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The General's Daughter and My Cousin Vinnie

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Both of these movies involve what happens after a crime - specifically, murder - has been committed. Interestingly, in neither one is the guilty person charged or convicted. However, the crimes take place in drastically different circumstances. In My Cousin Vinnie two passing-through college students are charged with the murder of a convenience store clerk in a rather random, or routine, manner. In The General's Daughter neither the motive for the crime, nor who might be "guilty" become very clear until the end (and even then the question of guilt remains unanswered).   The writing assignment is to compare the rules that relate to investigation and the admission of evidence in the two settings, particularly in the way(s) they differ and the reason(s) for those differences. You are strongly encouraged to discuss any and all part(s) of the movies that you think significant in terms of court procedures. As suggestions only, your discussion might, for example, comment on: 1. In what ways do the rules enforced against the government (investigators, prosecution, etc.) differ between the "civil" system (My Cousin Vinnie) and the military system (The General's Daughter)? 2. In the context in which they are applied, are the military system rules more or less appropriate than the civil system rules? 3. Assuming that the judges (juries, courts) are objective, are the results of the two systems (i.e. conviction or non-conviction of the defendant) more likely to be the same or different? In other words, if a crime is committed, is it likely, or not, that the result would be different depending on the system in which the defendant is charged? 4. Assume that the definition of "justice" is that guilty persons are convicted and not-guilty persons are not convicted. If a country's general criminal-law system were to use the rules applied in The General's Daughter, would that system result in more or less justice than the current U.S. (non-military) criminal justice system? In all of that, the result should be an objective, logical analysis.