My Cousin Vinny

Factual error: As an out-of-state attorney, Vinny would have had to file documents for admission to the state bar association "pro hac vice" ("for this case"), and the boys would have been assigned a local attorney to ensure compliance with the rules of procedure, which Vinny kept violating.

Factual error: In District Attorney Trotter's opening statement he asks the jury to convict William Gambini of murder in the first degree and Stan Rothenstein of accessory to murder in the first degree. There is no such crime in the Alabama criminal statutes. It has to be either Capital Murder or just Murder. Alabama does not have different "degrees" of murder. Also the arraignment and trial are both conducted by the same judge. In the Alabama court system a District judge would have conducted the arraignment, while a different Circuit judge would have conducted the jury trial. It's ironic since the director brags about his attention to detail in the DVD director's commentary. He obviously didn't check it too closely.

Continuity mistake: At the scene where Vinny and Mona are at a picnic, they take their platters and have plastic silverware wrapped in a napkin. When they go to sit at the picnic table, Vinny places the wrapped silverware next to his plate, then picks them up to eat, but in the following shot, he does the same thing again. (00:35:50)

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Trivia: During the stuttering lawyer's opening statements, if you look in the backround, you will see Vinny, Stan, and Ralph Macchio laughing. It's really obvious when the lawyer is walking back to the table, and Stan has a smirk on his face, trying not to laugh.

ACertainShadeofGreen

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Question: Why did the sheriff claim that it was his own hunch that made him take it upon himself to see about any reports about a 1964 Pontiac Tempest stolen or abandoned? Shouldn't he have said something like, "At the request of Mr. Gambini, I investigated whether there were any"? Is the sheriff simply looking to steal some glory and take some credit for the turnaround of the case?

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: He never says that it was "his" idea. The actual quote from the movie is that on "a" hunch he looked it up. From the way it is worded in the movie, it appears he said it this way in order to appear impartial in bringing any new evidence to the court's attention, not necessarily just information that would benefit the defendant's case.

Jazetopher

Answer: The sheriff made a point of telling Vinny that he doesn't work for the defense and Vinny should "do his own investigation." He's the local sheriff in a small town, while Vinny and the kids are unpopular and unwelcome visitors. The sheriff probably didn't want to appear like he was doing them any favors.

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