FAQ

L.A. Confidential is also a 1990 novel by American crime writer James Ellroy. L.A. Confidential is actually the third book in a series of four books called The L.A. Quartet. They are The Black Dahlia (1987), The Big Nowhere (1988), L.A. Confidential (1990), and White Jazz (1992). The Black Dahlia was the basis of the movie, Black Dahlia (2006) (2006), and White Jazz was under development, but remains stalled with no projected release date.

It was simple rumor and conjecture. As the story about the injured officers spread throughout the precinct, the story was exaggerated by everyone it passed through. Listen to the way Vincennes very dramatically says, "I hear Helenowski lost 6 pints of blood and Brown's in a coma!", when the suspects are brought in. Moments later another detective tells a worse tale about one man losing an eye and the other being read his last rites. Add to that the fact that the men had been drinking heavily at the Christmas party and the scene quickly turned violent, leading Stensland and a few other detectives to go on the Bloody Christmas rampage in the cell block.

Yes, Exley (Guy Pearce) testified and Stensland was expelled from the force. That's why Stensland (Graham Beckel) knocked his box to the floor, why the other detectives sneered at him working late and groaned when he was put in charge of the interrogations. Their attitude toward him continues until he runs the interrogations of the Nite Owl suspects and proves to the veterans of the department that he's an effective police detective. He also gets a boost when he finds the three suspects after they escape confinement and kills them all—for which the now-respectful department tells him he did a good job and dubs him "Shotgun Ed". Exley also seems possessed of a personality that shelters him from their taunts, criticism, comments, etc. It would probably sustain him for a time despite being despised by the veterans but as things turn out, he becomes a hero in the department.

The LAPD Commissioner and DA Lowe wanted to send White (Russell Crowe) down, but Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) protected him at the cost of letting Stensland go. From then on, Dudley was able to coerce Bud into doing anything he wanted him to do, including beating up thugs that would come to LA looking to take over Mickey Cohen's crime territory.

Susan Lefferts' body can be seen briefly when Exley opens the restroom door at the Nite Owl massacre, where a single shotgun wound to her chest is visible. This same wound is partly visible when the sheet is pulled back at the morgue, though hard to detect due to the viewing angle and presumable cleansing of the body, so we only catch a glimpse of it.

Remember that this film takes place from around December 1952 to sometime in Spring 1953, over a decade before the outcome of the 1966 Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona which established that suspects of crime are to be informed of their rights upon being arrested or charged lest the evidence produced from such suspects becomes inadmissible in court. You've likely seen other films where an officer begins with "You have the right to remain silent..." (alluding to the Fifth Amendment) and goes on to say that the suspect has the right to an attorney (alluding to the Sixth Amendment) and a phone call (as a common courtesy for way to quickly notify friends or family of one's status and whereabouts). Before Miranda rights were set up to protect both suspects and the police, officers were pretty much allowed to use any tactics they saw fit to get confessions, whether the confessions were true or false. Additionally, police misconduct (brutality) didn't become a major national issue again after Miranda until the Rodney King beating of 1991. There were many incidents of it all throughout history, but the King incident pushed it to the forefront. So, you have scenes of blatant misconduct like Bud putting his gun in the mouth of one of the black men or Dudley Smith taking known gangsters to the Victory Motel where they were beaten and run out of town.

Jack was put on suspension because he'd been involved in the Bloody Christmas rampage -- he hit one of the Mexican suspects when the man was thrown into him but it was more just a knee jerk reaction to being shoved and getting blood on his suit and tie. The Commissioner, Capt Smith & the DA all tell him that in exchange for testifying about the incident, he'll be given a brief suspension and a transfer from the narcotics unit to the vice unit so his image of being a popular star and cop can cool off a bit.

However, Jack finds out it may not be a simple transfer back into Narcotics when he reports to Vice: the detective in charge of the unit tells Jack that the only way he'll get out of Vice and back to Narcotics is if he makes a major case, so it'll be a bit harder for Jack to regain his celebrity status than he figured. He does though, when he proves an instrumental lead in the Night Owl case.