who won the case in runaway jury

The Runaway Jury explores the theme of jury corruption during a high-profile tobacco trial. The Runaway Jury Photocopiable c Pearson Education Limited 2008 The Runaway Jury - Activity worksheets of 2 Activity worksheets LEVEL 6 PENGUIN READERS Teacher Support Programme While reading Introduction 1 Underline the mistakes in the sentences and correct them. Pynex and its defense lawyers are devastated. Wendall Rohr and his team of tort lawyers have filed suit on behalf of plaintiff Celeste Wood, whose husband died of lung cancer, against the tobacco company Pynex. Marlee's real name was Gabrielle, or Gaby as her mother calls her. Fitch and Rohr soon realize they’re not the only ones out to win the jury. Rohr's key witness, a former Vicksburg employee, doesn't show up. So, without taking sides, I’ll note that it is the anti-gun lobby that runs away with this jury—the one onscreen and the one sitting in theaters. Celeste Wood wins the case, and is awarded, in total, 111 million dollars! She explains that she had no intention to steal or lie, and that she cheated only because, "That was all your client understood.". The widow has hired the traditional, decent Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) to represent her, and the gun manufacturer is defended by a lawyer named Durwood Cable (Bruce Davison), who is the instrument of the evil, brilliant jury consultant Rankin Fitch … In the movie, this is the first time a jury has voted against a major gun manufacturing company. They are being sued by Celeste Wood, the widow of a man who died from lung cancer after smoking cigarettes all his adult life. Runaway Jury is a 2003 American legal thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz. The case involves a widow who is suing a gun manufacturer because her husband was killed in an office massacre involving an easily-obtained weapon. Real name is Gabrielle Brant. Inside the closed jury room, Easter convinces the jury to find for the plaintiff and make a large monetary award – $2 million in compensatory damages, and $400 million in punitive damages. One of the jurors, Nick Easter (John Cusack), seems to have his own plan for swaying the panel. "[4], This article is about the novel. Employer was friend of one of the tobacco companies. Still, he makes a great effort to discover her true name and antecedents to satisfy his mounting curiosity. On this jury are all manner of average citizens, except that one juror, Nicholas, a law school dropout, has managed to penetrate county records, get a fictitious name added to the jury roll, and then have that non-person be selected to hear the case. We see in the beginning of the movie a man goes to his former workplace and opens fire on his former colleagues, then turns the gun on himself. The film has a 73% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the site calling the film "an implausible but entertaining legal thriller." In New Orleans, a shooting takes place at a stock brokerage firm. As the case continues, Fitch is approached by Marlee with a proposal to "buy" the verdict. [3], The film grossed $49,440,996 in the United States and $80,154,140 worldwide. It’s a suit that may be won even before it begins, however, based solely on the selection, manipulation, and ultimately, the attempted “theft” of the jury. The shooter was a failed day traderwho apparently killed eleven people and wounded several others in the event. The Runaway Jury is a legal thriller novel written by American author John Grisham.The hardcover first edition was published by Doubleday Books in 1996 (ISBN 0-385-47294-3).Pearson Longman released the graded reader edition in 2001 (ISBN 0-582-43405-X).The novel was published again in 2003 to coincide with the release of Runaway Jury, a movie adaptation of the novel. In the jury pool, Nicholas "Nick" Easter pretends to try to get himself excused from jury duty. Later got removed due to being followed by tobacco company. Grisham nicely parodies the "science" of jury analysis in his Chapter 24, set late in trial, in which both sides tally how the jury will vote. Nick shows the judge video footage of his apartment being searched the first time, and the judge orders the jury sequestered. Who do you think should have won the case? "Runaway Jury" is like a cat-and-mouse game in which a couple of nasty dogs have been thrown into the room. Among the dead is Jacob Wood. He asks his firm's partners for $10 million to pay Marlee. Jump ahead two years and the jury is being selected for the case of the man's wife, Celeste Wood (Joanna Going), against the Vicksburg Gun Company, the makers of the assault weapon used by her husband's killer. Has since meeting Jeff Kerr, schemed to follow and benefit from tobacco litigation. Why? The trial is to be held in Biloxi, Mississippi, a state thought to have favorable tort laws and sympathetic juries. [5] On Metacritic, it has weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 38 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Two years later, attorney Wendell Rohr Jacob’s widow Celeste takes Vicksburg Firearms … He plans to get to Millie Dupree through blackmailing her husband through a tape that has him trying to bribe an official. Lonnie Shaver: Black male juror. While not able to sway the entire jury, Easter gets nine out of twelve jurors to back him – sufficient for a valid verdict in a civil case. Fitch sends an operative, Janovich, to kidnap Marlee, but she fights him off and raises the price to $15 million. In the end, even though Fitch pays the 15 million, Easter and Marlee let the