History Main / MiscarriageOfJustice

* One episode of ''Series/WomensMurderClub'' featured a man who, seven years after being convicted for murder, would be executed for this. The case had a turn of events when the key witness is killed after sending an email admitting to have lied. It turns out [[spoiler:the prosecutor was secretly dating the victim and was so sure the defendant was guilty he blackmailed someone to give false testimony. In the end, the innocent was cleared, the murderer was caught and the prosecutor was arrested for tampering with the case. That case also featured FridgeBrilliance. When a DNA test confirmed the witness was killed by the same person who killed the original victim, nobody used that alone to stop the execution. The killer had to be caught first.]]

** "In My Feelings" has Kate's mom taken hostage by a man whom she put in prison for murder comes back after getting released for revenge, stating she used false evidence. [[spoiler:She admits it's true, her husband had planted it but she wasn't aware at the time, failing to reveal this later so Kate wouldn't know what her father did. This is {{zigzagged}} as he later admits he'd killed his wife, although his conviction wasn't valid.]]

* ''Series/SWAT2017'': In Season 5 there's an arc where Deacon (who it turns out runs a prison Bible study group) meets an inmate he'd arrested years ago, who's been convicted of murder but maintains his innocence. Deacon, though not convinced at first, agrees to look into the man's alleged alibi. He becomes convinced that the man's innocent and works to reopen his case, with his wife Annie's help. It turns out they're right [[spoiler: as the victim was killed by a woman whose husband had [[WomanScorned cheated with the victim]], letting slip information that [[INeverSaidItWasPoison only the killer would know]].]][[/folder]]

* ''Series/SWAT2017'': In Season 5 there's an arc where Deacon (who it turns out runs a prison Bible study group) meets an inmate he'd arrested years ago, who's been convicted of murder but maintains that he's innocent. Deacon, though not convinced at first, agrees to look into the man's alleged alibi. He becomes convinced that the man's innocent and works to reopen his case.
[[/folder]]

* In 2006, Bavarian man [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustl_Mollath Gustl Mollath]] was accused by his wife of battering her, and was subsequently declared a criminally insane paranoiac in court. Only after ''seven years'' of [[GoAmongMadPeople asylum hospitalisation]] did it emerge that the allegations were completely baseless: his wife was a banker who was involved in handling clandestine Swiss bank accounts. When Mollath threatened to go public with it, she denounced him to a psychologist, prompting said psychologist to file a report that portrayed him as a violent lunatic. This report [[CircularReasoning would be regurgitated by a half dozen other independent experts, who would then proceed to cite each other as further evidence of Mollath's madness]]. Lastly, the judge who issued the ruling [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections turned out to be an acquaintance of a colleague]] (and future husband) of Mrs. Mollath.

* ''Series/TheFugitive'' revolved around Dr. Richard Kimble, who had been wrongfully blamed for the murder of his wife and imprisoned until he managed to escape and go on the run to search for the real killer, often helping the people he met before having to leave to avoid the cops hot on his tail.
** The 2000 remake had the same premise. However, [[Series/TheFugitive2020 the 2020 remake]] instead revolved around an ex-con named Mike Ferro who was blamed for a terrorist attack because he had coincidentally sent a text message right when the attack began, and both the police and [[ImmoralJournalist the media]] latched on to this as proof of his culpability and exposed this to the public, which meant that everyone except his family blamed him as well.

* Series/InnocentUK is all about this trope. Two series so far have had their protagonists having their convictions for murder quashed after new evidence comes to light, and the police having to reopen the original investigation to find the real killer, whilst the person wrongly convicted tries to rebuild their life.

* The Twitch chat of ''WebVideo/SkyblockButEvery30SecondsARandomItemSpawns'' believes this to be the case in Jim Jum being convicted of Barnaby's murder. [[spoiler:They were right.]]

* This was the premise of one episode of the 2002 revival of ''Series/TheTwilightZone''; a famous songwriter's life is revealed to be a fantasy created in response to him being accused of killing a cop, and being [[CopKillerManhunt brutally interrogated while his numerous claims that he was innocent were ignored]]. In the end, he's beaten to the point that he's comatose, while the cop who did the beating claimed IDidWhatIHadToDo, only for another officer to come in saying that the actual shooter had just been picked up.

