Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway In short, Captain, I'd like to suggest that I be the one who that... that it be me who is assigned to represent them... myself.
Played by Demi Moore 
A Few Good Men (1992) · 96 quotes
A Few Good Men (1992) · 96 quotes
3rd most-quoted character in A Few Good Men (1992): in 34 of its 96 quotes
Most scenes with: Lt. Col. Matthew Markinson (26), Lt. Daniel Kaffee (24), Lt. Sam Weinberg (11)
I'd like to request that it be I am who assigned . . . that it be I who am assigned? That's great. That's confidence-inspiring. Good grammar there.
More lines from Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway
2 quotes Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway One thing, though. When you ask the judge for new counsel, Danny... be sure and ask nicely.
Scenes with Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway
31 scenes
Capt. West Commander Galloway, why don't you get yourself a cup of coffee?
Galloway Thank you, sir, I'm fine.
Capt. West Commander, I'd like you to leave the room so we can talk about you behind your back.
Galloway Certainly, sir.
Hi, I'm Daniel Kaffee. I was told to meet with, ah, Lieutenant Commander Galloway about a briefing?
Galloway You're the attorney Division assigned?
I'm lead counsel. This is Sam Weinberg.
I have no responsibilities here whatsoever.
Galloway Lieutenant, how long have you been in the Navy?
Going on nine months now.
Galloway And how long have you been out of law school?
A little over a year.
Galloway I see.
Have I done something wrong?
Galloway No, it's just that when I petitioned Division to have counsel assigned, I was hoping to be taken seriously.
No offense taken, in case you were wondering.
Commander, Lieutenant Kaffee is generally considered the best litigator in our office. He's successfully plea-bargained forty-four cases in nine months.
One more and I get a set of steak knives.
Am I correct to assume that these letters don't paint a flattering picture of Marine Corps life at Guantanamo Bay?
Galloway Yes, among —
And am I also right in assuming that an investigation of this incident might cause some embarrassment to the Security Council guy?
Galloway Colonel Jessep--
Twelve years.
Galloway I'm sorry?
I'll get them to drop the Conspiracy and Conduct Unbecoming. Twelve years.
Galloway You haven't talked to a witness or looked at a piece of paper.
Pretty impressive, huh?
Galloway You're going to have to go deeper than that.
Commander do you have some sort of jurisdiction I should know about.
Galloway My job, is to make sure you do you job. I'm special counsel for Internal Affairs, so my "jurisdiction's" pretty much in your face.
Galloway [crisply, after Kaffee's risen prematurely to leave]
You're dismissed.
I've done something wrong again, haven't I?
Galloway I'm just wondering why two guys have been in a jail cell since this morning while their lawyer is outside hitting a ball.
We need the practice.
Galloway That wasn't funny.
It was a little funny.
Galloway Lieutenant, would you feel very insulted if I recommended to your supervisor that he assign different counsel?
Why?
Galloway I don't think you're fit to handle this defense.
You don't even know me. Ordinarily it takes someone hours to discover I'm not fit to handle a defense. [long pause] Oh, come on! That was damn funny.
Galloway It's my feeling that if this case is handled in the same fast-food slick-ass Persian bazaar manner with which you seem to handle everything else, then something's gonna get missed. And I wouldn't be doing my job if I allowed Dawson and Downey to spend any more time in prison than is absolutely necessary because their attorney has predetermined the path of least resistance!
Wow! I'm sexually aroused, Commander.
What do you want from me?
Galloway I want you to let them be judged. I want you to stand up and make an argument.
An argument that didn't work for Calley at My Lai. An argument that didn't work for the Nazis at Nuremberg.
Oh for Christ's sake, Sam. Do you really think that's the same as two teenage Marines executing a routine order they never believed would result in harm? These guys aren't the Nazis!
Galloway Don't look now Danny, but you're making an argument.
Galloway Listen, I came to make peace. We got off on the wrong foot. What do you say, friends?
Kaffee
I, uh--
Galloway By the way, I brought Downey some comic books he was asking for. The kid, Kaffee, I swear he doesn't know where he is. He doesn't even know why he's been arrested!
Kaffee
Commander--
Galloway You can call me Joanne.
Kaffee
Joanne.
Galloway Or Jo.
Kaffee
Jo?
Galloway Yes.
