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McTiernan Going to Prison

C

Caliburn24

Commodore
Commodore
LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Die Hard" director John McTiernan was sentenced to one year in prison Monday for lying about his association with a private investigator to illegally wiretap a movie producer.
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http://www.hitfix.com/articles/die-hard-and-predator-director-gets-1-year-in-federal-prison

The full article is well worth a read.

I guess I am out of the loop or something, but I had no idea this sort of thing goes on in Hollywood. I figure it will end McTiernan's career which is a shame since I have liked a few of his movies.
 
I have no idea on the ins and outs of the case, what McTiernan is like beyond a usually talented director...but do American judges usually get away with mocking people like that? In reference to the worry the Federal Prison system doesn't approve the anti depressant McTiernan's taking, the judge says; "He won't be the only depressed man in prison." That's really, really inappropriate.
 
Wow. In Canada, that would be grounds for a mistrial due to the judge showing contempt for the defendant.
 
Maybe he's auditioning to take over for when Judge Judy retires? ;)

If McTiernan's committed a crime, it should be boring people to death in his DVD commentaries... how can a man who's made such exciting movies be so dull when talking about them?
 
T'Bortion said:
Wow. In Canada, that would be grounds for a mistrial due to the judge showing contempt for the defendant.
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Here we have contempt of court.

There seems to be a lack of decency from all quarters these days. It permeates everything, just look at any political discussion, it's ridiculous. I've noticed the tendency in myself lately and have been trying to curtail some of my own "smart-ass-ness".
 
T'Bortion said:
I have no idea on the ins and outs of the case, what McTiernan is like beyond a usually talented director...but do American judges usually get away with mocking people like that? In reference to the worry the Federal Prison system doesn't approve the anti depressant McTiernan's taking, the judge says; "He won't be the only depressed man in prison." That's really, really inappropriate.
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I heard of a judge who signed a death penalty warrant and put a smiley face on the dot above the 'i' in his name. How sick is that?

On topic, I wonder if this means the end of his directorial career. Okay, Polanski and others have continued to work after prison, but McTiernan has done nothing of note for the last decade or so and this will hardly help.

On a good day (Die Hard, DHWAV, Predator), he was as good an action director as any. He would have immeasurably improved Die Hard 4.0, a good script let down by a poor director. Apparently a fifth is on the way - might this be the time for McT to make his comeback?
 
McTiernan was attached to a Honor Harrington movie for awhile a few years ago. It would have been fun to see him do a big scifi movie and bring in some of the feel of his Hunt for Red October.
 
T'Bortion said:
Wow. In Canada, that would be grounds for a mistrial due to the judge showing contempt for the defendant.
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Post verdict, it's pretty difficult to get a mistrial - the trial part is over. If the judge can be shown to be biased during the sentencing/speech-giving stage it might be grounds for a sentencing appeal, but then at that point the judge should be biased - he is no longer talking to an innocent defendant, but to a convict. Our judges' speeches at sentencing will often be pretty brutal in condemning the convict's actions.
 
Condemning actions is one thing, but mocking a certifiable mental health diagnosis and the fact that the prison population has a vast number of inmates with said diagnosis is not becoming of a judge at all. Judges are supposed to be servants of the public, and those two situations are very serious public health concerns. I'd be ashamed of a judge in Canada who did such a thing.
 
Well here everyone jokes about not dropping the soap in prison suggesting that people in that system aren't exactly safe. No one seems to care what happens once you've been declared a prisoner, they deserve all that they get.
 
Screecher4747 said:
A year? :rolleyes:

$50 and time served.
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Do you even know what "time served" means? McTiernan's been free on bond ever since he first pled guilty in April 2006 -- he hasn't been serving time in jail / prison. There's no "time served" credit to give. He'll almost certainly be eligible for day-for-day / good behavior credit, but it's not like the guy's been rotting away in a cell waiting for the judge to render his verdict.

And why the rolleyes? First of all, you shouldn't hire someone to illegally wiretap others, and then you really shouldn't lie to federal prosecutors about it. Dude broke the law, dude's going to pay for it.
 
Timby said:
Screecher4747 said:
A year? :rolleyes:

$50 and time served.
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Do you even know what "time served" means? McTiernan's been free on bond ever since he first pled guilty in April 2006 -- he hasn't been serving time in jail / prison. There's no "time served" credit to give. He'll almost certainly be eligible for day-for-day / good behavior credit, but it's not like the guy's been rotting away in a cell waiting for the judge to render his verdict.

And why the rolleyes? First of all, you shouldn't hire someone to illegally wiretap others, and then you really shouldn't lie to federal prosecutors about it. Dude broke the law, dude's going to pay for it.
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Relax, Cupcake, it was a joke.
 
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