History Main / SmokingGun

* KarateBears found [[http://www.karatebears.com/2012/02/smoking-gun.html the smoking gun]] they had it.

Sometimes other [[CourtroomAntic courtroom antics]] are pulled to buy time if it is known the smoking gun will arrive soon. Often, the key piece of evidence is the real perpetrator being CaughtOnTape. Compare SurpriseWitness. When used outside the courtroom as the last part of a BatDeduction, it's ClueEvidenceAndASmokingGun

* Sometimes shows up in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney''.
** Subverted in case 1-5: presenting a piece of unapproved evidence too soon will point the gun at the wrong person, cause the judge to give you a [[OneHitKill one hundred percent penalty]], and force the player to reload. [[spoiler: You have to trick Damon Gant, who is both the witness at the time and the chief of police, into tying the evidence to the case through his testimony, and more importantly tying himself to the evidence as the one responsible for its existence as opposed to merely concealing it; you can then present it and win the trial.]]
** Also subverted at the end of case 4 of game 2, where [[spoiler: Gumshoe and Franziska work desperately to get apparently crucial evidence to the courtroom before the end of the trial, and Phoenix keeps stalling for time to the point that the Judge is seriously pissed, only for the evidence to be (apparently) completely worthless.]]
*** This is doubly subverted in case 3 of game 3, where [[spoiler: Gumshoe gets the fingerprints on a bottle of medicine owned by the victim tested and confirmed to be that of the witness, Furio Tigre, and this occurs at the very last second. However, since the witness has already admitted that he met with the victim, the fingerprints are just redundant evidence that don't prove that the witness actually murdered the victim. Then Phoenix pulls the old trick of [[INeverSaidItWasPoison lying about the evidence in order to trick the witness into revealing knowledge about the murder]]. So the evidence was crucial after all.]]
** Happens in the first witch trial of ProfessorLaytonVsAceAttorney, only it happens at the BEGINNING of the trial. [[spoiler: Layton shows up with the Grand Grimoire, which contains all the information on the magic the witches can use, giving Phoenix a leg to stand on in the setting's alien logic, as his client is accused of witchcraft.]]
*** Happens again in the last trial. Layton goes off to study the town's [[TownWithADarkSecret obligatory secret]], which he feels is relevant to Phoenix's case, and he returns [[spoiler:just in time to take the inquisitor's place, as she has been called as a witness and Layton says ''he can prove your client's guilt'']].

* In ''Literature/TurnCoat'', Dresden brings one in the form of [[spoiler: A picture of the actual perpetrator arriving in Chicago]].

* Sometimes shows up in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', like [[spoiler:the receipt used to absolve Maya]] in the second case of the first game.

** Subverted in case 1-5: presenting a piece of unapproved evidence too soon will cause the judge to give you a [[OneHitKill one hundred percent penalty]], and you'll have to reload. [[spoiler: You have to trick Damon Gant, who is both the witness at the time and the chief of police, into ''technically'' approving the evidence; you can then present it and win the trial.]]

Sometimes other [[CourtroomAntic courtroom antics]] are pulled to buy time if it is known the smoking gun will arrive soon. Compare SurpriseWitness. When used outside the courtroom as the last part of a BatDeduction, it's ClueEvidenceAndASmokingGun

* The Creator/LordPeterWimsey mystery novel ''Clouds of Witness'' ends with a smoking gun, namely [[spoiler: the victim's suicide letter, which he sent to his ex-lover in America. To get the letter back to London in time for the trial, Lord Peter has to take an airplane... and in the year 1926, a transatlantic flight is no laughing matter. It's dramatic all right.]]

* Done literally in ''New Warriors''. Vance, a telekinetic, is on trial for the murder of his abusive father. The defense claims it was an accident, Vance was striking out in self-defense with his badly-tuned powers. The prosecuter pulls a pistol and fires at Vance's face. Vance mentally freezes the gag pistol and, unfortunately, the very smoke emanating from it. Stopping the smoke gets him sent away. The prosecuter remains unpunished.
* In ''YoungbloodJudgmentDay'', Toby King introduces the book of Hermes, a book containing all of history that can be used to alter the future -- or the past. He'd spent the entire trial trying to prove that the theft of the book was the true motive for Riptide's murder, and finally had proof of both this and his client Knightsabre's innocence: a passage written by [[spoiler:Sentinel]] to implicate Knightsabre in the crime, as proven by the fact that it ''describes him writing it''.

