Twilight Zone: The Verdict

The scene in Twilight Zone: The Movie was meant to be a powerful climax: Actor Vic Morrow slogging across a river with a child under each arm as bombs exploded and a helicopter hovered overhead. Instead, the chopper crashed, killing Morrow and the two children and resulting in the first criminal trial of a film director for an accident on a movie set. Los Angeles Prosecutor Lea Purwin D'Agostino charged Director John Landis and four others with involuntary manslaughter. After an emotional nine-month trial, the jury last week acquitted all five defendants. "The jury trial is America at its best, and I'm very grateful," said a relieved Landis. Said D'Agostino: "If it's done nothing else, the trial has certainly made Hollywood more cautious."