Trivia: Demolition Man contains several references to the novel "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. Sandra Bullock's character's name is Lenina Huxley, from Lenina Crowne, a main character in the book, and the author's name. Sylvester Stallone's character is also named for a character in Brave New World, John the Savage. Also during the fight in the museum, Wesley Snipes says "such a brave new world".
Trivia: In some versions, all references to Taco Bell are changed to Pizza Hut. (00:57:15)
Trivia: The 'particle gun' that Phoenix picks up in the museum is actually a prototype of the real-life Heckler&Koch G11 rifle, the first gun ever to fire caseless ammunition. The gun and its ammo were developed in the Cold War to save the expenses for the cartridge case production. It was tested and modified for field use, but with the collapse of the Soviet state (which ended the Cold War) in 1991, the production program was cancelled. (00:45:30)
Trivia: After Simon Phoenix kills Warden William Smithers, Huxley tells the computer to display a list of parole hearings for the day. One of the names that is stated and printed on the screen is Peterson, Scott. A man called Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife and unborn son in 2002, 9 years after this movie was made. (00:20:50)
Trivia: Lenina's line that she learned her kung-fu moves from watching Jackie Chan movies is possibly a reference to the fact that Chan was offered the role of Simon Phoenix but passed due to his policy of not playing villains.
Trivia: A scene that was filmed, but not included in the final cut, was a fight between Sylvester Stallone and Jesse Ventura. This explains why Ventura disappears from the film after killing Dr. Cocteau.
Trivia: Huxley says to Spartan outside the museum that Phoenix is trapped in section 8. Section 8 is the code under which people are discharged from the military for being mentally unfit for service. (00:47:00)
Trivia: The infamous "three seashells" came about because co-writer Daniel Waters was trying to come up with something futuristic for the bathroom. He called a friend who looked around and described everything that was in his bathroom, which happened to include some seashells that were sitting in a basket of potpourri. The seashells inspired Waters, who thought toilet paper being replaced with mysterious technology that looked like seashells was hilarious... and the "three seashells" were born.
Trivia: The dress Sandra Bullock wears to the Taco Bell was very heavy due to all the stones on it - after her exuberance mimicking Stallone's punching after the scrap attack it started to rip, which is why she has her arms wrapped around herself slightly awkwardly at the very end of the scene.
Answer: Spartan didn't have authorization to go in and apprehend Phoenix to begin with. Depending on the time and manner of deaths of the hostages, it may have been impossible for the authorities to determine that they were already dead before Spartan went in guns blazing, so it would be determined that he was criminally negligent in their deaths. Whatever Phoenix had to say on the matter probably didn't even factor into Spartan's trial.
Phaneron ★