 Danforth was a magistrate and leading figure in the colony at the time of the Salem witch trials , but did not sit on the Court of Oyer and Terminer . Despite this , he is inaccurately depicted in Arthur Miller 's play The Crucible and its movie adaptations as doing so . He is presented as a harsh and domineering judge , apparently conflated with William Stoughton , who is not even named in Miller 's play . In reality , Danforth is recorded as being critical of the conduct of the trials , and played a role in bringing them to an end . 
