January 17, 2019

Arleen Ingrid A. Santos

Civil Procedure SPL 2

A Few Good Men and the mportance of Jurisdiction, Procedure and

Mastery of Legal Processes in Legal Practice

Summary

A Few Good Men is about the litigation of Guantanamo Bay based marines
Lance Dawson and Private Louden Downey who was alleged to have assaulted
Private William Santiago in the middle of the night by stuffing a rag into his mouth
which caused his death.

Leutenant Daniel Kaffee was assigned by the military to be their counsel instead
of Joanne Galloway who wanted to be assigned but only became a co-counsel.
They stand to believe that their client’s are innocent upon the speculating that
their acts were committed by carrying out a “Code Red.” It is an unofficial acts of
discipline in which soldiers are submitted to methods akin to bullying to make
them improve their performances. They were uncertain if their case was winnable
especially against the marine machine run by Guantanamo Bay’s Colonel Nathan
Jessep.

The prosecution, led by Ross, offers a deal which will see Dawson and Downey
serving six month in prison. Upon stating this to the defendants, they rejected it
stating that such is cowardly and dishonorable. Downey believes that they were
just doing their jobs ad obeying orders and wishes to emphasize this in court
despite the chance of serving lifetime imprisonment. This caused Kaffee to enter a
plea of not guilty for his defendants at the grand jury hearing. He, Galloway, and
Weinberg worked long hour preparing their defense which involved intensive
research, planning, and rehearsals.

During the court-martial, it was established that Code Reds are standard at the
base as means of getting sloppy recruits to follow procedure. It was only until the
evening of his death that he was subjected to such standards. A doctor was
requested to provide a testimony regarding Santiago’s death but the doctor
falsified the report of Santiago’s death to cover up Jessup and Kendrick.

Santiago was not transferred back to base which cause Kaffee to inquire about
travel habits where answers to it were never done by Santiago. At the time of his
death, his clothes were unpacked. After Kaffee began with a tirade of questioning,
demanding Jessup to admit that he ordered the Code Red, Jessup yells that he
did.

Jessup was ordered to be arrested fro the death of Santiago. So as Kendrick for
ordering Code Red, committing perjury, and participating in the cover up. Dawson
and Downey were found innocent but are dishonorably discharged for conduct
unbecoming of a US Marine.

Importance of Jurisdiction, Procedure and Mastery of Legal Processes in

Legal Practice

In the movie, the skills of Kaffee were put to test as at first he was
underestimated. He was chosen to represent the two marines for his lack of
experience in court. However, through intensive research, knowledge of
procedures, planning, and rehearsals, he proved that he was beyond deserving of
become the counsel.

Jurisdiction is the power and authority of the court to try, hear and decide cases.
It is conferred by law and is not subject to stipulation. The main importance is, if a
court does not have jurisdiction over the case, the case could be dismissed and
justice being asked for could not be served. In the movie, if the setting was in the
Philippines, wrongful filing of the case, deprives the court of jurisdiction to try it
and the case would be dismiss. An exception to this is Estoppel by Laches or
Estoppel by Deed or Pais.

In Legal Practice, it is necessary that the counsel masters procedure and the
legal process as lives of people are highly affected by any move he may make. A
counsel must know every step to ensure the proper disposition of the case. Here,
rights are affected. Here, life, liberty, and property are at stake. A Lawyer must
make the necessary precautions to make sure that justice shall be served
according to the law.