History Main / WrongfulAccusationInsurance

** Played straight in the second case of the third game, but justified. You prove your client, Ron [=DeLite=] innocent of Mask [=DeMasque's=] theft during day 1 of the trial, only to find out it puts him at the scene of a murder. This was all the true killer's plan, but once they're caught, it turns out Ron really ''was'' Mask [=DeMasque=], but can't be tried again due to double jeopardy.

* Defense Attorneys are a non-violent and non-criminal variation of this trope. Lawyers can collect evidence to prove a person's innocence without the defendant having to do it themselves while on the run from the law. Many examples of this trope would be considered an IdiotPlot if the accused doesn't contact their lawyer.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Monk}}'', "Mr. Monk Is On the Run," features the titular character escaping from jail to clear himself of a false murder. In the course of his time as a fugitive, Monk gets help from Natalie, who supplies him money and clothes, and Stottlemeyer, who helps him fake his death. Both of these people could have faced charges of aiding and abetting a state fugitive. Later on, when cornered by the corrupt sheriff who set Monk up at a Nevada car wash, Monk and Natalie attack him, with Natalie using a fire extinguisher on him, then escape by stealing his car, which could see them facing being charged with assault and auto theft. On the other hand, given that Monk averted an assassination attempt on the state governor in the end, he could have gotten a pardon and hence the trope could be averted.

-->-- Wiki/TFWikiDotNet on the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' booklet ''Prime Suspect''

* Taken UpToEleven in ''Film/TheMask''. Stanley Ipkiss is not only not tried for the crimes he committed in order to take down the BigBad (breaking out of custody, stealing a car, stealing a gun, holding a police officer hostage), he is also not tried for a bank robbery he committed much earlier under the influence of the titular mask, and which could probably be linked to him. Justified in that a large number of local dignitaries saw him take down the BigBad, and are explicitly stated to be willing to look the other way. Also justified in that the BigBad was ''also'' wearing the mask that influenced Ipkiss to do the above in the first place, in public in front of witnesses. Everyone just assumes that ''he'' was responsible for the above as well, and that Ipkiss was set up.

* The lack of this was used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' when they were framed by people wearing very bad costumes and put in jail. The simply break out by flying through a hole they made in a wall and catch the real criminals. At the end of the episode, the Mayor says they have to go back to jail for breaking out, and they all have a laugh before he says he was serious ([[SnapBack this was never mentioned again]]).

* DoubleSubversion in ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. A man escapes from prison to clear his name after his son falsely accused him of molesting him. Olivia discovers the truth, and the governor sentences the man...to time served for escaping, which essentially amounts to a release.
** A straight example would be [[spoiler: Olivia's brother Simon who jumped bail and took hostage the detective who framed him for a series of rapes]]. Justified, as [[spoiler: both he and the detective were let off easy once they sorted out the whole mess rather than the police face the truth about how one of their own forged evidence]].

* At the beginning of the first novel of Creator/MichaelZWilliamson's Literature/{{Freehold|Universe}} series, protagonist Kendra Pacelli is framed by her superiors for their crime of selling weapons to terrorists. She flees to the titular Freehold of Grainne, a minarchist nation with no extradition treaties with Earth. Over the course of the novel, Earth invades Grainne to destroy its competing economy - by then she has enlisted in the Freehold armed forces and does an impressive amount of damage as a resistance fighter. After the Grainneans drive them off, they prevent a second invasion by hitting Earth with a massive WMD strike that reduces the superpower to a third-world nation - one that actually acknowledges that she was framed by her superiors, hoping to draw the hero of the resistance to rejoin Earth's military. She "[[WithAllDueRespect respectfully]]" [[IChooseToStay declines]].

