Tv Show Woman Was Found Innocent Then Killed Again but Not Guilty Double Jeopardy

A 1999 thriller directed by Bruce Beresford, starring Ashley Judd, Bruce Greenwood, and Tommy Lee Jones.

Elizabeth "Libby" Parsons (Judd) is seemingly Happily Married to Nick (Greenwood) and living an idyllic life with their son Matty. During a night out on their yacht, Libby awakens to find the cabin covered in blood and a knife on the deck. In that location is no sign of Nick. Since Libby cannot explain what happened to her husband and circumstantial evidence points to her guilt, she is convicted of murder.

Libby is sent to jail to begin her sentence and she entrusts a friend with taking care of Matty. While in prison house she discovers that Nick is actually alive and well, and that he framed her for murder. A fellow inmate advises Libby that if he really is alive, she should wait until she is paroled and so impale him for real, and no court could convict her considering of the legal concept of double jeopardy: as she has already been convicted of killing Nick, she cannot exist tried twice for the same crime.

Six years afterward, Libby is paroled and placed nether the supervision of parole officer Travis Lehman (Jones). Her friend is dead and Matty has disappeared. She before long absconds from parole and sets about trying to find Nick and Matty with Lehman in pursuit. Just now, ii former spouses are out to kill each other. Lehman has to figure what is going on and make a stand up of his ain.

Not to be confused with the 2nd round of the game show.

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The film provides examples of:

