Factual error: At the end of the film Rainwood has established his innocence of the drug charges and is happily back at work as a senior mechanic for a large airline. However, part of the sentencing and plea bargain protocols at his arraignment is his previous conviction on a lesser drug charge years before. It goes without saying that he did not advise his employers of this when he started work for them - no airline in the world (even pre 9/11) would hire someone with a drug conviction on their record! Now this is out in the open the airline knows that Rainwood is a convicted drug user (on the lesser, legitimate charge) and that he lied on his original job application. They wouldn't hire him again to sweep the floors.
An Innocent Man (1989)
Directed by: Peter Yates
Starring: Tom Selleck, F. Murray Abraham, David Rasche, Laila Robins
Factual error: Rainwood exposes Parnell as a bent cop and as a result his conviction is quashed. That can't happen. Rainwood pleaded guilty in a plea bargain so regardless of future events he is guilty in the eyes of the law. He could appeal against the severity of his sentence but his conviction would be upheld, regardless of how unfair that is. (There have been real life incidences of this kind of thing happening).
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Suggested correction: He didn't plead guilty in a plea bargain - he was found guilty that's why he got 6 years, if he'd plead guilty he'd have done a year.
Suggested correction: Rainwood never pleaded guilty, he was found guilty which is why he was sentenced to six years.
Other mistake: When they we're picking up the plexiglass off the floor, the piece they pick for a knife is way thicker than the rest of the plexiglass.
Virgil Cane: Ain't life a motherfucker.
Jingles, Con: Don't you ever touch me, you White Mother Fucker! Ever.
Jimmie Rainwood: All right, you talked and I listened.
Virgil Cane: Hey! HEY! Don't be talkin' out the side of your neck while I'm trying to do you a solid.
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Suggested correction: Even today in 2023 felony convictions might not show up on a background check. Not all information has been uploaded to the internet yet. It was extremely easy in the 1980's for a conviction to be missed by a background check especially if there was no prison time served or it occurred in a rural county or town.
He just got out of prison and establishing his innocence involved the violent deaths of at least two people. Do you not think that his employers just might have followed his story? He'd be all over the news media. The idea that not one person would have followed up on his criminal history is beyond absurd - we are talking about a safety critical job that involves the safety of hundreds of people.