* Downplayed in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'': Everyone expects Sirius will be a free man once he hands [[spoiler:Peter Pettigrew, whom he allegedly killed,]] over to the authorities, regardless of his escape from Azkaban and other questionably legal actions like his attempt to enter Gryffindor tower to get at [[spoiler:Pettigrew]]. However, events conspire to prevent the handover, so it's not clear whether he actually would have been free or not. [[spoiler:He ultimately dies while still a fugitive, so the matter is never put to question.]]
** Though this is a slightly different case than most other examples, since Sirius is not fleeing arrest, but 12 years in prison. Presumably (depending on how wizarding law works), even if he were to be held accountable for these actions, the concept of "time served" would mean no further consequences for him.

* The main plot of ''Film/GetHard'' is not about proving James's innocence, but when he [[spoiler:trespasses, kidnaps, carries a concealed weapon without a license and threatens the guilty persons with it at the end of the film, they go to prison while he... [[SubvertedTrope also goes to prison for six months, for the concealed weapon]]. That said, it is noted that James gets sentenced to a relatively minimal security prison as he accepts his sentence and exposed a higher level of corruption during his own activities while the people who framed him get sent to a more vilent prison]].

* In ''Film/LadyInCement'', Tony Rome is [[FrameUp framed for the murder of Danny Yale]]. When Lt. Santini tries to arrest him, Tony escapes to [[ClearMyName clear his name]]. In doing so, he commits the follwing crimes: resisting arrest; assaulting a police officer; stealing a police vehicle; dangerous driving; false imprisonment (when the [[BoundAndGagged binds and gags the pool boy]]; and theft of a boat. The end of the movie shows him free with Kit, so it seems it was charged with none of these.

* At the beginning of the first novel of Creator/MichaelZWilliamson's {{Freehold}} series, protagonist Kendra Pacelli is framed by her superiors for their crime of selling weapons to terrorists. She flees to the titular Freehold of Grainne, a minarchist nation with no extradition treaties with Earth. Over the course of the novel, Earth invades Grainne to destroy its competing economy - by then she has enlisted in the Freehold armed forces and does an impressive amount of damage as a resistance fighter. After the Grainneans drive them off, they prevent a second invasion by hitting Earth with a massive WMD strike that reduces the superpower to a third-world nation - one that actually acknowledges that she was framed by her superiors, hoping to draw the hero of the resistance to rejoin Earth's military. She "[[WithAllDueRespect respectfully]]" [[IChooseToStay declines]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'': In the process of escaping from jail after being wrongly accused of stealing a car, Toad steals a train right in front of the engineer and no one points out that even if he never stole the car, he still stole the train. However, since he jumped off the train while driving it, it might have been counted as "borrowing it without permission" because he only used it that one time.

->''"In the course of proving Optimus innocent of breaking and entering, the criminal acts you commit include: resisting arrest, interfering with a crime scene, removing evidence from a crime scene, assaulting a police officer, destruction of police equipment, unauthorized access of a police computer system, vandalism, industrial espionage, [[{{Irony}} breaking and entering]]. What lesson have we learned today, children?"''

In detective stories and thrillers, sometimes a framed man fights to [[ClearMyName prove his innocence]]--usually of murder--and in doing so [[MoralDissonance commits a series of smaller crimes]], yet [[GetOutOfJailFreeCard does not pay for them]] at the end. Crimes that are often committed in the pursuit of the proof of innocence include resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer, grand theft auto, breaking and entering, reckless endangerment, assault and fraud. The immunity to consequences for those acts is a specific form of HeroInsurance, perhaps granted because they are perceived as acting under compulsion, like a twisted version of a BoxedCrook. In many cases, the transgressions they commit are also comparatively minor (property damage against the bad guy, petty or returnable in same condition theft, perhaps an assault that doesn't result in lasting injury) when compared to the crime they have been wrongly accused of, thus allowing the audience to overlook them and maintain sympathy with the character; when the crime ''isn't'', however, then [[MoralDissonance good luck keeping them on the hero's side]].

* About 1/4 of the way through ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'', the police note that even though none of the treasure hunters have a criminal record, they now have resisted arrest, destroyed property, burglarized a hardware store, assaulted many people, etc. This is all met basically with a shrug ({{justified}} in that the cops are waiting for these people to lead them to the stolen money.) The main reason any of their charges would be dismissed: the judge is about to throw the book at Captain Culpeper, who has lost his pension, his wife is divorcing him, his mother-in-law is suing him for damages, and his daughter is filing to have her name changed.