• The Alcoholic: Lehman
• Apathetic Citizens: A bartender shreds Libby' due south "Wanted" poster, declaring, "No advantage. Screw 'em.", advises her that they volition be posted all over town, and so caps information technology off by giving her an umbrella and urging her to get out of there earlier the cops show up. The viewer knows that Libby is innocent, but he doesn't and for all he knows, he's happily aiding and abetting a avoiding all because there's zip in it for him if he turns her in.
• Asshole Victim/Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-Guided Karma: Angie beingness killed by Nick. Could she really have expected any meliorate from a guy who cheats on his wife and plans to frame her for murder?
• Bait-and-switch: Nick and Libby are snuggling exterior when Angie comes to bring together them. She and Nick exchange a look, then solemnly declare, "Nosotros should tell her before someone else does", near making the viewer think they're about to confess to an thing. . . just to accept information technology turn out that Nick bought Libby a boat and that Angie was helping him suit the surprise. Then it'southward subverted in that it's merely as we expected—they WERE having an affair and those furtive looks were nigh them putting their dastardly plan into activity.
• Bunko Gunshot: Nick is about to shoot Lehman for a 2nd time and terminate him off when Libby manages to grab her own gun and put several bullets into him.
• Better Manhandle the Murder Weapon: A post-coital Libby wakes up covered in blood. She follows the trail from their cabin to the deck of the boat, and of form, picks upwardly the encarmine pocketknife that she finds there. Sure enough, the Coast Guard appears right and so, with Libby looking exactly as how Nick wanted her to look—as though she merely stabbed him and threw his body overboard.
• The Big Easy: The entire 3rd human action takes place in New Orleans, showing off as much of information technology as the film can squeeze in 30 minutes.
• Bitch in Sheep'due south Wear: Angie acts as Libby's all-time friend and even "reluctantly" agrees to adopt Matty (supposedly not wanting to replace Libby as his mother) when the whole fourth dimension, she'southward been having an matter with Nick and planning to run off with him later on framing Libby for murder.
• Breathy Lies:
  • When confronted past Libby, Nick feebly claims that he faked his death to avoid his creditors and didn't intend for her to be convicted, that his relationship with Angie happened afterwards, and that her expiry was an accident, but she isn't buying information technology.
  • When Libby tracks downwardly Angie in San Francisco and phones her, Angie assures her that she was only about to call.
• The Bluebeard: Nick. Gets rid of i woman by framing her for murder and sending her to prison, then tries to impale her when she gets out and tracks him downwardly. Kills some other when he either gets bored with her or worried that she'll spill the beans.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Rather than just kill Libby, Nick knocks her unconscious and shuts her in a coffin, and helpfully besides leaves her with a gun and a lighter, thus risking her waking up and escaping, which is exactly what she does.
• Buried Live: How Nick tries to get rid of Libby afterwards she tracks him down.
• Car Fu: Libby uses her pickup truck to trash Lehman's car and drives over the sidewalk in guild to go abroad from him.
• Cassandra Truth: Libby wailing that she didn't impale Nick in the face of overwhelming show.
• Charity Ball: Where Libby confronts Nick.
• Chekhov'south Gun: At the showtime of the movie, Nick is discussing a Kandinsky artwork with a houseguest. The identical work is visible in a moving picture of the house destroyed in the gas explosion and Libby tracks the buyer of one of Nick's drove of Kandinskys to find Nick in New Orleans.
• Children Are Innocent: Matty blows the whole scheme with one discussion—"Daddy!"—cheerfully greeting his father every bit he returns dwelling house. At the terminate, he is remarkably at-home to be greeted by a mother he not only hasn't seen in six years, but was told was expressionless.
• Articulate My Name: Libby, regarding her hubby. Non but did she non impale him, he's not even dead.
• Conveniently Timed Assault from Behind: Nick grabs her and knocks her out (during the cemetery scene), where he had said she'd come across their son. Nick is too virtually to shoot her when Lehman manages to get up and leap on him.
• Decadent Corporate Executive: Libby's lawyer stuns her by telling her that Nick was in dire financial straits and that several investors were suing him for embezzlement.
• Cry into Breast: As an infuriated Libby storms towards Jonathan's hotel, having escaped from the bury he blimp her into, she's snatched and pulled into an alleyway by Lehman, who sternly tells her "It's over, Libby." Wearied and overwhelmed, she finally breaks downwardly in tears and collapses into his artillery.
• Dispensable Woman: Angie, near literally. Nick kills her very presently later on running off with her now that she's served her purpose of helping him pull off his scheme.
• Distaff Counterpart/Gender Flip: Libby is essentially the first trope to Richard Kimble and the flick is the second to The Avoiding, given the myriad of similarities betwixt the two—see "Recycled Premise" below.
• Faking the Dead: Nick. And Lehman and Libby threaten to pull the same stunt on Nick, regarding her, if he does non plough over their son.
  • Nick has already been doing this with Libby—when she and Matty are reunited at the end, he tells her that he was told that she was expressionless.