* Rather hilariously {{subverted}} in ''ComicBook/{{Icon}}'' with the character "Buck Wild," a parody of ComicBook/LukeCage. As he says, "It all started when I wuz convicted of a crime I didn't commit. I plea bargained ''down'' from the crime I ''really'' did."

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', Shyla Kor-Onn and her lawyer use manipulated evidence to charge ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} with participating in a criminal conspiracy with ComicBook/LexLuthor. Even though it makes absolutely no sense that Superman's cousin is in cahoots with his nemesis, Kara is found guilty and hurled into the PhantomZone.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Sonic is put under arrest for disobeying royal orders to not get roboticized, where he was turned into Mecha Sonic and wrecked Knothole. Antoine used the entire ordeal to try and ruin Sonic's name in the trial and despite Sonic showing evidence that Nack the Weasel had escaped his cell, backing up his claim that Nack ambushed him, he was still sentenced to exile, but Sonic is given a chance to find Nack and bring him back, clearing his name.

* The show ''Series/InJustice'' revolved around clearing wrongfully convicted people. In episode 8, they fail to save a mentally disabled man from being executed because the judge feels that they don't yet have enough proof. It's sort of up in the air, since the episode ended with the detective confronting the real murderer (as well as the fact that the rest of the team knows who the killer actually is and persuaded the guy's wife to retract her alibi, meaning that they could have gathered enough evidence to nail him to a wall offscreen).

The inverse--an ObviouslyEvil and guilty person going free--isn't this trope, but a KarmaHoudini situation that falls under one of a number of tropes depending on how they escaped justice; OffOnATechnicality is the most common, but sometimes it can be a result of DiplomaticImpunity, ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney, ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections, an InsanityDefense, NotProven, and so on. Also, [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant has nothing to do with]] a pregnant woman having a miscarriage due to bad karma.

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', Jolyne Kujoh winds up in the Green Dolphin prison because of this. Her boyfriend commits a hit-and-run, which she agrees to keep quiet about; he then reports the car stolen and bribes Jolyne's lawyer to provide false information about the terms of her plea bargain (she thought she'd get less than five years after a grace period, and ended up with fifteen). She wasn't even aware that the victim was dead until her sentencing. [[spoiler: It turns out to be part of a larger [[FrameUp frame-up]] by the BigBad to get at her father, although neither her boyfriend or the lawyer were directly involved with the ones behind it.]]
* This happens a ''lot'' in ''Manga/OnePiece''; In order to have [[LovableRogue sympathetic pirate protagonists]], there have to be not just evil pirates, but also corrupt law officials or nobility in order to justify the heroes' law-breaking.

* The very first man exonerated by DNA testing in the US., Kirk Bloodsworth, was found guilty of rape and murder due to being mistakenly identified by eyewitnesses as the man they had noticed around the area (he resembled the real culprit). He was freed after eight years while having unknowingly been in a cell above the actual rapist and murderer (who was serving his sentence for another rape). The man wished him luck on his release ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer no, you can't make this stuff up]]) and was later convicted of the crimes himself after they finally ran the DNA from the original case against the national database.

* Roger Keith Coleman once seemed like the poster child for this trope. On March 10, 1981, Wanda [=McCoy=] was found raped, stabbed, and nearly beheaded in her own home, for which Coleman was convicted. The only real evidence that there was to go on were spots of blood on Coleman's pants and two male pubic hairs found on [=McCoy's=] body that were consistent with his own. Several witness accounts also placed Coleman as being other places at the time the crime occurred (also, the next-door neighbor was a serial rapist). While on death row, Coleman maintained that he was innocent and managed to gain numerous supporters, including Pope John Paul II. Shortly before his execution in 1992, he stated that "an innocent man is going to be murdered tonight". His supporters and anti-death penalty activists petitioned and lobbied for many years to have the evidence from the crime tested. Finally, in 2006, DNA testing finally confirmed that Coleman [[SubvertedTrope really was responsible for the crime.]]

* In Creator/KevinJAnderson's ''Literature/{{Blindfold}}'', a loading dock worker is falsely accused of murdering his boss. {{Subverted}} in that the accusation came not from a trial, but from a [[PsychicPowers mind scan]] by a young Truthsayer, who is implicitly trusted to always be right. When the mistake is realized, the head Truthsayer realizes they can't admit it to the people, as their entire justice system will crumble. Interestingly, the guy who actually ordered the murder is just as shocked as anyone else by the verdict, even though [[spoiler:his manipulations with the Veritas drug caused the mistake]]. In the end, [[spoiler:the truth is revealed, causing the Truthsayers to be disbanded and the society to return to a more traditional justice system]].

