Fisher - Presumed Innocent

Early on in the making of Presumed Innocent, there was conflict between producer Sidney Pollack and director Alan J. Pakula about whether the focus of the film should be on lead character Rusty Sabich’s sexual attraction to murder victim, Carolyn Polhemus, or something deeper. “Pakula wanted to make the passion angle secondary to a story about the justice system and the irony of a man of presumably high morality being victimized by the very system he has served so diligently for so many years. Ultimately, Pakula’s vision won out” (Pfeiffer 184). This could not be made more evident in the intense court room scenes and is established with the opening and closing monologues of the movie.

It is well known that in any case brought to court, the convicted is “innocent until proven guilty.” The tides are clearly turned against Rusty the instant he is accused of the murder. None of Rusty’s long-time colleagues jumps to his defense, but rather give way immediately to the belief that Rusty committed this heinous crime for various reasons. The first is that it is the most convenient explanation, providing people with a sense of security to know that the crime was solved swiftly and efficiently and no murderer is on the loose. The second is that it supports their own selfish purposes to blame Rusty for the crime, making themselves feel better in the morally shaky decisions they have made in their life because it has not been as bad as Rusty’s wrongdoing. This idea is embodied in Raymond Horgan, Rusty’s boss and mentor. After discovering that Rusty has also had an affair with Carolyn, he jumps to the conclusion that Rusty murdered her out of jealousy and to sabotage Raymond’s political career. In fact, his belief that Rusty has betrayed him reveals his own insecurities. If Rusty did not commit the murder, it would mean that Carolyn was only sleeping with Raymond to advance her own career, rather than out of genuine interest, and that Raymond had placed his trust in the wrong person.

Finally, Rusty’s presumed innocence is undermined by Rusty’s colleagues’ ultimate willingness to send him to jail for a crime he did not commit. Being framed in order to cover up the bribery scandal that Carolyn was involved in shows not only the characters’ disregard for Rusty’s well-being, but also for the sworn purpose of their jobs: to bring real criminals to justice. This is especially seen when the coroner, Dr. Kumagai, attempts to deny notes that he wrote down while examining Carolyn’s body while on the witness stand and tries to change his original theory of how Carolyn was murdered. He even goes so far as to refuse to explain what a tubal ligation is. The blatant denials of various sketchy pieces of evidence in the case truly frame Rusty’s predicament as the blame is placed squarely upon his shoulders with little room for help.