- I was stuck in an elevator for two hours and I had to make the whole time. But I don't blame them, 'cause
one time I turned into a dog and they helped me. Thank you. - (chuckles) Short but pointless (whimsical music plays) Hey Legal Eagles! It's time
to think like a lawyer. And today, we are covering
one of my favorite, let's say, guilty pleasure movies. I have a soft spot in my
heart for Ghostbusters 2. I know the first Ghostbusters movie is basically a perfect movie. That being said, gun to my head, I think I might actually
watch Ghostbusters 2 instead if they're both on TV. I think Ghostbusters 2 was just on cable more often as a kid. I can probably still
quote most of the scenes from The Scoleri Brothers' trial. - (mimicking film
characters) Your witness. - (mimicking film
characters) Yes, we're back. - (mimicking film characters)
We be fast and they be slow. - So as always, be sure to comment in the form of an objection which I'll either sustain or overrule. And stick around until
the end of the video where I give the court
scene from Ghostbusters 2 a grade for legal realism. So without further ado, let's
dig in to Ghostbusters 2. (whimsical music) - [Devin] Now it occurs
to me that you probably need some background for this court scene. In Ghostbusters 2, there
have been a resurgence of ghost and slime-related incidents and the Ghostbusters are investigating a river of supernatural
slime that is flowing throughout lower Manhattan. In the course of investigating
this river of slime, the Ghostbusters have been
arrested by the New York police for basically drilling a giant hole in the middle of 5th Avenue and causing an enormous power outage
for most of the New Yorkers on Manhattan. So, with that preface,
let's go to the court scene in Ghostbusters 2. (bus engine roaring) - [Judge] Before we begin this trial, I wanna make one thing very clear. - All right, so right off
the bat, we have some actual legal realism, which is
interesting for a change. This is the famous New York Supreme Court. It's on Center Street in lower Manhattan. This is actually the place
where New York courts deal with a lot of criminal infractions. Now the New York Supreme
Court is not to be confused with the US Supreme Court
or the Supreme Court of many states. For some reason, New York is
really weird in that they call the lower trial court the
Supreme Court even though it is the equivalent of
what most states call the Superior Court or
the lowest trial court. The highest court in New York is called the Court of Appeals, for some reason. Maybe that's just a bit of
trivia that only I care about but it's a super weird way
for the New York courts to name their courts and
it's very counterintuitive. But it is actually the place where this particular criminal trial
would probably take place. - Law does not recognize
the existence of ghosts, and I don't believe in them either. - Right. - Don't wanna hear a lot of malarkey about goblins and spooks and demons. We're gonna stick to
the facts in this case and leave the ghost stories
to the kiddies, understood? - Now, that is absolutely
true that the courts will not recognize ghosts in
any particular criminal trial. That being said, there
was a New York case where a house being haunted was, in fact, a very important part
of the facts and issues - [Devin] called Stambovksy v. Ackley where someone tried to get
out of the sale of a house or, particularly, purchasing
a house because the house was well-known in the
community to be haunted. It set a really interesting precedent throughout New York in
that because the seller had not disclosed the
fact that it was actually known to be haunted, whether
it was in fact, haunted or not. The court, in that particular case, took it as true that it was haunted. But the fact that it had
notoriety for being a ghost house was something that the
seller should have disclosed to the buyer and it allowed
the buyer to rescind the sale and get out of buying that house. So sometimes, the existence of ghosts is an important fact in trials. - Sounds like a pretty open-minded guy. - Yeah, they call him The Hammer. - What can we do? It's all in
the hands of our lawyer now. - I think you guys are
making a big mistake. - Louis! - I mostly do tax laws and
probate stuff occasionally. I got my law degree at night school. - Well, that's fine, Louis. We got arrested at night. - Oh, I love it! Louis
Tully, the famous accountant from Ghostbusters 1, who
obviously was turned into a dog and the Ghostbusters saved
him in that particular case, went to law school at night,
which is a real thing. There are some law schools that allow you to take night classes, it's
usually a four-year degree instead of a three-year degree. That being said, you don't
wanna hire a tax lawyer to handle your criminal arraignment. It's just not a good idea. Get someone who specializes
in criminal law. - Put these guys away fast and make sure they go away for a long, long time, okay? - I don't think it's gonna be hard with this list of charges. - Good. Very good. - What... what is going on here? They haven't been arraigned. I assume they haven't been indicted. This isn't the actual
trial, they're not gonna be tried and convicted in
this particular thing. I think that they were
arrested the night before this particular hearing. There's no way they can be put
away for any amount of time because this isn't the
