MovieChat Forums > Absence of Malice (1981) Discussion > Phony movie with ridiculous gaffe about ...

Phony movie with ridiculous gaffe about D.A.

posted 16 years ago by guy_lazarus
6 replies | jump to latest

Since when is the Miami D.A. appointed by the President of the United States? Miami is a sovereign entity, not a division of the federal government! What schlock!

[–] professorchaos_54 15 years ago

He was the United States District Attorney, not the county prosecutor. That's why he was working with the FEDERAL Bureau of Investigation. And the United States District Attorney for any region is a Presidential Appointee.

Ignorance and indignation in the same package makes you look really dumb.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] proudnole 14 years ago

Brimley's scene was so amazing that one must cut it some slack.

[–] muvibuf 14 years ago

Actually, federal prosecutors were previously called "United States District Attorneys" because each one was assigned to a federal judicial district in the federal courts system. James Quinn, the federal prosecutor in "Absence of Malice," would indeed have been a presidential appointee. People have used the historical term "District Attorney" or "D.A." when referring to federal prosecutors. In the vernacular, therefore, the historical term does not always refer to a state or local prosecutorial office. Officially, though, federal prosecutors are currently called "United States Attorneys" (the historical word "District" has been dropped from their official titles).

[–] uvl 9 years ago

The OP is a ridiculous little troll. Fortunately, he seems to have abandoned IMDB a couple of years ago.

[–] Etherdave (175) 4 years ago

The 'District Attorney' depicted here is the State Attorney for the District of Southern Florida, which is a federal jurisdiction, and the D.A. is a Presidential appointee. It is established at the beginning of the film that these are federal investigators, not local investigators.