* The LordPeterWimsey mystery novel ''Clouds of Witness'' ends with a smoking gun, namely [[spoiler: the victim's suicide letter, which he sent to his ex-lover in America. To get the letter back to London in time for the trial, Lord Peter has to take an airplane... and in the year 1926, a transatlantic flight is no laughing matter. It's dramatic all right.]]

* In the trial of Tycho Celchu in the ''XWingSeries'' novels, there are two smoking guns. The first is a surprise witness (Who the prosecution and defense were both fully aware of and trying to bring in, it's just that he had only come forward as a witness less than a day before), who was killed before he could testify. The other is yet another surprise witness, who neither prosecutor or defense knew about until he walked into the courtroom - [[spoiler:the man that Tycho was on trial for murdering]].

* The Christmas special ''GrandmaGotRunOverByAReindeer'' has the grandson Jake clearing Santa's name with surprise evidence and no backing from anyone other than his own knowledge by proving the real culprit [[spoiler: his Cousin Mel. To do this, he enters the courtroom, states that Cousin Mel gave the cake that grandma had "Reindeer Nip", which caused the reindeer to make a U turn and slam into her. That, along with a note that says essentially "It's okay, I'm Santa, I'm going to take your grandmother to the north pole to heal, causes his cousin to confess and get herself arrested.]] [[AssPull Almost as if the writers knew this was impossible]], the prosecution attempts to object, and the judge never acknowledges that he said anything and lets Jake keep talking.

Sometimes other [[CourtroomAntic courtroom antics]] are pulled to buy time if it is known the SmokingGun will arrive soon. Compare SurpriseWitness. When used outside the courtroom as the last part of a BatDeduction, it's ClueEvidenceAndASmokingGun

* The film ''Film/MyCousinVinny'' ends with a classic SmokingGun revelation, in which Vinny discovers a piece of evidence (Mona Lisa Vito's photograph of the tire marks, which was taken from a different position than the police photo and so showed the tire marks in their entirety) that proves that his clients couldn't have committed the murder, which leads to the further revelation that the actual perpetrators have already been arrested for an unrelated crime. At that point, it doesn't even have to go to the jury -- the prosecuting attorney dismisses the charges against Vinny's clients.

* The LordPeterWimsey mystery novel ''Clouds of Witness'' ends with a SmokingGun, namely [[spoiler: the victim's suicide letter, which he sent to his ex-lover in America. To get the letter back to London in time for the trial, Lord Peter has to take an airplane... and in the year 1926, a transatlantic flight is no laughing matter. It's dramatic all right.]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Used literally in ''BeeMovie''. Barry's friend even has to buy time, and the defending lawyer demands evidence (despite there already being evidence) of a smoking gun. Barry shows up with a smoke gun used to calm down honeybees. Bees win the case against humans.

* In JohnHemry's Literature/PaulSinclair novel ''Rule of Evidence'', Paul Sinclair dredges up evidence at the last moment that the newly installed system on the ship could have caused the problem they were blaming on sabotage. Specifically, the evidence includes a warning of problems the system could cause ... and the description in the warning is essentially identical to what actually happened. Someone in the government had concealed that evidence; the prosecutor [[note]]who helped get the evidence introduced, even though it trashed the case she'd been making[[/note]] and the judge were '''NOT''' happy with whoever it was.

** The animation cell in one episode which revealed the true creator of Itchy and Scratchy.

* ''Series/{{Mash}}''

* Episode "Rules of Engagement" of ''Series/DeepSpaceNine'' features this in two identical lists of passengers.

* The animation cell in a TheSimpsons episode which revealed the true creator of Itchy and Scratchy.

