Best movies like Criminal Justice

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Criminal Justice Starring Forest Whitaker, Anthony LaPaglia, Rosie Perez, Jennifer Grey, and more. If you liked Criminal Justice then you may also like: 12 Angry Men, 12 Angry Men, Willie Dynamite, The Wrong Man, The Wronged Man and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

A knife-scarred victim must identify her assailant beyond a reasonable doubt. Meanwhile the accused is offered a deal if he pleads guilty. Is he as innocent as the victim? Is the justice system guiltier than both?

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12 Angry Men

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

12 Angry Men

During the trial of a man accused of his father's murder, a lone juror takes a stand against the guilty verdict handed down by the others as a result of their preconceptions and prejudices.

Willie Dynamite

Willie Dynamite is a pimp who operates in New York City. Willie was a big success as a pimp, but now, just as fast as he rose to the top, he has hit bottom. A former prostitute who has become a social worker tries to get Willie to clean up his life while it is still possible.

The Wrong Man

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

The Wronged Man

Janet Gregory, a single mother with a haunting past, is a paralegal struggling to overcome doubts about Calvin Willis, an African-American husband and father wrongfully accused of raping a neighborhood girl. Eventually convinced of his innocence, Janet takes Calvin's pro bono case and wages a dramatic and stormy 22-year battle with the justice system that ultimately redeems an unjustly accused man and cements a life-long friendship.

Nuts

A high-class call girl accused of murder fights for the right to stand trial rather than be declared mentally incompetent.

On Trial

A man is put on trial for the murder of his best friend. A young attorney wants to become successful and decides to defend him. However, he is very inexperienced.

Reasonable Doubt

When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to throw the case against the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that he acquitted a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up.

Red Corner

An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.

Reversal of Fortune

Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he's innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.

Key Witness

An average Los Angeles citizen witnesses a gang murder when he stops to use a telephone. When he presents himself to the LAPD as the only person willing to identify the culprits, he opens himself up to a campaign of intimidation from the gang involved.

The Accused

After a young woman suffers a brutal rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.

American Violet

A young single mother of four living in a small Texas town. Arrested during a drug raid and accused of a crime she didn't commit, Dee goes against the wishes of her mother, Alma, and rejects the plea-bargain that would free her from jail, but brand her as a felon for life. As word begins to spread that similar incidents are occurring in poor communities all across the country, Dee realizes that there are more mothers out there like her, and decides to take a stand against powerful district attorney Calvin Beckett. Now, despite being well aware of District Attorney Beckett's fierce reputation, Dee enlists the aid of ACLU attorney David Cohen and former narcotics officer Sam Conroy in overcoming the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that, if not navigated with the greatest of caution, now threaten to destroy her life. With the custody of her children on the line, one brave mother wages a valiant battle to strike at the very heart of the corrupt Texas justice system.

Anatomy of a Murder

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

...And Justice for All

An ethical Baltimore defense lawyer disgusted with rampant legal corruption is forced to defend a judge he despises in a rape trial under the threat of being disbarred.

Assassin of Youth

A high-school girl gets involved with a ring of teenage marijuana smokers and starts down the road to ruin. A reporter poses as a soda jerk to infiltrate the gang of teen dope fiends.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

A newspaper publisher, wanting to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence, talks his possible son-in-law Tom into a hoax in an attempt to expose ineptitude of the city's hard-line district attorney. The plan is to have Tom plant clues leading to his arrest for killing a female nightclub dancer. Once Tom is found guilty, he is to reveal the setup and humiliate the DA.

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Remake of a 1956 Fritz Lang film in which a novelist's investigation of a dirty district attorney leads to a setup within the courtroom.

Billy Budd

Billy is an innocent, naive seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic master-at-arms is murdered, Billy is accused and tried.

Black and White

Australia, 1958. When a nine year old white girl is found murdered, police are quick to arrest illiterate Aborigine, Max Stuart. Under interrogation Max admits to the killing. With a legal system compromised by intimidation tactics, the skills of his two gifted but naïve defense lawyers are put to the test.