place where that happens. You have to go through an entire process. The Ghostbusters need the discovery, they need to know the evidence that the prosecutors have against them. The only thing that's gonna happen here is that the Ghostbusters
are gonna enter a plea of not guilty and then
they'll be released on bail 'cause there's no reason to
put them in jail pending trial. So nothing more is gonna
happen at this point. - Violating a judicial restraining order, willful destruction of public property, fraud, malicious mischief. See you in a couple of years at your first parole hearing. - So, okay. So apparently,
there was a restraining order against the Ghostbusters,
given what happened in the first Ghostbusters movie. That sort of makes sense. But the funny thing that the DA said here, which probably most people are
not going to catch is that, they are being indicted
for criminal mischief. - [Devin] In New York,
tampering with someone's public utilities is a violation of the criminal mischief
statute under Section 145.15. It's criminal mischief
in the second degree. It is so funny that they
actually got the exact crime for what they did here. Someone really did their research on this. - Your Honor, ladies and
gentlemen of the audience. - Jury? And there shouldn't be a jury. - I don't think it's fair
to call my clients frauds. Okay, so the blackout was a big
problem for everybody, okay? - Okay. It's crazy that
this is the criminal trial. You see this a lot in dramas and comedies where they just skip all
the procedural stuff. But it really seems like they
skipped a whole bunch of stuff and went straight to the trial. Notwithstanding, Louis should probably be talking to the jury,
if there is a jury present at this time, and not to the judge. You guys know that. It's clear he's playing the fool here. He's an accountant! And
sometimes, he's the key master. - Vinz Clortho, key master of Gozer. - But he is absolutely not a
very good criminal attorney. - I was stuck in an elevator for two hours and I had to make the whole time. But I don't blame them! 'Cause one time I turned into
a dog and they helped me. Thank you. - (chuckles) Short but pointless. - Very good, Louis. Short but pointless. - (laughs) I know this
is a terrible movie, but my friends and I will
quote this movie all the time. It's such an iconic version
of a criminal trial. Among lawyers, I think
this is right up there with the Chewbacca Defense. - [Prosecutor] Mr. Fianella, please look at Exhibits A
through F on the table over here. Do you recognize this equipment? - [Mr. Fianella] Yeah. That's the stuff the cops
took from their truck. - Okay. - Do you know what this
equipment is used for? - I don't know. Catching ghosts, maybe? I dunno. - May I remind the court
that the defendants are under a judicial restraining order that strictly forbids them
from performing services as paranormal investigators
or eliminators. - Okay, so a couple of
things are going on here which is interesting. Number one, I suppose that she could ask the question of the witness whether he knows what these tools are for and he can say that he doesn't know, or that, I suppose his best guess is that they are for hunting ghosts. But because he's not a Ghostbuster, assuming that Ghostbusting
is a real thing, he doesn't have the
expert opinion necessary to opine about those things. He can absolutely testify
that those were the things that were found at the scene of the crime, but he probably is incapable
of offering an opinion as to what they are. Now, what this district attorney has done is that she has taken this opportunity to lodge with the court, a copy
of the restraining order that is against the Ghostbusters. Arguably, it's sort of improper because she's not asking a
question to the witness. There are times to do this
sort of laying the foundation but this is an issue of
law, not an issue of fact. So it's a little improper for her to take the time now because
it's not the right time. - Now, Mr. Fianella, can you identify the substance in this jar marked Exhibit F? - Yeah. Yeah, that's the stuff, all right. Your Honor, I've been working underground for Con Ed for 27 years. I never saw anything like this in my life. - [Mr. Fianella] Whatever's down there, they must have put it there. - No, we didn't!
- Objection. (gavel bangs)
- Shut up! - So, if Louis totally was a good lawyer, he absolutely would have
objected at that point because well, again, this Con Ed worker, could opine that during his
30 years working underground, he's never seen anything like this. It would be pure speculation
and that would be the correct objection
to make, speculation. It would be speculation
for him to say that it was the Ghostbusters that put it there. Just because he hasn't seen
it doesn't mean that he's seen - [Devin] A hundred
percent of all the things that are available beneath
the streets of Manhattan. So if I was the attorney,
I would've objected. I would've moved to strike that testimony that had just been elicited,
and I would've asked the judge to give an instruction to
the jury that they are to disregard that particular testimony because it's totally improper. - So you were just trying
to help out a friend - Who was frightened - who was scared of what
was happening to her, - when you're scared
- Oh, I love this. - there was no evil intended, no malice, because you live here and
when you live in a place and you love it like you do you don't want nothing bad to happen. What?