* A repeated Christmas special by Creator/CartoonNetwork GrandmaGotRunOverByAReindeer has the grandson Jake clearing Santa's name with surprise evidence and no backing from anyone other than his own knowledge by proving the real culprit [[spoiler: his Cousin Mel. To do this, he enters the courtroom, states that Cousin Mel gave the cake that grandma had "Reindeer Nip", which caused the reindeer to make a U turn and slam into her. That, along with a note that says essentially "It's okay, I'm Santa, I'm going to take your grandmother to the north pole to heal, causes his cousin to confess and get herself arrested.]] Almost as if the writers knew this was impossible, the prosecution attempts to object, and the judge never acknowledges that he said anything and let's Jake keep talking.

* ''BostonLegal'': One episode featured a witness for the prosecution surprising everyone by stating he filmed the crime. Despite the defence having not been previously made aware of the evidence, Sally Heap, the defendant's attorney, didn't object to its inclusion, which lead to her being berated by one of her superiors at Crane, Poole and Schmidt. She explained that she felt it wasn't the prosecutor's fault. (Which shows she doesn't know the rules, or she'd know that, prosecutor's fault or not, she could - and therefore should - have objected). Despite the defendant having been acquitted, this case is implied to be a reason Alan Shore didn't try to keep her from being fired in a later episode.

* ''DivorceCourt'', ''Superior Court'' and ''The Judge'': A bread-and-butter staple of these 1980s courtroom dramas. In more than a few episodes, the defense will rest its case before the prosecution will play its ace with a surprise piece of evidence, almost always which leads to conviction of the defendant. Sometimes subverted, as it will be a key prosecution witness who will be exposed with a piece of surprise evidence, and the defendant will be acquitted or, at the very least, a plea deal will be brokered or mistrial will be declared.
* Happens at least twice in the first series of MurderOne:

* The film ''My Cousin Vinny'' ends with a classic SmokingGun revelation, in which Vinny discovers a piece of evidence (Mona Lisa Vito's photograph of the tire marks, which was taken from a different position than the police photo and so showed the tire marks in their entirety) that proves that his clients couldn't have committed the murder, which leads to the further revelation that the actual perpetrators have already been arrested for an unrelated crime. At that point, it doesn't even have to go to the jury -- the prosecuting attorney dismisses the charges against Vinny's clients.

* Sometimes shows up in ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', like [[spoiler:the receipt used to absolve Maya]] in the second case of the first game.

Sometimes other [[CourtroomAntic courtroom antics]] are pulled to buy time if it is known the SmokingGun will arrive soon. Compare SurpriseWitness

* In the film LegallyBlonde towards the climax, Elle manages to pull one hell of a witness testimony and succeed just as she wanted. [[spoiler: Chutney states she had gotten a perm, then takes a shower at home a while later. Elle manages to catch there'd be no way she could have as she'd ruin the perm, and begins proving it with a series of fast-paced comments stating why it's impossible. Chutney gets stressed and reveals herself as the culprit. While there technically was no introduced evidence, no character in the trial had picked up on the fact, thus Chutney's hair became the evidence.]]

* A literal example in the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy: assassin Sirhan Sirhan was wrestled to the ground with the gun, still smoking, in his hand.

* The film ''My Cousin Vinny'' ends with a classic SmokingGun revelation, in which Vinny discovers a piece of evidence that proves that his clients couldn't have committed the murder, which leads to the further revelation that the actual perpetrators have already been arrested for an unrelated crime. At that point, it doesn't even have to go to the jury -- the prosecuting attorney dismisses the charges against Vinny's clients.
** The evidence had already been introduced, it's just that no one had noticed the key piece of information hidden within it, until then.

** Subverted at the end of case 4 of game 2, where [[spoiler: Gumshoe and Franziska work desperately to get apparently crucial evidence to the courtroom before the end of the trial, and Phoenix keeps stalling for time to the point that the Judge is seriously pissed, only for the evidence to be (apparently) completely worthless.]]

** Subverted in additional case of first game against [[spoiler:Damon Gant]]. Presenting certain piece of evidence that wasn't introduced to the court will cost you the case and end up with instant game over. First You have to [[spoiler:trick Damon Gant, who happens to be Chief of Police, to approve of this unregistered evidence, then show its real meaning to the world]].