testimony’s did not hold up in court after being further

investigated. While it at first seems like a very clear cut case, due to the need for efficiency from

a crime control method, two young boys were almost put to death for a crime that they didn’t

commit. The case is seen with the mindset of a presumption of guilt. This meaning that since
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they were not screened out to be mostly innocent then they are probably guilty and will probably

pass through the remaining stages of the process with the outcome of guilty(Hemmens et al.,

2020). These scenes fit into the crime control model as they were overseen by a judge who was

strict with the procedures of the case rather than letting any room for explanations or any

nuances. There were no further investigations that were done prior to the court case, but were

rather found out by the defendants lawyer Vinny as the case went on. There were also scenes that

fell under the due process model such the tools that Vinny used to battle against the procedure

strict legal system. A scene that is a perfect example of the due process model in place is the

scene at 1:07:02 to 1:13:10 where he is investigating the witness and the reliability of their

testimonies. He disproves the reliability of all three of the witness testimonies due to factor such

as poor vision, visual obstructions of the case, and unreliable time narrative. I couldn’t say it

better than the book by;

“Whereas the crime control model stresses efficiency, the due process model stresses

reliability and minimizing the potential for mistakes. And whereas the crime control model

places great faith in the ability of police and prosecutors to separate the probably innocent from

the probably guilty, the due process model contends that informal, non-adjudicatory fact finding

carries with it a strong likelihood of error” (Hemmens et al., 2020).

There are two models that are being presented by Kent Roach which are that of the

punitive model and the non-punitive model. These models were seen as a way to be based on

different conceptions of victims’ rights. The punitive model by Keith Roach’s words are said to

“affirm the retributive and expressive importance of punishment and the need for the rights of

victims to be considered along with the rights of the accused” (Roach, 1999). This model focuses

on the punishment aspect of the crime control method but puts more emphasis on the rights of
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the victims. This model also relies heavily on studies that show that in regards to victimization,

the system is failing. There are con to this model though as the view of prosecutor and victim is

seen as very black and white, there is little to no room for grey. The punitive model rejects the

restorative justice side as it is focusing more on the offenders rehabilitation than that of the

victim(Roach,1999). The non-punitive model “is not deferential to traditional crime control

strategies and agents, but unlike the punitive model de-centers their importance”(Roach, 1999).

This model doesn’t create a distinct line between the victim and offender but rather recognizes

that these groups come from the same population and crime prevention should be focused on to

reduce the harm and crimes that could come to be in response to past crimes. This model focuses

heavily on restorative justice practices that encourage the offender to take responsibility and also

gives the victim the power that they lacked when the crime was committed. While both models

are originated by the crime control model and the due process model, they separate into two

categories; the “the victim is always innocent and the guilty party should be punished in

accordance to the victims wishes” and the “ the offender and the victim need to come to terms as

to prevent future harm on both sides and society”. Those are both extremes but would be what I

would use to explain the punitive and on punitive models in terms that a person unaware of

criminal justice terms would understand.

In conclusion I think that a combination of the models is the only way to go, no one

model I feel is the perfect model to follow in the criminal justice system. There are down sides to

all of the models such as the crime control model pushing for efficiency but effectively losing the

reliability due to the lack of formal investigations. The punitive model has the con of viewing the

victim as completely innocent which isn’t always the case, but the non-punitive case focuses

heavily on the restorative justice aspect which won’t work in all cases. I have taken a prior class
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on the restorative justice system as a whole and there are many limits that I found there to be

such as the offender has to be able to and want to take fully accountability for their actions along

with the victim having to be open to the system that puts them back in close proximity with their

offender. In some cases it is a domestic abuse case and it can be entirely counterproductive. I do

feel that I prefer that of the due process model as the value that this model focuses on is that of

reliability rather than efficiency. While controlling crime is a very important thing, this shouldn’t

take precedent over protecting the rights of the defendant. It’s hard to personally say that as

while the defendant could have done a horrible crime, but the legal system is a perfect world is

unbiased and justice will be found without obstructing any citizens rights to due process and

constitutional rights. I feel that the due process would have come into handy with this movie as

there would be more procedures that could have been followed to determine if the information

regarding the young boys life was reliable. I also feel that in addition to the due process model,

the non-punitive model would have been a good fit to use. I say this as they were juveniles, as far

as I am aware, and the restorative justice system has proved to be effective in juveniles as there is

room to learn and be able to function in society again after their punishment is served. They were

youths but were being threatened with the death penalty for a “simple” murder and accessory

charge, which as the time period was different then it still seems to be a harsh punishment.

Murder is no small charge but the death penalty is often held for those who are unfit to ever enter

back into society and a 1 person murder charge doesn’t even begin to touch that. Overall it has to

be understood that the movie is a work of fiction that has snippets of the legal system but, as is

most tv shows/movies, are exaggerated to gain interest of the viewer.

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Sources

Hemmens, C., Brody, D. C., & Spohn, C. (2020). Criminal courts a contemporary perspective.
SAGE.

Roach, K. (1999). Four Models of the Criminal Process. The Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology (1973-), 89(2), 671. https://doi.org/10.2307/1144140

Twentieth Century Fox presents. (1992). My cousin Vinny. Youtube/ My Cousin Vinny. United
States. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfQvw5Li-cM.