(Peter mumbles) Because it'll never happen again, it's an isolated incident, it's a one shot deal. - Objection, your honor! - What?
- He's leading the witness. - Sustained! - I'm sure that avid
watchers of this channel will know what's going here. Again, this is played up
because it's totally improper. It's not that the lawyer
is leading the witness. It's that the witness
is leading the lawyer which is totally unnecessary. A leading question,
contrary to popular belief, is just one that implies
the correct answer. You're gonna ask a yes or no question and it's
still not considered leading because you don't whether
it's a yes or no answer. That being said, if you say
and imply that the answer is yes, that can be leading. So, the way to get around
that is very, very simple. You just simply ask, what happened? What happened next? What did
you see? How did you feel? These are open-ended questions
that would allow Louis to allow Peter Venkman to just
give his side of the story. That's really what direct examination is. There's no reason for Louis
to be making a speech here. He's not supposed to be
making any kind of statements, it's supposed to be the witness. And all he has to do is ask
Venkman what happened next and why did you do this. I think the writers of the
show know what they're doing because it's so clearly ridiculous. - [Prosecutor] I'll ask
you again, Dr. Venkman, why were you digging the hole? And please remember you're under oath. - There are some things in this world that go way beyond human understanding. Things that cannot be explained. Things that most people
don't wanna know about! That is where we come in. - [Prosecutor] So what
you're saying is that the world of the supernatural
is your exclusive province? - And it's totally improper
for the district attorney to walk to the jury and then walk directly to the opposing witness, especially who is a party. That bailiff, who is standing
right next to Peter Venkman, should really intervene, and
get the district attorney away from the witness. Both for the witness' safety,
so that the district attorney doesn't attack him, but also for the district
attorney's safety, so that the witness doesn't attack her. These things can happen
and there's no reason for this district
attorney to be that close. It's totally improper and,
you know, things go bad, the bailiff will tackle
one or both of them. - Kitten, I think that
what I'm saying is that sometimes, (bleep) happens, someone has to deal with it, and who ya gonna call? (crowd cheers) - Okay, wait a minute. (laughs) There's no jury! - [Devin] You can see on the
far right hand corner that there's no jury in the jury box. Who are they conducting this criminal trial for? - Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, - [Judge] Egon Spengler, stand up! Get up! You too, Mr. Tully. (ominous music) Find you guilty on all charges! - (Devin scoffs) I think
that the judge here has said some things that
show some particular bias. In California, at least, when you get a judge that
you don't particularly like, you are allowed one peremptory challenge. - [Devin] It's called the
170.6, named after the statute. If you know ahead of time
that the judge is The Hammer and he doesn't believe in ghosts, odds are you should
probably bounce that judge and try to get another one. Though you're sort of rolling the dice that maybe the judge that
you get next is even worse. - [Judge] I order you to pay fines in the amount of $25,000 each! I sentence you to eighteen months in the city correctional
facility at Rikers Island! - Wow, a year and a half in jail for digging a hole in the road. Well, I guess they
really did kinda screw up in terms of destroying
the public utilities and causing a massive
blackout throughout the entire island of Manhattan. Though interestingly, different varieties of criminal mischief or criminal tampering do carry with it different penalties ranging from misdemeanor all the way up to a class B felony. - Your honor? - Shut up! - [Judge] Tricksters like
you in decent society... - Your honor, this is important. - [Judge] You prey upon the
gullibility of innocent people! - Yes sir. - Be quiet.
- But... - [Judge] If my hands were not tied by the unalterable fetters of the law, then I would indulge in the tradition of our illustrious forbears, reach back to a purer, sterner justice, and have you burned - (Devin mimicking the
Judge) at the stake! (Court attendees screaming) - Wow! - So, well, it is pretty
unusual for ghosts to be released as a
result of the sentencing. From time to time, judges do
like to hear themselves talk. So right up until the ghosts
were released from the slime, that could be something
that a judge would say at the time of the sentencing. - The Scoleri Brothers! - Friends of yours? - I tried them for murder.