• Father's Quest: The movie has convicted murderer Libby paroled from prison, whereupon she aims to find her son, now a teenager. Libby manages to detect him, but as well finds her ex-hubby, who is the man Libby was convicted of killing. Both son and ex are very much alive.
• Foreshadowing: Even if the trailer hadn't already told y'all everything, the niggling wait exchanged between Nick and Angie just before he reveals that he bought Libby a gunkhole should tip off even the most Genre Blind viewer to the fact that something'southward going on between them (1 of the few things that was left out of the trailer).
  • During the party, an associate of Nick's repeatedly tries to talk to him about business matters, but to be brushed off. Nosotros before long learn that it was this that led to Nick'southward scheme.
• Girls Backside Bars: Despite two of Libby'south cellmates outright admitting that they're murderers, they and the other prisoners become along fairly well with her, offering communication and encouragement on surviving and getting released.
• Heroic BSoD: Libby after Nick is supposedly killed, then later on she realizes he's alive and that the beloved married man she'south been mourning is a deceitful bastard.
• Hollywood Police force:
  • Equally pointed out by pretty much everyone, including this column, the whole plot runs on this. Libby is framed by her husband for his ain murder and serves prison fourth dimension. When she gets paroled, she hunts him downwardly and brags that she could impale him and go away with it because she'southward already been convicted of that crime and double jeopardy means she can't exist prosecuted for information technology once more. Problem is, she was bedevilled of that criminal offense (that is, of "murdering" him at that specific time, in that specific identify). Hunting him downwards to another city and killing him there, and so, would be another crime entirely, and thus she could be justly convicted of it. As one review pointed out, if the double jeopardy constabulary actually worked this mode, someone could rob a shop, exercise their jail time for it, and then spend the residue of their life robbing that aforementioned shop whenever they wanted with complete impunity.
  • In that location's also the two dozen other crimes Libby commits while proving her innocence, like break-in, theft, destruction of property, escape from custody, attack on a constabulary enforcement officeholder, unlicensed possession of a firearm/felon in possession of a firearm, transporting an unlicensed weapon across state lines, assault with intent to kill (all of them violating her parole, which would transport her dorsum to prison) and probably more, which could put her abroad for years themselves, maybe fifty-fifty for the same time or longer than her original sentence. Beingness wrongly convicted of i law-breaking doesn't hateful you can commit a load more without any consequences. Not to mention the fact that she didn't actually kill him that beginning time... ^notation Of class, she could yet plead out and/or agree not to sue, in exchange for credit for time already served.
  • Her lawyer should also take been able to go her acquitted or a mistrial the first fourth dimension. As bad equally things may accept looked (her covered in his blood and holding the knife, the hefty insurance policy), there should have been a myriad of people to bear witness to their (ostensibly) happy marriage. Surely, fifty-fifty ONE juror would take harbored enough reasonable dubiousness to cause a hung jury.
  • Equally is par for the course with TV and movies, Libby testifies at her trial. While not forbidden, fifty-fifty the worst defense attorney knows that this is a bad idea. Certain enough, Libby runs into trouble when despite her true pleas of innocence, she can't offer whatsoever explanation as to Nick's death—which is yet another instance of this trope. It'south not the defence's job to prove the accused's innocence, just to offer reasonable uncertainty as to guilt.
  • Hell, if the constabulary had bothered testing the damn blood constitute at the crime scene, the whole scheme would take fallen autonomously. Forensic testing in the late 90's might not be what it is today, but the ability to discern human being blood from animal has been around since 1901 — and unless Nick and Angie actually murdered someone, they had to have used animate being blood to create that gory of a scene.
• Idiot Ball: Nick attempts to kill Libby by burying her alive in an above ground tomb, and he doesn't take abroad her gun, although in all fairness, he might non have remembered that she had i. Libby counts too, for trusting Nick during the whole cemetery scene. Of class, she was desperate to see her son, but still. The irony of this is that she asked him to see her in a public place to no doubt deter him from doing anything to her, simply to autumn into his trap anyway.
  • Libby too commits breaking and inbound to find Angie. Were it non for managing to escape, she would have been sent right back to prison.
• Inheritance Murder: It is assumed that Libby killed Nick for the insurance coin, fifty-fifty though she appears to take been clueless both almost his financial state of affairs and about how large the policy was.
• Inspector Javert: Lehman. Aside from not believing Libby's claims of innocence in the first place, he's shown to harshly punish anyone who violates the terms of their parole and send them back to prison.
• Information technology's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: Not specifically stated, merely Libby crashes a clemency gala then later walks through one of New Orleans' perpetual street parties. Presumably, both are being held to celebrate the vacation.
