Why courtroom not aware of thugs who already got arrested?

In My Cousin Vinny, Vinny calls the local sheriff, who has run a records check at Vinny's request. The sheriff testifies that two men resembling Billy and Stan were arrested a few days earlier in Georgia for driving a stolen Pontiac Tempest, a car very similar in appearance and color to Billy's Buick Skylark, and in possession of a gun of the same caliber used to kill the clerk. Trotter then respectfully moves to dismiss all the charges.

Two men resembling Billy and Stan were arrested a few days earlier, without knowing this the court running trail on two innocents Billy & Stan, why courtroom was innocent about the facts?

plot-explanation my-cousin-vinny

Best Answer

US state / county courts are interested in the evidence being presented to them. There is no reason for them to be aware of crimes in other jurisdictions.

Although the local law enforcement will carry out their own investigations they will probably NOT be aware of crimes committed in other counties/states as these are not generally circulated or of interest to that particular jurisdiction.

In the case of My Cousin Vinny, the actual perpetrators were arrested in a completely different state (Georgia) whereas the court here is in Alabama.

The Georgia law enforcement investigated and presented their case to the local District Attorney who will then decide on how to prosecute the defendants and actually present the evidence to the court.

The Defence Attorney will present their case refuting such evidence and testimony put on by the DA and present their own evidence.