Gave them the chair. (ghost screaming) - You gotta do something! - Why don't you just tell them
you don't believe in ghosts? (screaming) - So while the Scoleri brother ghosts are destroying this courtroom, I guess now is a perfectly
good time to point out that this is a fairly realistic
courtroom for New York. I have practiced in the
Supreme Court of New York and this would be a
particularly ornate courtroom in the Supreme Court. It's not totally dissimilar. There would be, probably more paper, there would be a lot more carpet, this may be the ceremonial courtroom 1. But that being said, this courtroom that the ghosts are destroying - pretty reasonable. And exactly the kind of
heavy, old wooden desks you'd see for a counsel table as they go flying across the room. (supernatural sounds) - You gotta do something! Help me! - Don't talk to me, talk to my attorney. - And that's me! My guys are still under a
judicial mistrangement order! That blue thing I got from her! - Oh god, I love that so much. (mimicking Louis) The
judicial mistrangement order! That blue thing I got from her! It used to be the case that you would get motions and filings, it
would be called bluebacked. - [Devin] I think that doesn't
really happen as much now especially now that we've
gone to electronic files for most of these things. But that being said, back in the day, you would absolutely have
certain pleadings and filings that were bluebacked using blue paper. - [Devin] And if you saw
earlier in this court scene, the judicial restraining order was actually covered in a blue back which was probably accurate for the time. - [Peter] You know it's
been a couple of years since we used this stuff. Hope it still works. - [Egon] It should. Power cells have a
half-life of 5000 years. - There's no time for a bench test! Heat 'em up. - (sing-song) Doe, Ray, Egon! - (sing-song) Doe... - (sing-song) Ray... - (sing-song) Egon... - I hate this shot right here. Ugh, where Egon looks... it's so weird. It's weird the way he looks. (whimsical music) - All right. Now it is time to give Ghostbusters 2 a grade for legal realism. (gavel bangs) - [Devin] So... God, I love this movie so much. I know the movie is not nearly as good as the original Ghostbusters. I will try and be objective. But man, that's just a great scene. It's just great. - [Devin] So on the one hand,
you have the Ghostbusters dealing with the actual criminal code that they probably
would've been charged with had this been a real-life event. They were a hundred percent
guilty of criminal mischief or criminal tampering. So the writers got that absolutely right. - [Devin] And the events took place at the correct courthouse,
the Supreme Court of New York in a court room that
looks pretty reasonable for what you'll see at the Supreme Court. And it's possible that the sentence that
they were about to receive before the Scoleri Brothers
were released was accurate. That being said, the
timeline is completely wrong. They skipped over all of the
initial hearings and pleadings. They were never arraigned, they never were released on bail, - [Devin] the arguments that
were going back and forth were totally wrong. All of the courtroom proceedings were totally incorrect,
including a lot of the bias that was shown at the sentencing. So I'm going to give the courtroom scene - [Devin] and the release
of the Scoleri Brothers in Ghostbusters 2 a flat C that I'm going to raise to a C+ just because it is so darn quotable and so friggin' awesome. Now, if there's something
in the neighborhood, you're obviously going
to call the Ghostbusters. But if you're going to make that call, you might as well save
a few hundred dollars at the same time. - [Devin] Ting Mobile is a different kind of mobile provider. With Ting, you only pay for
the actual data and services that you use at the end of the month. And because you're only paying
for what you actually use, Ting customers pay on
average just $23 per month for one device. There is no contract overage
fees or other carrier tricks. You just pay a fair
price for the talk, text, and data that you use up every month. And Ting has award-winning
customer service. - [Devin] Because they don't have any brick-and mortar stores, they pour their resources
into their phone support. If you have an issue, give them a call and you'll immediately talk to a real human
being, not a phone tree. And they also offer support
through chat, email, social media, and Discord, which my fellow kids say is totes yeet yo! With Ting, you can use
almost any cellphone - [Devin] Including the newest iPhones and Google Pixel phones and you can use the same phone number you're using right now. And Ting provides great LTE coverage because it uses both the
T-mobile and Sprint networks. So even if the FTC blocks their merger, you can still get the benefit of both. So sure, there are some people
who should pay $200 per month for unlimited data. But if you're surrounded
by WiFi all day long, you might be paying hundreds
of dollars per month completely unnecessary. Ting gives you the option to
pay for only what you use. And if you go to LegalEagle.Ting.com, you can use your latest bill to compare just how much you would save. And Legal Eagles would get a $25 credit by going to LegalEagle.Ting.com. That could cover the
entire first month of use. And since there are no contract, you can try it out for a
month, no strings attached. Again, all you have to
do is click on the link in the description or go
to LegalEagle.Ting.com and you'll get a $25 credit
for whatever service you want. Plus, clicking on the link
really helps out this channel. So, do you agree with my
grade for Ghostbusters 2? Leave your objections in the comments and check out my other real
law reactions over here, including my reaction to South Park and Spongebob Squarepants. So click on the playlist
and I'll see you in court.
I was waiting for this one
These are right up there with ‘Douche Ruins Everything But His Own Obesity”.