Continuity mistake: When Jack declares that the case is "Still firmly open", JP has his hand above the belt, but his hand is down past the hip in the next shot. In the rest of the scene his arm position keeps being inconsistent; he has them open to different heights and°. (00:12:10)
Continuity mistake: In his initial reconstruction of the struggle, Jack says."falls to the floor just here." JP has his hat in hand on the left side of his body. Then Jack continues "and then crawls forward", with no pause. In this new shot, JP's hat is on the right side and he in a totally different posture. (00:05:45)
Continuity mistake: Crouched by the victim, Florence points out of the most likely murder weapon. Between shots she changes position on the floor, as easily shown by the large tiles on the floor; sometimes she has both feet on the same one close to the statue, other times she does not. (00:05:15)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the denouement, Jack is holding the statuette; he holds it by the bottom or upturned depending on the camera angle. (00:45:35)
Continuity mistake: When Jack shows the peanut to the 4 suspects, the legume is in a different part of the bag each time without him moving the bag. (00:45:25)
Continuity mistake: At the station, when Jack holds the bag with the lone peanut, the bag is in a completely different position between shots. (00:13:40)
Continuity mistake: Getting to celebrate at the end of the episode, Dwayne is chewing on some ribs, but in the reverse shot Darlene is reacting to him eating from a fork in the foreground. He puts down the same rib later when she has to get up to answer the door. (00:50:55)
Continuity mistake: When JP and Cordell Thomas toast at the end of the episode, the obligatory bottle of Etensel in JP's hand is facing the opposite way between shots. (00:50:45)
Continuity mistake: When Jack says "I am so sorry, Dwayne" telling him to go to the birthday dinner, he repeats in the two separate shots the same gesture, hand starting from a different spot at each cut. (00:31:55)
Continuity mistake: Florence at the beginning of the episode dismounts from the police Defender putting her right hand on the inside handle of the door, but she has her fingers at the top of the open window in the next shot. (00:03:40)
Answer: There's probably no particular reason. Sets and props on long-running TV shows often change as needed and for various reasons throughout a series run.
raywest ★