Featured Image Credit: Paramount
Topics: South Park
Brenna Cooper
Real lawyers have seemingly taken inspiration from an episode of South Park which parodied dubious legal arguments.
Ladies and gentlemen, here is how South Park was able to influence real life legal systems through the creation of the 'Chewbacca defence'.
Named after the famous Wookie from George Lucas' sci-fi franchise, the Chewbacca defence originally appeared in the 1998 episode 'Chef Aid' during court proceedings between Chef and a record label who is accused of plagiarising him.
During the proceedings the record company's defence lawyer - a parody of attorney Johnnie Cochran who represented OJ Simpson - utilises the Chewbacca defence in order to secure a win.
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After unfurling a picture of Han Solo's right-hand man, the character goes on a rant about how it 'does not make sense' for Chewbacca to live on Endor due to his size, before telling the jury 'If Chewbacca lives on Endor you must acquit'.
Which is of course a parody of the infamous 'If it doesn't fit, you must acquit' argument used by Cochran while defending Simpson.
Confused? Don't worry, as that's the whole point of the argument and why it's so controversial.
The Chewbacca defence is deployed when a defending lawyer is aiming to confuse the jury rather than present facts or refute an argument made by the prosecution, with the end goal being to mislead jurors in their favour.
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Explaining how the term became a very real part of the US legal system, TikTok creator Alex (@popculturebrain), who said: "Over the years the term and the strategy behind the defence has entered real legal vernacular."
Legal website The Defenders goes on to add that the Chewbacca defence has been indirectly used in several cases, despite its 'unethical nature'.
Alex goes on to reference how this defence was famously used in the 2009 Swedish trial against four men who'd cofounded Pirate Bay.
The mens' defence attorneys for the men created the 'King Kong defence' as a hilarious way of arguing how they weren't responsible for crimes committed by others through Pirate Bay, famously saying: "The prosecutor must show that Carl Lundström personally has interacted with the user King Kong, who may very well be found in the jungles of Cambodia."
Unfortunately this didn't stop the four men receiving a guilty verdict.
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Alex also adds that a Florida man indicted on charges of federal tax fraud attempted to use a Chewbacca defence, leading to the prosecutor to make a direct reference to the episode.
"And I don’t want to seem flip, but some of you may have seen it. I think it’s a South Park episode," he said.
Life really does imitate art.