Kafee
Jo, if you ever speak to a client of mine again without my permission, I'll have you disbarred. Friends?
You got authorization from Aunt Ginny.
Galloway Perfectly within my province.
Does Aunt Ginny have a barn? We could hold the trial there. I could sew the costumes, maybe his Uncle Goober could be the judge.
You and Dawson, you both live in the same dreamworld. It doesn't matter what I believe. It only matters what I can prove! So please, don't tell me what I know, or don't know; I know the law.
Galloway You know nothing about the law. You're a used-car salesman, Daniel. You're an ambulance chaser with a rank. You're nothing. Live with that.
Galloway Tell your friend not to get cute down there, the Marines at Gitmo are fanatical.
Fanatical about what?
Galloway About being Marines.
Hold on a sec, we got to take a boat?
Yes sir, just to get to the other side of the bay.
Nobody said anything about a boat.
Is there a problem, sir?
No, no problem, I'm just not that crazy about boats, that's all.
Galloway Jesus Christ, Kaffee, you're in the Navy for crying out loud!
Nobody likes her very much.
Yes, Sir.
Galloway Are you planning on doing any investigating, or are you just gonna take the guided tour?
I'm pacing myself.
Galloway Lieutenant Kendrick, do you think Private Santiago was murdered?
Commander, I believe in God and His Son Jesus Christ, and because I do, I can say this. Private Santiago is dead, and that is a tragedy. But he is dead because he had no code. He is dead because he had no honor. And God was watching.
How do you feel about that theory?
Sounds good. Let's move on.
Galloway I'm just wondering if you've ever heard the term "Code Red".
I've heard the term, yes.
Galloway This past February you received a cautionary memo from the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet, warning that the practice of enlisted men disciplining their own wasn't to be condoned by officers.
Well, I submit to you that whoever wrote that memo has never faced the working end of a Soviet-made Cuban AK-47 assault rifle. However, the directive having come from the commander, I gave it its due attention. What is your point, Jo?
She has no point. She often has no point, sir. It's part of her charm.
Galloway My point is that I think Code Reds still go on down here.
Joanne, you're coming dangerously close to the textbook definition of interfering with a government investigation.
Galloway I'm Louden Downey's attorney. Aunt Ginny; she said she feels like she's known me for years, so I suggested that she might feel more comfortable if I was directly involved with the case. She had Louden sign the papers about an hour ago.
I suppose it's way too much to hope that you're making this up just to bother me.
Why did Markinson go U.A.?
We'll never know.
You don't think I can subpoena Markinson?
You can try, but you won't find him. You know what Markinson did the first seventeen of his twenty-six years in the Corps? Counterintelligence. Markinson's gone. There is no Markinson.
...
Look, Danny, Jessep's star is on the rise. Division will give me a lot of room on this one to spare Jessep and the Corps any embarrassment.
How much room?
I'll knock it down to Involuntary Manslaughter--two years. They're home in six months.
Joanne Galloway No deal. We're going to court.
No, you're not.
Galloway Why not?
Because Danny knows that even though he's got me by the balls out here, in a courtroom, he loses this case.
All right, here's the story. The government is offering Involuntary Manslaughter. Two years. You'll be out in six months. [Dawson and Downey react with stony silence] Wow, Kaffee, you're the greatest lawyer in the world! Ooh, how can we ever thank you? Fellas, you hear what I just said? You're going home in six months.
I'm afraid we can't do that, sir.
Do what?
Make a deal, sir.
What are you talking about?
We did nothing wrong, sir. We did our job, and if that has consequences I'll accept them. But I won't say I'm guilty, sir.
Galloway No.
We have a code, sir.
Oh, well, zip-a-dee-doo-dah! You and your code plead not guilty, you'll be in jail for the rest of your life. Do what I'm telling you, you'll be home in six months. Do it, Harold. Six months. It's nothing. It's a hockey season.
Permission to--
Speak! Jesus!
What do we do then, sir?
When?
After six months we'll be dishonorably discharged. Right, sir?
Probably.
Well, what do we do then, sir? We joined the Marines because we wanted to live our lives by a certain code, and we found it in the Corps. Now you're asking us to sign a piece of paper that says we have no honor. You're asking us to say that we're not Marines. If a court decides that what we did was wrong, then I'll accept whatever punishment they give. But I belive I was right, I believe I did my job. But I will not dishonor myself, my unit, or the Corps so that I can go home in six months! Sir.
