Magnolia question (1 Viewer)

[ThomasC]

When Officer Jim Kurring goes to Marcie's house and finds the body in the closet, shouldn't he have gotten a search warrant first?

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I think it depends a little on state law, but mostly police can enter a private residence if they have reason to believe a crime is in progress (ie were summoned by neighbors).

If it's part of an investigation related to previous crime or crimial activity, and there is not crime in progress or persons in danger- then they need a warrant.

But if you're murdering a person in your home, and the neighbors call to report screaming and gun shots-- when the police arrive- they won't need a warrant to investigate.

-Vince

 

[Michael Reuben]

If it's part of an investigation related to previous crime or crimial activity, and there is not crime in progress or persons in danger- then they need a warrant.

Good summary. As noted, Officer Kurring is responding to reports of a disturbance, and he's careful not to do any more than is required in response to each new development. He enters the apartment through a door that's open (which could simply mean unlocked) after there's no response to his knocks. He doesn't go any farther into the apartment than is necessary to speak to Marci, until he hears suspicious sounds (suspicious because Marci insists there's no one else there). He then investigates those sounds, which, among other things, raise concerns for the officer's safety.

M.

 

[Ted Lee]

aka "probable cause"....

i asked my friend who is a chp officer a similar question.

i was once pulled over for expired tags. the officer had a chip on his shoulder and (for whatever reason) assumed i was some gang-banger. he pulled me out of the car, flipped me onto his hood...the whole routine.

anyway, he asked for my id. i said it was in my car. he said he would go get it. i then saw him start searching my car, opening all the compartments, etc. he literaly even looked under the seats.

anyway, for...umm...other reasons....i didn't really push back too hard on the cop. but i did ask my friend about it later.

he essentially said, as long as the cop thinks there's a justified reason to do the search, then he's allowed to.

comedic end to my mini-rant: the officer found what he thought was crack in my car. when he showed it to me, i realized what it was: the remains of a chocolate chip cookie wrapped in celophane (sp?). i did throw that one back in his face.

[edit] i thought you were going to ask: wtf was up with those frogs.

 

[David Fisher]

From my personal experiences with police searches, I believe that Kurring was justified in his actions. Has anybody here seen the expanded Orlando Jones scenes that relate to this murder? I love Magnolia, but the murder mystery is a bit of a red herring for a lot of viewers. I'm not sure if I would prefer a shorter version of the movie without the discovery of the body (and accompanying rap scene) or if I would rather extend the movie to include the resolution of this mystery.


Ted,

I've almost been busted for celophane wrappers/ baggies before. I was almost hauled off to jail until the cops realized that the baggy really only contained sandwich crumbs. (Or some really brown, crusty, yeasty marijuana!!)

The same cop who wanted to bust me for bread crumbs also pulled over one of my friends. My friend was driving an old, beat-up lemon and the blinkers did not function. We lived in a small town, and usually this isn't a big deal unless you're young and not a high school football player. So my friend is driving through town, and uses hand signals to make a right turn. This is completely legal in the state of Texas. So my friend gets pulled over... And this is what the cop says.

"I'm pulling you over for not using your turn signals. I normally wouldn't pull somebody over for this, but if you wouldn't have been so busy waving to your friends on the street you could have used your blinker."

My friend pointed out that there were no pedestrians anywhere, wasn't waving to anybody, and was signaling the turn because his blinkers were malfunctioning. The cop still gave him a ticket because he didn't believe that it was legal to hand-signal a turn. Fortunately, the judge threw the ticket out immediately.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

i thought you were going to ask: wtf was up with those frogs.

That's what I was expecting also.

I really should get Magnolia. I haven't seen it since it was in cinema, and I really loved it.