* Canary's trial in ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has shades of this. Despite being normal aside from her CompellingVoice, she's fitted with a restraint system used for superpowered Brutes which no doubt hurts her impression to the jury. Speaking of the voice, she's literally gagged and denied the right to speak in her own defense. When convicted, the judge uses her to set a precedent by immediately sentencing her to [[TheAlcatraz the Birdcage]] despite having no prior convictions and explicitly stating that Canary's case fell under the a law that says he can't do that. (The Three Strikes Protection Act held that since the Birdcage was essentially life without hope of parole or even reduction of sentence on appeal, under normal circumstances Parahumans could only be sent there after being convicted of a severe felony on at least three separate occasions. A later chapter implies that it also protects people from being sentenced to death under the same circumstances. Canary was on trial for an accidental use of her powers... with, as presented, no actual evidence that her victim was affected by the power.).
* In ''Alguien debe morer'' by José-Luis Martin Vigil, Alipio Zadona is sentenced to die for murdering Lucas Paz, who died while he was attempting to blackmail Judge José Reyes. [[spoiler:[[LastMinuteReprieve On the day of his execution]], although the Reyes is unable to confess, the niece of the true murderer confesses her aunt's guilt]].

* A stock phrase of Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon, whenever a wrestler (always a heel) cheated to win. Amped up when the face wrestler was disqualified for using a weapon after the heel used the same weapon ... and the referee saw only the face use it!

** The third case of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'' (''Gyakuten Kenji 2'') is about a man who was found guilty [[spoiler:as an accomplice]] to a murder 18 years prior. The defending attorney, [[spoiler:Gregory Edgeworth]], tried his hardest to get an acquittal, but [[spoiler:the lack of a body didn't give him enough evidence to work with and eventually, due to overzealous pressure for a confession, the defendant eventually cracked and confessed to a crime he never committed]]. The best he was able to do was give the prosecution a black mark for their conduct during the interrogations (which itself leads [[spoiler:to the infamous "DL-6 Incident" that was basically the ignition for the rest of the franchise]]). The conclusion [[spoiler:uncovers the true culprit and proves the defendant innocent]], however [[spoiler:the culprit was only able to be convicted because the defendant's trial and conviction as an accomplice had extended the statute of limitations on the murder by one year, when it would have otherwise run out four months ago. If the defendant were to have his conviction overturned and go free, then the extension would no longer apply and the culprit would go free as well]]. Ultimately, Edgeworth and co. [[spoiler:choose to free the defendant, while planning to try and get the problems with the statute of limitations sorted out in the future so that the culprit can still face justice]].

** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' has [[spoiler:a rare example of a false ''acquital''- Magnus [=McGilded=], who was tried for the murder of Mason Milverton, is successfully defended by protagonist Ryunosuke Naruhodo, only for it to become clear by the end that he is guilty after all. But despite the pleading of Ryunosuke for the trial to continue, the jury goes with a not guilt verdict. Though he gets murdered by the son of Mason anyway]].

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'': [[spoiler:Kaede Akamatsu is initially thought to be the one who murdered Rantaro Amami via DeathTrap in Chapter 1, but the final trial reveals that her trap actually failed. The mastermind, Tsumugi, stepped in to kill Rantaro and arrange the scene to make it look like the trap worked, in order to keep [[TrumanShowPlot the reality show]] on-track]].

* Happens a number of times in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''. One incident that really sticks out is in the TT version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, where the role of Goldilocks is played by animal abuser Elmyra. After breaking into the three bears' house, trashing everything, messing with their stuff, followed by causing great pain and abuse to the bears, upon being summoned by the bears' alarm, instead of arresting Elmyra, [[CavalryBetrayal the police mistake the bears for wild creatures, capture them, and haul them to the zoo!]]