Maybe if we work at it we can get Dawson charged with the Kennedy assassination.
Galloway Are you drunk?
Pretty much...yeeaahh.
Galloway I'll put on a pot of coffee. We've got a long night's work ahead.
She's gonna make coffee... that's nice.
Downey wasn't in his room, wasn't even there. That was an important piece of infromation, don't you think?
Galloway Danny, it was a set back, and I'm sorry, but we fix it and move on to Markinson.
Markinson's dead. You really gotta hand it to those Federal Marshals... boy, it's not like he hanged himself by his shoelaces or slashed his wrists with a concealed butter knife. This guy got into full dress uniform, stood in the middle of that room, drew a nickel-plated pistol from his holster, and fired a bullet into his mouth. Anyway, since we seem to be out of witnesses, I thought I'd drink a little.
Galloway I still think we can win.
Then maybe you should drink a little.
Galloway We'll go to Randolph in the morning and ask for a continuance--24 hours.
Why?
Galloway To subponea Colonel Jessep.
No
Galloway Just listen for a second... Just hear me out...
No, I won't listen and I won't hear you out. Your passion is compelling, Jo; it's also useless. Lowden Downey needed a trial lawyer today.
Galloway You're chickenshit. You're gonna use what happened today as an excuse to give up.
It's over. What possible good would come from putting Jessep on the stand?
Galloway He ordered the Code red on Santiago.
He DID? That's great, and of course you have proof of this, right? Oh, I'm sorry, I keep forgetting you were sick the day they taught law at law school.
Galloway You put him on the stand and you get it from him.
Oh, we get it from him, yes! Colenel Jessep, isn't it true that you ordered the Code red on Santiago?
Look, we're all a little--
[imitates buzzer]
I'm sorry, your time's run out. What do we have for the losers, judge? Well, for our defendants it's a lifetime at exotic Fort Levenworth, and for Defense Council Kaffee, it's a court martial, yes... After falsly accusing a highly-decorated Marine officer of conspiracy and perjury, Lt. Kaffee will have a long and prosperous career teaching typewriter maitenance at the rocko club and school for women. Thank you for playing "Now Should We or Should We Not Follow the Advice of the Galactically Stupid?!". [throws a stack of papers off the table]
Galloway I'm sorry I lost your set of steak knives.
And don't wear that perfume in court. It wrecks my concentration.
Galloway Really?
I was talking to Sam.
Galloway Danny, I--
I know what you're gonna say. You don't have to. We've had our differences, I said some things I didn't mean, you said some things you didn't mean, but you're glad I stuck with the case. And if you've gained a certain respect for me over the last three weeks, well, of course I'm happy about that, but we don't have to make a whole big deal out of it. If you like me, I won't make you say it.
Galloway I was just going to tell you to wear matching socks tomorrow.
Okay. Good tip.
Galloway Why do you hate them so much?
They picked on a weakling. That's all they did, all right? The rest of this is just smoke-filled coffeehouse crap. They tortured and tormented a weaker kid. They didn't like him — so they killed him. And why? Because he couldn't run very fast!
Why do you like them so much?
Galloway Because they stand on a wall. And they say, "Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight, not on my watch."
Judge Randolph All Rise! Have the court members reached a verdict?
Member
We have, Sir.
[reading the verdict]
Lance Corporal Dawson, Private First Class Downey: On the charge of murder, the members find the accused not guilty. On the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, the members find the accused not guilty. On the charge of conduct unbecoming a United States Marine, the members find the accused guilty as charged. The accused are hereby sentenced to time already served, and you are ordered to be dishonorably discharged from the Marine Corps. This court martial is adjourned.
Bailiff
All rise.
Downey What does that mean? Hal, what does that mean? I don't understand. Colonel Jessep said he ordered the code red.
Joanne I know.
Downey Colonel Jessep said he ordered the Code Red. What did we do wrong?
Joanne It's not that simple.
Downey What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong!
Hal Yeah we did. We were supposed to fight for people who couldn't fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willy.
