Question: What is the actual likelihood that a decorated serviceman, with no prior criminal record (we know this because if Poe had any priors he wouldn't have been in the Army) would actually get prison time for killing two men who attacked himself and his girlfriend? Seeing as there were witnesses (said girlfriend and bartender) I find it hard to believe he would have gotten more than an extended period of probation. A prison term, even a year or two, seems severely harsh considering the circumstances.
jshy7979
30th Mar 2009
Con Air (1997)
27th Aug 2001
Con Air (1997)
Corrected entry: When the villains have made their lousy landing at the airfield and the police are coming, Cyrus opens a box with shotguns and throws one to his fellow convicts. The next scene shows the convict catching the gun, and it has somehow turned into an M-16.
Correction: There were three different boxes. One (the one Cyrus opened) contained the shotguns, behind him was another box that contained the M-16's, and the third box on the left (the one Diamond Dogg opens) contained the grenade launchers that were used to blow up the propane tanks.
While this is true that the crates carry different weapons, the original mistake is pointing out how Cyrus picks up a shotgun, tosses it to Swamp Thing, but the weapon Swamp Thing catches is an assault rifle. This is a valid mistake.
27th Aug 2001
Con Air (1997)
Corrected entry: When Johnny tries to rape the female guard, Poe comes to the rescue and knocks him out. Poe then handcuffs him to an overhead rail with both hands in the cuffs over the rail. Yet after the crash, while the police are doing clean-up, they drag away Johnny leaving one arm hanging off, as if Poe put only one of his hands in the cuffs, and one cuff on the overhead rail. Even with one arm severed, they couldn't naturally have got out of that position without the severed arm going over the rail, in which case it would be lying on the floor with the rest of him.
Correction: We don't see Johnny the whole time from the cuffing till the crash. There would have been enough time for somebody, even Poe, to uncuff one arm so that Johnny could be better prepared for the imminent crash.
Chosen answer: Zero. As you said, he was attacked and there are witnesses that he tried to avoid the fight and the killings were in self-defense. It is an extremely weak plot hammer to get Poe onto a plane full of criminals. It's foolish as well. The writers could have had Poe framed for a crime then exonerated and put in the same situation much more believably.
Grumpy Scot
I'm not saying you're wrong, but he did have the opportunity to leave. He chose to not get in the car and stay and fight.
It's in Alabama. People are put in prison here for much less.
First, Poe is a federal prisoner, not subject to State laws or legal procedures. Secondly, he is not in Alabama. During a conversation with Billy Bedlam we hear that he is incarcerated in the "Q" - prison slang for San Quentin in California. It makes you wonder why a Federal prisoner is in a State prison, but that's another type of mistake.
He was incarcerated in San Quentin, but the incident in which he was arrested happened in Alabama.
jshy7979
Would it really be considered self-defense, though? After he beat the guys to the ground he could have just stopped and walked away, but he didn't. He kept beating them until they died.
He is defending his wife against two armed assailants, and use of lethal force is allowable. No DA in the United States would even think about pressing charges, knowing full well a grand jury would throw them out in a second.
This is not at all how it happened. Two of the assailants survived; we see them get up and run away. Cameron killed only one person, unintentionally, accidentally killing him with a lethal blow under the chin.
jshy7979