jury vote with their hearts. Marlee: The girlfriend and outside contact of Nicholas Easter. After the trial, Nick and Marlee confront Fitch with a receipt for the $15 million bribe which they will make public unless he retires. Manager of supermarket, later convinced by new employer to vote for defense. But alas, the contents of Runaway Jury won’t allow for that. Both sides think they have a … Directors slated to helm the picture included Joel Schumacher and Mike Newell, with the lead being offered to Edward Norton and Will Smith. While Easter and Marlee are now wealthy and satisfied that they served justice, the tobacco industry, once undefeatable, are now vulnerable to an avalanche of additional lawsuits. The third printing (ISBN 0-440-22147-1) bears a movie-themed cover, in place of the covers used on the first and second printings. Angel Weese: Fellow black female juror. _____ Work with a partner to complete these questions. Stella Hulic: Obnoxious white female social climber. Nick's congenial manner wins him acceptance from his fellow jurors, but Frank Herrera, a Marine veteran, takes an instant dislike to him. For the novel, see, 2003 American legal thriller film by Gary Fleder, "Runaway Jury (2003) Film Review; Courtroom Confrontation With Lots of Star Power", Runaway Jury - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Runaway_Jury&oldid=1004270758, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 February 2021, at 20:48. Taking her case is veteran good guy … [1][2] It was Grisham's seventh novel. Very neutral, follows judge's orders very devotedly. 5. Who is nick easter and what is he trying to accomplish? As the trial reaches its climax, Fitch – still in the dark about Marlee's past – agrees to her proposal to pay $10 million for a favorable verdict. He then travels to Gardner, Indiana, from where Jeff and his law school girl-friend Gabby both come. He also tries to reach Rikki Coleman through blackmail of revealing her abortion to her husband. Those materials were actually planted by Nicholas secretly to have Herrera, a pro-defense juror and very antagonistic to Nicholas, removed. He's a roofer with a mortgage. Had two years of law school before he met Marlee. Before the jury in the Pynex trial has been sworn in, a stealth juror, Nicholas Easter, has begun to quietly connive behind the scenes, in concert with a mysterious woman known only as Marlee. This illness was secretly created by Nicholas through drugging Herman. [3] The novel's focus on big tobacco was retained until the 1999 film The Insider was released, necessitating a plot change from tobacco to gun companies. It's a thriller for people who think, and Jesse Helms won't like it one bit. On principle, Rohr changes his mind and refuses to pay. Two years later, with attorney Wendell Rohr, Jacob's widow Celeste takes Vicksburg Firearms to court on the grounds that the company's gross negligence led to her husband's death. Rankin Fitch: A "consultant" for the "Big Four" tobacco companies. What makes The Runaway Jury his most rewarding novel to date is that it is fully enlisted in an issue of substance, in which arguments of genuine pith are hammered out and resolved in a manner that is both intellectually and emotionally satisfying. in Mississippi to hear the case of a widow whose husband died of lung cancer. [7], Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and stated that the plot to sell the jury to the highest-bidding party was the most ingenious device in the story because it avoided pitting the "evil" and the "good" protagonists directly against each other in a stereotypical manner, but it plunged both of them into a moral abyss. After confronting Fitch, Rohr decides that he cannot win the case. The gun manufacturer is found liable, with the jury awarding $110 million in general damages to Celeste Wood. The number one emotional motivator of a nuclear jury verdict is anger, not sympathy. Grisham’s story in Runaway Jury – a tale about jury consultants and the manipulation of a jury from inside the jury room on a large civil case – was one of the few that seemed a bridge too far for most. He also manages to hoodwink and repeatedly manipulate the judge. Frank Herrera: Retired white male colonel. Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2004 Nominee Edgar: Best Motion Picture Screenplay Brian Koppelman (screenplay) David Levien (screenplay) Rick Cleveland (screenplay) Matthew Chapman (screenplay) John Grisham (novel) Golden Trailer Awards 2004 Nominee Golden Trailer: Best Drama Ignition Creative: Il Festival … Known for using unethical schemes to win the trials. Divorced with two children. How Runaway Jury Verdicts Happen. In a landmark trial, a woman is … Eventually, he becomes jury foreman after the previous one falls ill (resulting from Nicholas spiking his coffee). And the plot's eventual outcome is far more entertainingly unpredictable than anything Mr. Grisham has done before. Directed eight trials, engineered two mistrials. Frederick Harkin: The judge in the case Wood v. Pynex. Nicholas Easter: The decisive juror of the trial. By observing the jurors' behaviour through concealed cameras, Fitch identifies Nick as the influencer and orders his apartment to be searched, finds nothing, but Nick almost catches Fitch's man red-handed in his flat. The high-stakes trial dredges up all kinds of unscrupulous people who will do anything to win the case. Voted for plaintiff. The shooter was a failed day trader who apparently killed eleven people and wounded several others in the event.

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