Prosecuting Casey Anthony

"Prosecuting Casey Anthony" reveals Florida prosecutor, Jeff Ashton’s inside story of the true crime drama that captivated and then shocked the nation when Caylee Anthony’s mother, Casey, was acquitted of killing her daughter, despite what many thought to be overwhelming evidence of guilt. The movie is seen from Ashton’s (Lowe) perspective and it takes viewers behind-the-scenes of both the investigation into Caylee’s tragic death and the ensuing trial, shedding new light on the many questions of what happened to the two year-old girl, how Ashton and his fellow prosecutors built their case and why a woman so shrouded in suspicion was proclaimed innocent. With in-depth information about the case and the accused, "Prosecuting Casey Anthony" examines what the prosecution got right, what they got wrong and why Ashton remains convinced of Casey Anthony’s guilt...

The Lawyer

Tony Petrocelli, a bright young lawyer practicing in the rich cattle town of Baker, becomes embroiled in a murder case.

Death Sentence

A juror on a murder trial begins to believe that the man charged with the crime is innocent — and that the real killer is her own husband.

A Fall from Grace

When a law-abiding woman gets indicted for murdering her husband, her lawyer soon realizes that a larger conspiracy may be at work.

Gideon's Trumpet

True story of Clarence Gideon's fight to be appointed counsel at the expense of the state. This landmark case led to the Supreme Court's decision which extended this right to all criminal defendants.

Marshall

Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.

Suspect

When a Supreme Court judge commits suicide and his secretary is found murdered, all fingers point to Carl Anderson, a homeless veteran who's deaf and mute. But when public defender Kathleen Riley is assigned to his case, she begins to believe that Anderson may actually be innocent. Juror Eddie Sanger, a Washington lobbyist, agrees, and together the pair begins their own investigation of events.

True Believer

Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.

Guilty?

A Senator, accused of bribery on circumstantial evidence and sent to prison, decides to commit suicide so that his daughter will feel free to marry the son of a judge. A story told through the eyes of ten people, all familiar with the victim and all with varying versions.

I Spit on Your Grave: Déjà Vu

Following her rape, Jennifer Hills wrote a bestselling account of her ordeal and of the controversial trial in which she was accused of taking the law into her own hands and brutally killing her assailants. In the small town where the rape and revenge took place, the relatives of the rapists she killed are furious that the court declared her not guilty and resolve to take justice into their own hands.

The Phantom

Carlos DeLuna was arrested in 1993 aged 21 for the murder of Wanda Lopez, and protested his innocence until his execution, declaring that it was another Carlos who committed the crime.

The Thirteenth Hour

In this drama, a trucker's business is nearly destroyed after he is wrongfully accused of killing a policeman with whom he recently quarreled.

Good Day for a Hanging

As a youth, Eddie came into the town with his gang to rob the bank, but was caught and convicted. Marshal Ben helped him to become a honorable citizen. Now, many years later, the gang returns to again rob the bank. On their flight they shoot the Marshal. Eddie is the only one to identify the murderer - but is in doubt if he shall be loyal to his new or his old friends.

A Covenant with Death

An innocent man is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but as he's about to be hanged he accidentally kills his executioner. He now faces a new trial, presided over by a young and inexperienced judge.

Trial by Jury

Valerie is a juror in the trial of a mob boss. When her young son's life is threatened, she has no option other than to see that justice isn't done.

From the Hip

Apprentice lawyer Robin Weathers turns a civil suit into a headline grabbing charade. He must reexamine his scruples after his shenanigans win him a promotion in his firm, and he must now defend a college professor who is appearantly guilty of murder.

The Night of January 16th

Accused of killing her employer, financier Bjorn Faulkner, Kit is championed by wisecracking sailor-on-leave Steve Van Ruyle, who has a vested interest in the outcome of the trial.

Cross-Examination

Defense Atorney Gerald Waring uses great skill and ingenuity in his efforts to save the life of a young man charged with the murder of his father. Witness after witness piles up damaging evidence against the accused youth, but expert cross-examination by Waring digs out the startling truth behind the killing and subsequently reveals the identity of the real killer in a surprise-twist ending.