  • She outright says to Nick, "I could shoot yous in the eye of Mardi Gras. . .", indicating that information technology is that time of the year.
• Osculation Diss: As Libby publicly confronts her duplicitous hubby, she turns her head as he tries to kiss her, invoking "oohs" from the observing oversupply.
• Make It Look Similar an Accident: How Nick got rid of Angie. After tracking them down, Libby is informed by a neighbor that she was killed when a gas main exploded beneath the home. Libby's deadpan response of "I'thousand sure" when the woman tells her how grief-stricken Nick was makes it clear that she knows what actually happened.
• Mama Bear: The sole affair that keeps Libby going is her desire to be reunited with her son. She's even willing to leave Nick alone and non blow his cover story as long as he gives him to her.
• Miscarriage of Justice: Ashley Judd's grapheme is wrongly convicted of murdering her husband and spends several years in prison house.
• Mistaken from Backside: Lehman, while pursuing Libby amongst a bounding main of other umbrella belongings pedestrians in New Orleans, seemingly catches her, only to discover that it's someone else with a similar umbrella.
• Motive = Conclusive Evidence: The prosecution claims Libby killed Nick for the insurance money, harping on the fact that she'southward the casher, ignoring the fact that (a) given that she was his married woman, she would naturally exist this, and (b) as a wealthy couple, the payout would exist larger than boilerplate. When she tries to explain to her ain lawyer that Nick got the policy to make sure that she and their son would be okay in the event of his expiry, he counters with "there's a big difference between "okay" and two one thousand thousand dollars". He then mentions that Nick was actually in serious financial problem, shocking Libby equally she wasn't aware of this.
• Never Found the Body: Nick. Justified as he isn't even expressionless, simply fifty-fifty if he were, the natural assumption is that his trunk was swept out to bounding main after having been thrown overboard.
• The Not-Love Interest: Travis and Libby. Most movies would have had them hook upwards or at least hint at information technology by the end, only there isn't a shred of allure or sexual tension between them.
• Off to Boarding School: What Nick has done with Matty. Granted, it seems to be a very nice identify and he looks happy there, just it seems to add some other layer of Jerkassery to Nick for sending him abroad rather than keeping him with him.
• Oh, Crap!: Nick'south reaction when Libby approaches him at the gala, so when she confronts him in his part.
• Ominous Legal Phrase Title: Named later the principle that one can't exist tried twice for the same crime.
• Only a Mankind Wound: Lehman is shot in the shoulder in the scuffle between him, Nick, and Libby, just truthful to form, is wearing only a sling in the final scene.
• Prisons Are Gymnasiums: Ashley Judd (!) may not bulk up all that much, but she Took a Level in Badass — understandable since she's gaining skilz with which to murder the husband who framed her.
• Recycled Premise: A person wrongly convicted of murdering their spouse escaping from custody, determined to track down those responsible, pursued and eventually aided by an every bit adamant lawman played past Tommy Lee Jones? No, this isn't The Avoiding (or another sequel), but equally numerous reviews pointed out, it'southward basically a female version of it, right down to a misleading 911 call, Libby wailing "I didn't impale my husband" (just every bit Kimble lamented near his wife), and later being chased though a street fair simply barely eluding capture.
• Scenery Porn: Washington, and New Orleans.
• Shout-Out: Roma Maffia (jailed lawyer Margaret) played another lawyer in Disclosure.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Libby peeks out from a store display at Lehman. By the fourth dimension he looks in her direction, a mere two seconds later, she's gone.
• Steel Ear Drums: Played direct to a ridiculous level. Libby fires a gun TWICE—correct next to her ear—while trapped inside a sealed coffin. She cringed in pain momentarily, but is otherwise unharmed. In real life she'd have been left completely deaf.
• Trailers Always Spoil: Probably i of the most glaring examples.
• Trapped in a Sinking Car: Libby is tied to a automobile in handcuffs, as she tries to escape the car she drives into the lake sinking rapidly.
• Wealthy Yacht Possessor: Nick makes enough to give Libby an expensive sailboat as a present. Or perchance not, every bit even before his "decease", she asks if they tin can afford it, then afterwards, is told by her lawyer that he was actually in financial straits.
• Wham Line/The Reveal: Matty cheerfully greeting "Daddy!" equally he comes home. ..while on the telephone with Libby. It takes ii seconds for the shocked Libby to realize that the beloved husband she'south been mourning is a duplicitous bastard who's been adulterous on her and framed her for a murder that didn't fifty-fifty happen.
• Wrongful Accusation Insurance: Every bit discussed above, Libby commits numerous crimes in the class of tracking down her husband, whom she's planning to kill (and DOES kill, albeit by that point, information technology was a 18-carat case of self-defense rather than a revenge killing), all of which announced to have been completely disregarded by the time the film ends. Granted, it would be possible for her to plead out in exchange for fourth dimension-served credit.
• You Accept to Believe Me!: Libby wails this verbatim while testifying at her trial.

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Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/DoubleJeopardy