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Playing With / Miscarriage of Justice

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Basic Trope: A character is found guilty of a crime they didn't commit.

  • Straight: Bob is charged with the rape of Alice, although he didn't do it. A jury convicts him all the same.
  • Exaggerated:
  • Downplayed:
    • Bob is charged with the rape of Alice, although he didn't do it. But because they live in a Crapsack World, the punishment for rape is only a week of community service. After a week Bob is a free man, but he still dislikes the inconvenience of losing a week of his life.
    • Bob is charged with the rape of Alice, although he didn't do it. Bob is never convicted of the crime, because the case against him results in a mistrial due to a hung jury and the prosecution ultimately chooses to drop the case in the aftermath. But the way the public sees it, Bob got Off on a Technicality so his name is never really cleared either.
    • Bob is convicted of several non-violent crimes he didn't commit, allegedly over the course of committing a violent crime he did commit.
  • Justified:
    • At the time of the trial, DNA evidence was not in use. Bob's wife Carol knows he wouldn't have done such a thing, and hears about how DNA evidence could clear his name... and it works.
    • There wasn't much DNA evidence to speak of, as it seems the rapist wore a condom and didn't leave any pubic hairs behind. There is, however, plenty of circumstantial evidence that could tie Bob to the attack.
    • Bob is already Convicted by Public Opinion.
    • Bob had the misfortune of going through a Kangaroo Court and/or appearing before a Joker Jury.
  • Inverted: Bob did rape Alice, but the jury finds him "Not Guilty" or "Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Disease or Defect".
  • Subverted: Bob is convicted of a crime, and he continuously protests his innocence. A flashback confirms he really did do it.
  • Double Subverted: ...Wait, that was an Identical Stranger who did it. The real Bob was literally out of town, let alone anywhere near Alice.
  • Parodied: Bob is charged with rape (not sexual assault, or molestation, mind you, actual rape), and found guilty... even though Alice is a virgin (and has Virgin Power to prove that claim).
  • Zig-Zagged: Bob isn't a suspect at first, then some circumstantial evidence is found to implicate him, then it's thrown out for being improperly introduced. But then somebody finds a recording of Bob confessing to the crime... except it was a Sarcastic Confession and he can prove he was nowhere near Alice at the time of the incident.
  • Averted:
    • Bob is not charged with any crime.
    • Bob is found guilty, and he actually did rape Alice.
    • Bob is found not guilty, whether he raped Alice or not.
  • Enforced: Rule of Drama, Truth in Television
  • Lampshaded: "Have you any last words, vile rapist?" "I am innocent!"
  • Invoked: Bob appears before a Joker Jury of Straw Feminists when he's brought to trial.
  • Exploited: Charles plants evidence, because he's mad at Bob for dating Charles' ex-girlfriend Alice.
  • Defied:
    • The jury is chosen so that they will not be biased, and the forensics team does all it can, and the lawyer does all he can to help Bob.
    • Upon discovering that Bob is innocent, the executioners let Bob escape.
    • Bob's brother Gus uses every connection he has and pulls every string he can to see Bob pardoned and made a free man.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Implied: In prison, Bob's fellow inmates note that he has stubbornly maintained his innocence long past the point where doing so would do him any good, and doesn't show the hardness of character they would associate with the crime he allegedly committed.
  • Played for Drama: Bob is convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He's later exonerated after new evidence proves his innocence ... but only after he's spent half his life in prison. Bob is free, but the justice system has failed Bob. Bob can never get back the years he lost in prison, and the courts do little else to make up for their blunder. Bob, unable to adjust to life outside of prison, turns to hunting down everyone responsible for his false conviction and brutally murdering them.

Back to Miscarriage of Justice, and you're guilty of nattering!... No, we're not hearing your defense. Guilty with a capital G, you are hereby sentenced to getting bounced.

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