The Star Chamber

Synopsis: Disgusted with criminals escaping the judicial system via technicalities, an idealistic young judge investigates an alternative method for punishing the guilty.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Peter Hyams
Production: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
 
IMDB:
6.3
Rotten Tomatoes:
71%
R
Year:
1983
109 min
529 Views


Councilman Donnagher, who is the only

member to vote against the proposal...

said he was not at all convinced

that the proposed site...

was the only suitable place

for such a facility.

He went on to say that

this is not the first time...

the utilities commission

has come up with a site...

that it insisted was the only suitable place.

In South Los Angeles,

the body of a woman was found in an alley...

behind a row of abandoned automobiles.

She was identified

as 68-year-old Margaret Howard.

She'd been shot in the head

at close range.

Sergeant Thomas Spota told

Eyewitness News reporter Chuck Hurley...

this appears to be the work

of the same person or persons...

who have committed a series of similar attacks

in the area in the past few weeks.

She had apparently cashed her welfare check

about a block and a half away...

at, uh, approximately 4:00 in the afternoon.

She was shot at close enough range...

with a.38 caliber bullet

to leave powder burns.

Forensics estimates the time of death...

at somewhere between 4:00 and 6:00 p. m.

Do you have any suspects?

No. Not really.

Five elderly women have been murdered

and robbed in this area in the past two months.

Is one man responsible for all of them?

Well, we haven't finished

our ballistics check yet...

except that all of the other victims

were shot with a.38...

all were robbed of their welfare checks...

all were killed in the afternoon.

The ballistics on the first four match.

I expect they will on this one.

Anyone with any information

on the Southside Killer...

should call our

Eyewitness hotline number.

555-4545.

You don't have to give your name.

The only possible lead

reported by the police...

is two people who claim

they saw a male Chicano leaving the alley...

at around 4:
30 p. m.

He is described as in his mid-20s...

approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall

and slender.

600,000 to catch a goddamn baseball.

Now we gotta worry that he's sensitive.

Sh*t. You give me 600,000,

you can call me any name you want.

Sh*t. You give me 600,000,

you can call me any name you want.

You gotta know how to

handle your personnel...

you know, get the best out of them.

Hey. Check this cutie out.

- Where?

- Green jacket.

- You know him?

- No.

So what about him?

I don't know. What's he doing bopping around

6:
00 in the morning? Tell me that?

Maybe he's coming from a physics lab at USC.

Right. Let's check him out.

- Aw, are you shitting me?

- This dude ain't right.

- Oh. You got a hunch, right?

- Right.

- Instinct, right?

- Right.

You're watching too much television again.

Wonderful.

- Wait! Don't touch it!

- Is it wired?

No, no. Of course not.

You just can't search it. We need a warrant.

- Right.

- For real.

- You're crazy.

- Probably, except we need a warrant.

I know because

it happened to me once before.

How about if I knock on the garbage can...

and identify myself as a police officer...

and the can gives me consent?

You can fart around all you want.

The guy's garbage can is his private property

and we need a warrant.

I don't believe this.

We got a pile of slime...

making tracks as soon as he sees us.

He stops long enough

to drop something in a garbage can.

Think he just can't stand to litter?

You also think we're gonna get a warrant

in the next 30 seconds...

because that's when the can

is going in the truck.

Time out. I got it.

This can is going to that truck.

We can't search this can...

But we can search the truck.

We're talkin' genius here.

Don't pull no lever. Police.

Join the police and see the world.

Join the navy and see the world.

Aw, sh*t. I joined the wrong thing.

Mm. Yecch.

Bingo.

Gimme a pen.

Hello, turkey!

Judge Culhane is never too busy.

We live in a selfish age.

They like to call this the "Me" generation.

Well, Jim thinks this should be

the start of the "Us" generation.

He lives his life that way.

We should live ours that way.

When Community Hospital

needed the new wing...

it was Jim Culhane who spent two years...

calling old friends...

starting the fund drive, following through.

It was Jim you called

when there was a problem, any problem.

Now, Community Hospital

has that wing, thanks toJim.

Thanks to the countless hours

he spent doing thankless work for us all.

In the past 11 years...

Jim's record as a superior court judge...

has been a model of fairness and courage.

There's probably no more difficult task

for any public official...

to bridge the gap between

public understanding and civic responsibility.

Judge Culhane has never

shirked his responsibility...

and he's managed to engender

the trust of the community.

Jesus Christ.

Superior CourtJudgeJames Culhane

was found dead tonight...

the victim of an apparent suicide.

The incident occurred during

a testimonial dinner forJudge Culhane...

in which he was being honored...

as Southern California Legal Association

Man of the Year.

Judge Culhane had served

on the superior court bench for 11 years.

He leaves a wife, Michele,

two daughters and five grandchildren.

And then what did you do?

Uh, Detective Mackay remained

stationed outside the defendant's house...

while I took the gun to a lab.

We ran a ballistics check on it...

and it turned out to be a gun used

in four previous killings on the Southside.

- Killings that were known as the Southside Murders?

- Yes, sir.

Uh, we also found a clean set

of fingerprints on the weapon...

and based on that evidence,

obtained a search warrant.

We returned to the house where Detective

Mackay was stationed and we served the warrant.

- You conducted a search?

- Yes, sir.

- What did you find?

- We foundjewelry... watches and rings...

uh, that kind of stuff...

in a shoe box in a closet.

We also found four women's handbags

with wallets in them.

The wallets contained driver's licenses...

social security cards and food stamp cards...

all belonging to the Southside victims.

- Are these the items you're referring to?

- Yes, sir.

And they were all found in the home

of the defendant, Mr. Hector Andujar?

- Yes, sir.

- And then what happened?

We arrested him

and then we Mirandized him.

What do you mean

when you say you Mirandized him?

Uh, we read him his rights.

We told him he had a right to an attorney...

that one will be appointed for him

if he couldn't afford one...

that he had a right to remain silent.

Uh, you know, his rights. All of'em.

And then what happened?

He confessed. Now, we told him

he didn't have to say anything...

that he could have a lawyer, all that stuff.

He said he wanted to confess

and waived his Miranda rights.

We asked him ifhe knew what he was doing,

ifhe understood what waiving his rights meant.

He said, yes, he understood...

and he confessed to the killings.

We took him downtown and booked him.

He repeated his confession to a stenographer.

Thank you, Detective Wiggan.

No further questions, Your Honor.

Yeah. Uh, Detective Wiggan...

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Roderick Taylor

Roderick Taylor, also known as Rod Taylor or Roderick Falconer, is an American poet, recording artist, screenwriter, television producer and television director. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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