* The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case "Central Park Jogger"]] case. On April 19, 1989, investment banker Tricia Meili was savagely attacked in New York City's Central Park -- beaten, raped, and left for dead. Within days, five young men -- known as the Central Park 5 -- who had been terrorizing people in the park were arrested. Despite no DNA evidence, no identification by Meili (she survived, but could not remember the attack), and a time frame that showed that the boys could NOT have assaulted the woman -- ironically because they were attacking someone else at the time -- all were convicted and sent to prison. A decade later, a man serving time for another crime came forward and confessed that he, and he alone, was the real perpetrator. There was nothing the DA's office could do but overturn the convictions of the others -- who had all served their undeserved time. Meanwhile, the statute of limitations had run out, meaning that the man could not be prosecuted for the attack. So, 5 innocent (relatively speaking) young men spent a decade in prison for something they didn't do, a guilty man remained -- and STILL remains -- unpunished for something he did, and Meili will never see proper justice done. A thoroughly gross miscarriage of justice all around. A partial subversion took place on June 20, 2014: the Central Park 5 [[http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/20/323996355/central-park-5-win-40-million-from-nyc-for-false-convictions will receive $40 million dollars]] due to wrongful conviction compensation laws. The actual rapist too is serving life without parole for raping and murdering another woman, so he's at least in prison forever.

* Roger Keith Coleman once seemed like the poster child for this trope. On March 10, 1981, Wanda [=McCoy=] was found raped, stabbed, and nearly beheaded in her own home, for which Coleman was convicted. The only real evidence that there was to go on were spots of blood on Coleman's pants and two male pubic hairs found on [=McCoy's=] body that were consistent with his own. Several witness accounts also placed Coleman as being other places at the time the crime occurred (also, the next-door neighbor was a serial rapist). While on death row, Coleman maintained that he was innocent and managed to gain numerous supporters, including Pope John Paul II. Shortly before his execution in 1992, he stated that "an innocent man is going to be murdered tonight." His supporters and anti-death penalty activists petitioned and lobbied for many years to have the evidence from the crime tested. Finally, in 2006, DNA testing finally confirmed that Coleman [[SubvertedTrope really was responsible for the crime.]]
* The very first man exonerated by DNA testing in the US, Kirk Bloodsworth, was found guilty of rape and murder due to being mistakenly identified by eyewitnesses as the man they had noticed around the area (he resembled the real culprit). He was freed after eight years while having unknowingly been in a cell above the actual rapist and murderer (who was serving his sentence for another rape). The man wished him luck on his release ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer no, you can't make this stuff up]]) and was later convicted of the crimes himself after they finally ran the DNA from the original case against the national database.

* A unique example in ''Film/BeyondAReasonableDoubt.'' A newspaper publisher decides to test the system by [[FrameUp having himself framed]] for the murder of a woman. He intends to wait for the trial to nearly find him guilty before having a friend bring up the evidence to exonerate him. However, the friend is killed on his way to the courthouse and the evidence lost so the man is found guilty. His girlfriend is able to prove his innocence, only [[spoiler:for his wife to discover that he did indeed murder the woman, who was his first wife, and his execution is set to go on]].

** In "Death Penalty Final Appeal", it's one of the two movers who had moved the victim and her father into their new home; the other mover, who had a criminal record, was blamed and convicted [[spoiler:and executed before his name could be cleared. Fortunately, they manage to catch the real killer and exonerate him posthumously and the corrupt DA who withheld the evidence is fired and disbarred.]].

* The episode "Riding the Lightning" of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' has the team suspect that a woman who was supposedly the accomplice of her serial killer husband and nearing execution is innocent of her son's murder (the only crime which she was actually charged with)...but she doesn't seem very enthusiastic about the possibility of being cleared. [[spoiler:It turns out that she is indeed innocent, but she doesn't want to be acquitted, because the only way to achieve that would be revealing that her son is alive and has a new identity. She believes that if that happened, the boy's knowledge of what a monster his biological father was would taint his whole life. Therefore, she lets herself die as well.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E56DuckmanOfAquatraz Duckman of Aquatraz]]," Scrooge [=McDuck=] is framed for theft by his rival Flintheart Glomgold and put into prison, where, conveniently, it turns out that his cellmate was ''also'' framed by Glomgold.

* A twist occurs in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', when [[spoiler:Lt. Maria Ross is accused of murdering Lt. Col. Hughes. She's not allowed to present the evidence that proves her innocence because it involves the testimony of her parents, whom she was visiting at the time of the murder, and family members aren't allowed to testify. Her partner, Sgt. Brosh, is also not allowed to speak on her behalf. She's confident that justice will still carry the day, though...until she's informed that it's been reported in the newspaper that she was convicted ''while she's still awaiting trial''.]]

