"Jaws: The Trial" - Kintner vs Vaughn mock trial held at San Diego Comic Con 2022

On July 21st at San Diego Comic Con 2022, 'what-if' legal history was made at the Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel, where thelegalgeeks.com hosted "JAWS: The Trial," which saw Mrs. Kintner get her day in court, as she sued the City of Amity for liability in the shark-related death of her son, Alex Kintner in July of 1975.

The plaintiff, Mrs. Kintner (Valerie Tosi) went toe-to-toe with the defendant, Mayor Larry Vaughn (Jeff May, in his killer Great White Wig), who was "acting in the town's best interests". Michael Dennis and Mark Zaid represented Mrs. Kintner (payment in cash or check undetermined), with Jane Boardman and Kathy Steinman as defense counsel. The mock trial was moderated by Legal Geek, Josh Gilliland. Both plaintiff and defense counsels were real-life lawyers.

The judge in this case was Carol Najera, who brought considerable expertise to the proceedings, as one of the former prosecutors in the real-life double homicide case of Lyle & Eric Menendez, a double-homicide that became a media sensation in Los Angeles (and the US) during the late 1980s.

"JAWS" references and in-jokes poured in like Hooper's red wine, as a tearful Mrs. Kintner struggled to remember the name of the 'missing dog' on that that fateful day at the beach ("Pippin, Piper..."), as well as her 'alleged' slapping of Police Chief Martin Brody. Prosecutor Zaid grilled the ever-shifty Mayor Vaughn on his hiring of the late Captain Quint to kill the shark. Captain Quint, who couldn't be with the court, same as poor Alex, who'd never get the chance to buy a commemorative Amity t-shirt or eat a hot dog from an island hotdog vendor...

While the plaintiff's counsel played largely on audience sympathies, defense counsel made a surprisingly sound case, citing real-life Massachusetts' statutes that relieve municipalities of liability in cases where a plaintiff is injured--or eaten--while freely enjoying public facilities, such as a beach. There would have to be evidence of deliberate malice on Mayor Vaughn's part, and that was not proven (no doubt paving the way for his reelection in "JAWS 2").

The plaintiff's counsel was also overruled on several key points, including the irrelevance of Quint's contract to kill the shark with the Kintner case. Chrissy Watkins' earlier death by alleged shark attack was deemed irrelevant as well, since the coroner's report of a probable 'boating accident' was submitted into evidence as the final word on the young woman's cause of death.

In the end, the 'jury' (the panel audience), voted with a show of hands in a near-even split. Judge Najera was forced to rule in favor of Mayor Vaughn and Amity Island, citing Massachusetts' liability laws. She also mentioned that if the plaintiffs had opened their case to include the estuary victim (Tedd Grossman), the relevance of hiring Captain Quint might've been allowed.

For this "JAWS" fan, "JAWS: The Trial" was three barrels of fun, even if it didn't go as some would've preferred. Some days, you just can't fight City Hall.

This court is adjourned.

If you're up for more hypothetical trials, such as the laws of the Star Wars universe, check out thelegalgeeks.com on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, FaceBook, and Reddit.

Words and photos by Sebastian Sanzberro creator of musingsofamiddleagedgeek.com

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