Continuity mistake: It's the scene where Russell Crowe is holding the D.A. out of a window. On the wide shot, he is holding only one of his legs, and the other is flailing about. But in the tight shot, he is holding on to both of his legs. (01:53:55)
Continuity mistake: Bud and Exley are sitting in their car talking - Exley looks OK. His lip and eye are almost healed and there's only a little black and blue on the upper part of his left cheek. Than in the next scene with Lyn he looks like he's been beat up again worse than before. (01:56:10 - 01:56:40)
Continuity mistake: They shut all the blinds at the Victory Motel, but later some are open again. (02:00:00)
Continuity mistake: Exley's eye injury is much worse at the Victory Motel, and it's on the wrong eye all of a sudden - for the rest of the movie. (02:01:30)
Factual error: In the scene where Lt. Exley arrives at the Night Owl after the murder, the patrol officer is wearing a Safariland velcro-fastened handcuff case on his left hip. That style of rounded cuff case was not introduced until the early to mid 70s.
Audio problem: When Bud White goes into the records room to 'handle' Exley, he begins to beat him. When Exley pulls out White's handgun and points it at him you hear him cock it. The next shot is of him holding the gun but the gun isn't cocked.
Deliberate mistake: When White almost fights with Exley in the street and is pulled away, the public mailbox by the side of the road is all blue. Mailboxes back then were red on top and blue on the bottom.
Factual error: During the interrogation room scene, it is very bright in the room looking into the interrogation room, and it is dimmer inside the interrogation room. Although this would mean that the suspect would be able to see everyone watching as for him to just see a reflection, it needs to be bright his side, and darker the other side. True the glass could have been slightly reflective on one side, but the laws of optics still apply.
Revealing mistake: When the two men in the car are shot with machine guns, there's a bump on each of their foreheads even before they're shot in the head. This bump was so it could disappear and reveal the bullet holes when the bullet hits their heads.
Continuity mistake: In the final shoot out, Dudley Smith shoots Bud White in the right cheek as Bud stabs Dudley in the leg with his knife. Later, when you see Bud sitting in the car, he has bandages and tape only on his left cheek, and his right cheek is completely okay.
Visible crew/equipment: When Ed Exley and Jack Vincennes are driving around looking for the alleged Nite Owl murder suspects, spotlights can be seen in the reflection of Vincennes' sunglasses.
Character mistake: White says Exley's father died in the line of duty. Exley said he was off duty when he was shot, and he didn't correct him.
Continuity mistake: When White shoots Fitch in the chest, at first there's only a little blood around the bullet hole, but in the next shot there's instantly much more blood.
Chosen answer: A 12g shotgun blast at that range would cause an incredibly bloody death, especially as there is a good chance it hit the man in the face. Exley has killed a person in the line of duty before this, but not in such a spectacular way. And while he may not have meant to kill him he chose to shoot over letting the man escape.
Grumpy Scot