* In ''VideoGame/DejaVu'', you have to commit numerous crimes to prove you are innocent of kidnapping and murder. Throughout the game, you have to commit assault, breaking and entering, and burglary. The game doesn't imply those will ever have consequences. However, if you kill anyone with the syringe (which, unlike shooting them, won't get you arrested immediately), you will get arrested when you go to the police station at the end to try to prove your innocence.

** And for that matter, there's no mention of the military being slapped with a lawsuit for wrongfully detaining and then subsequently trying very hard to ''kill'' Sonic simply because he happens to look (marginally) like to a wanted fugitive.

* Subverted in ''Fanfic/TheAwakeningOfAMagus''. After Fudge announces Sirius' innocence in public, he attempts to bring up the matter of Sirius escaping Azkaban... until a journalist reminds him he announced Sirius would be free of '''all''' charges up to date. Commonly played straight in every ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fanfic that uses this plot, actually. Probably justified by the fact that he was locked up in ''very'' irregular circumstances, to the point where any criminal investigation would be focused on the people who locked him up in the first place. In other fics, he's officially declared guilty of the relatively smaller crimes but, since the time he previously spent in Azkaban is more than the combined sentence one can get for them, he officially already served it. And in an even smaller group, he's asked to perform community service for a time until the government feels he's paid his debt to society.

* Subverted in ''Fanfic/AwakeningOfTheMagus''. After Fudge announces Sirius' innocence in public, he attempts to bring up the matter of Sirius escaping Azkaban... until a journalist reminds him he announced Sirius would be free of '''all''' charges up to date. Commonly played straight in every ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fanfic that uses this plot, actually. Probably justified by the fact that he was locked up in ''very'' irregular circumstances, to the point where any criminal investigation would be focused on the people who locked him up in the first place. In other fics, he's officially declared guilty of the relatively smaller crimes but, since the time he previously spent in Azkaban is more than the combined sentence one can get for them, he officially already served it. And in an even smaller group, he's asked to perform community service for a time until the government feels he's paid his debt to society.

* Frequently averted in the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series. In the cases where your client is innocent of the murder they're accused of, but guilty of other crimes (e.g [[spoiler: Lana Skye]] from the first game), they typically still end up serving time for those, leaving the case with a BittersweetEnding.

** Though this is a slightly different case than most other examples, since Sirius is not fleeing arrest, but 12 years in prison. Presumably, even if he were to be held accountable for these actions, the concept of "time served" would mean no further consequences for him.

* The main plot of ''Film/GetHard'' is not about proving James's innocence, but when he [[spoiler:trespasses, kidnaps, carries a concealed weapon without a license and threatens the guilty persons with it at the end of the film, they go to prison while he... [[SubvertedTrope also goes to prison for six months, for the concealed weapon]].]]

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet''. In the cutscene between the Sky Battalion and the Jade Creek, Team Lilac attempts to convince the Royal Magister of the existence of Lord Brevon who stole the Kingdom Stone, but Neera Li doesn't believe them and accuses them of lying on Mayor Zao's behalf (who stole the stone earlier before Shuigang's forces, under Brevon's control, stole it from him), using the rationalization that Lilac and Carol were
thieves and members of the Red Scarves, a criminal group that was behind the Kingdom Stone's theft, also on Zao's behalf. This got them imprisoned, while Torque and his evidence, a fragment of one of Brevon's machines, were quarantined, so Lilac decided to make a false confession to the Magister to get Torque released, and then busted out of the prison together with her friends, all while resisting arrest and assaulting Neera Li, a lead officer. Eventually, Lilac was re-arrested, but by that time, the scientists examined their evidence and discovered that Neera's initial accusations were false and Lilac and her friends were innocent. However, the Magister still had to send Lilac on an important and risky mission to investigate Pangu Lagoon for any clues behind Brevon's invasion before their names could be cleared.