Witness for the Prosecution

Sir Wilfred Robarts, a famed barrister is released from the hospital, where he stayed for two months following his heart attack. Returning to the practise of his lawyer skills, he takes the case of Leonard Vole, an unemployed man who is accused of murdering an elderly lady friend of his, Mrs. Emily French. While Leonard Vole claims he's innocent, although all evidence points to him as the killer, his alibi witness, his cold German wife Christine, instead of entering the court as a witness for the defense, she becomes the witness for the prosecution and strongly claims her husband is guilty of the murder.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

A teenage high school drop-out Bobby McLaughlin is accused of the murder of a local drug dealer he says he didn’t commit. When he is convicted with little evidence, his father begins a fierce struggle to free his son from prison.

Indictment: The McMartin Trial

The McMartin family's lives are turned upside down when they are accused of serious child molestation. The family run a school for infants. An unqualified child cruelty "expert" videotapes the children describing outrageous stories of abuse. One of the most expensive and long running trials in US legal history, exposes the lack of evidence and unprofessional attitudes of the finger pointers which kept one of the accused in jail for over 5 years without bail.

Trial and Error

After nearly 40 years of waiting for his big chance, Wilfred Morgenhall is given the case of defending Herbert Fowle who is accused of murdering his wife. Despite Fowle's insistence of guilt, Moregenhall will not let go of the opportunity to plead his client as innocent and be a star in the courtroom.

Innocent

Francis is being interrogated about a series of crimes he might be guilty of.

Final Verdict

The successful prosecution of a man accused of murdering his wife catapults a young attorneys career into the position of assistant D.A. for a major city. Eight years later, alarming new evidence suggests that the jailed man may actually be innocent of the murder, and now hes gunning for the woman who put him away. Eight years ago, State’s Attorney Megan Washington (Erica Durance) made her career with the high profile conviction of restaurateur William McCauley for the murder of his wife. When nearly a decade later, new evidence emerges which raises doubts about the case, the conviction is overturned and William McCauley is once again a free man, awaiting a new trial and suing Megan and the District Attorney’s office for fifty million dollars. Now, as Megan re-opens the case, she quickly unearths a mystery long since buried and uncovers a secret which has her in danger of losing her career, her relationship and possibly…her life.

21 Days

After Larry Darrent accidentally kills his lover's blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. When he is found guilty, Larry and Wanda have just three weeks together before he must give himself up or let an innocent man go to the gallows.

Deadlocked

A young man is accused of rape and murder and placed on trial. His father doesn't believe that he is guilty, so in act of desperation he grabs the bailiff's guns and takes the whole jury hostage and insists that the prosecuting attorney re-investigates the crime that his son's accused of.

My Son Is Innocent

After a brutal nighttime attack on a woman alone in her suburban home, police investigators zero in on teenager Eric Sutter. When the victim identifies Sutter as her attacker, the legal system closes in on the boy as friends, neighbors and the media turn against him. Only through the dogged determination of his mother, and her loyal boyfriend does Eric and the victim have a chance for justice to be served.

Murder on Her Mind

Inspired by the true story in the book by Linda Spaulding. Twenty years ago, Sally Linden sat on a jury in the trial of Theresa Nichol, a young woman accused of murder. They were close in age, and perhaps because of that, Sally saw the mistakes of her own life reflected in Theresa’s plight. She became convinced that the case against Theresa was not being proved beyond reasonable doubt. Twenty-some years later, Sally finds the notebook she kept throughout the trial. She's again at a crisis in her life where she feels she cannot keep running away: from herself, from her family, from her marriage, from her past. She searches for Theresa, and finds her still in prison. Seeking at first only to atone, Sally develops an intense bond with Theresa, writing about her and gradually becoming convinced that an outrageous miscarriage of justice has taken place.

The Devil on Trial

Explore the first – and only – time “demonic possession” has officially been used as a defense in a U.S. murder trial. Including firsthand accounts of alleged devil possession and a shocking murder, this extraordinary story forces reflection on our fear of the unknown.

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