Galloway You're wrong - I do know you. Daniel Alistair Kaffee, born June 8th 1964 at Boston Mercy Hospital. Your father's Lionel Kaffee, former Navy Judge Advocate and Attorney General of the United States; died 1985. You went to Harvard Law, then you joined the Navy, probably because that's what your father wanted you to do, and now you're just treading water for the three years you've gotta serve in the JAG Corps, just... kinda laying low so you can go out and get a real job. If that's the situation, that's fine, I won't tell anyone. But it's my feeling that if this case is handled in the same fast-food, slick-ass "Persian Bazaar" manner with which you seem to handle everything else, something's gonna get missed. And I wouldn't be doing my job if I allowed Dawson and Downey to spend any more time in prison than absolutely necessary because their attorney had predetermined the path of least resistance.
Wow... I'm sexually aroused, Commander.
It had to be Professor Plum, in the library, with the candlestick.
Galloway I'm gonna talk to your supervisor.
Go straight up the Pennsylvania Avenue. It's the big white house with the pillars.
Galloway Thank you.
I don't think you'll have much luck though.
Danny
Lieutenant Kendrick. May I call you John?
No, you may not.
Danny
Have I done something to offend you?
No, I like all you Navy boys. Every time we gotta go someplace to fight, you fellas always give us a ride.
Galloway Lieutenant Kendrick, do you think Santiago was murdered?
Commander, I believe in God and His son Jesus Christ. And because I do, I can say this. Private Santiago is dead, and that is a tragedy. But he is dead because he had no code. He is dead because he had no honor, and God was watching.
Danny
[uneasily]
Sounds good! Let's move on.
I strenuously object? Is that how it works? Objection. Overruled! No, no, no... I strenuously object! Oh, I should reconsider then!
Galloway I got it on the record.
You got the court thinking we're afraid of the doctor. Christ, you even had the judge saying he was an expert! You object once, so we can say he's not a criminologist. You keep after it, our cross looks like a bunch of fancy lawyer tricks. It's the difference between paper law and trial law!
Galloway [...]
Why do you hate them so much?
They beat up on a weakling. The rest of this is just smoke-filled-coffeehouse crap. They tortured and tormented a weaker kid! They didn't like him. So? They killed him. And why? Because he couldn't run very fast!
Galloway [with a confident tone]
Because they stand on a wall and say, "Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight. Not on my watch."
Galloway I still think we can win.
Galloway Look, we'll go to Randolph in the morning and make a motion for a continuance, twenty-four hours.
Why would we wanna do that?
Galloway To subpoena Colonel Jessup.
What?
Galloway Listen for a second.
No.
Galloway Just hear me out!
No, I won't listen and I won't hear you out. Your passion is compelling, Jo; it's also useless. Louden Downey needed a trial lawyer today!
Galloway You chickenshit. You're going to use what happened today as an excuse to give up?
It's. Over.
Galloway Why did you ask Jessup for the transfer order?
What?
Galloway In Cuba, why did you ask Jessup for the transfer order?
What does it matter? I wanted the damn transfer order!
Galloway Bullshit! You could've gotten it by picking up the phone and calling any one of the dozen departments at the Pentagon. You didn't want the transfer order, you wanted to see Jessup's reaction when you asked for the transfer order. You had an instinct, and it was confirmed by Markinson. Now dammit, lets put Jessup on the stand and end this thing!
What possible good could come from putting Jessup on the stand?
Galloway He told Kendrick to order the Code Red!
[sarcastic]
He did? Well, that's great! Why didn't you say so?! And of course, you have proof of that? Oh! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting, you were sick the day they taught law at law school!
Galloway You put him on the stand and you get it from him.
Oh, we get it from him! Yes! No problem! We get it from him! "Colonel Jessup, isn't it true that you ordered the Code Red on Santiago?"
Listen, we're all a little--
[imitates buzzer]
EEEGH! I'm sorry, your time's run out! What do we have for the losers, Judge?! Well, for our defendants, it's a lifetime at exotic Fort Leavenworth! And for defense counsel Kaffee... That's right! It's a court martial! Yes, Johnny! After falsely accusing a highly decorated Marine officer of conspiracy and perjury, Lieutenant Kaffee will have a long and prosperous career teaching... typewriter maintenance at the Rocco Globo School for Women! Thank you for playing! Should we, or should we not, FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF THE GALACTICALLY STUPID?!
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