* In ''Fanfic/AGemOfADay'', [[spoiler:Rarity and Applejack get arrested when they try to steal back the former's dress design from Suri Polomare. When asked how they can arrest them when Suri was the one real thief, the arresting officer replied it was because Suri didn't pull a breaking and entering]].

** The 2009 remake of ''Beyond a Reasonable Doubt'' plays it mostly the same, as reporter C.J. frames himself to prove a D.A. is corrupt and willing to put innocent people behind bars to pad his record. Again, the evidence is lost and C.J. is put in jail, but his girlfriend Crystal proves his innocence and the case is a mistrial. But then [[spoiler:Crystal realizes the murder victim was going to give away she was the "drug addict" from C.J.'s award-winning documentary, proving his career was a fraud. Crystal tells C.J. it was a good plan, as he couldn't be tried again...except it was a mistrial, not an acquittal, which means the police can arrest him all over again]].

* ''Fanfic/MiraculousThePhoenixRises'' begins with protagonist Morgan trying to foil her classmate's attempted kidnapping. When she bungles it, he gives her a GlasgowGrin and the next morning she learned that said classmate proceeded to [[EvilIsPetty frame her for stalking, sending a threatening letter, and even carrying a weapon]].

* As discussed above under "Film", ''Film/TenRillingtonPlace'' is based on the true story of John Christie, one of Britain's most prolific and notorious {{Serial Killer}}s, who was the star witness at the trial which managed to see Timothy Evans, the husband and father of two of his victims, convicted and executed for the murders that Christie himself committed. When Christie's own crimes were exposed, the public outcry over this miscarriage was one of the key factors in the public movement which eventually resulted in Britain abolishing the death penalty for capital crimes.

* The very first man exonerated by DNA testing in the US, Kirk Bloodsworth, was found guilty of rape and murder due to being mistakenly identified by eyewitnesses as the man they had noticed around the area (he resembled the real culprit). He was freed after eight years while having unknowingly been in a cell above the actual rapist and murderer (who was serving his sentence for another rape). The man wished him luck on his release ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer no, you can't make this stuff up]]) and was later convicted of the crimes himself.

* The [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_jogger_case "Central Park Jogger"]] case. On April 19, 1989, investment banker Tricia Meili was savagely attacked in New York City's Central Park -- beaten, raped, and left for dead. Within days, five young men -- known as the Central Park 5 -- who had been terrorizing people in the park were arrested. Despite no DNA evidence, no identification by Meili (she survived, but could not remember the attack), and a time frame that showed that the boys could NOT have assaulted the woman -- ironically because they were attacking someone else at the time -- all were convicted and sent to prison. A decade later, a man serving time for another crime came forward and confessed that he, and he alone, was the real perpetrator. There was nothing the DA's office could do but overturn the convictions of the others -- who had all served their undeserved time. Meanwhile, the statute of limitations had run out, meaning that the man could not be prosecuted for the attack. So, 5 innocent (relatively speaking) young men spent a decade in prison for something they didn't do, a guilty man remained -- and STILL remains -- unpunished for something he did, and Meili will never see proper justice done. A thoroughly gross miscarriage of justice all around.
** A subversion took place on June 20, 2014. The Central Park 5 [[http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/20/323996355/central-park-5-win-40-million-from-nyc-for-false-convictions will receive $40 million dollars]] due to wrongful conviction compensation laws.

** Five years before DNA tests became available, Bobby Donnell defended an accused murderer who was forced by Kenneth Walsh to confess. Because Bobby believed his client to be guilty, the client had to wait ten years after DNA tests became available until an innocence program has the case reopened and the real culprit was revealed to be [[spoiler:someone who had previously confessed out of remorse for seeing an innocent man being blamed but neither Bobby nor Walsh did anything about it. Out of remorse for not requesting the DNA test as soon as it became available, Bobby agreed to help his client sue the State]].
** In a later episode, police pick up two drifters in the wrong place at the wrong time for a cop shooting. Under powers expanded during UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror era, they're able to torture a confession out of one of them. On top of that, the guy they didn't charge backs out of testifying for his friend when Eugene lets him know he could be considered a suspect himself.