Could anyone be convicted of a crime based on circumstantial evidence?

Question

If your life is scrutinized and looked at microscopically, would it pass a "litmus test"? I think that anyone can take a life and when examined mold the events to answer whatever questions need answered. Drive a different way home from work, make a phone call, pick up some new p.j.'s that are a different material than you used in the past, try a new food;etc. Does meeting an online friend automatically constitute an affair? Does buying a boat mean you killed your wife? Does changing plans at the last minute mean you are guilty of a crime? It amazes me that any nuance in my life not perceived as the norm could actually get me in trouble. Think about it!

Answer 1

People have been convicted on no evidence

Answer 2

Personally I don't think a jury should convict over circumstantial evidence. Just because someone drives a car with a trunk that is big enough to transport a body does not mean that person has. I think if the prosecution can't come up with actually factual evidence then the jury should aquit the defendant. I believe a lot of innocent people have gone to jail over circumstantial, that being said if there is no hard evidence and this person really is guilty they will probably end up in the courts again and hopefully the prosecution can present a bullet proof case.

Answer 3

first consider that when you are arrested and put in jail you are guilty until proven innocent, you will be locked up and held until trial in the most nasty and miserable place on earth, no way to really clean up or look half way decent,many times beaten by either the police or inmates at the cops directions so you will not only look like a crook but a trouble maker also, therefore you are 90%convicted the minute the jury sees you, the prosecutor will make you look just as bad or worse than you already look by telling the jury what a sorry low down ,no good, varmint you are,
then he will call the cops in to testify against you and to show what evidence they have against you, ,many time this evidence is false, but the jury will almost always believe the cops and prosecutor, telling them selves that they have no reason to lie,when in reality the cops and prosecutor are the worst liars in the country and have a lot of practice at it, Unless you are like O,J, and have some very deep pockets $100.000 min, you will be appointed a public defender known as ( public pretenders) to represent you and he is paid by the state, and will do what the state wants him to do (get you convicted) how else could America have a 98.8 % conviction ratio. our fore fathers warn us that the gov, would become our worst enemy, how did they know this??

to prove my point of how people think read some of the answers to your question

Answer 4

I agree!! It is pretty scary thought!! I once watched a true crime show where a man and wife got into an argument, he left & walked 15 miles to a Jack in the Box. While gone his wife was beat into a coma and almost died, she was P.G. and lost the baby. The police arrested the husband and was in jail for 10 years when someone finally admitted to the beating/killing of the unborn baby. The police doubted him from the begining because there was a Jack in the Box 3 miles from his home in the opposite direction! A simple act!!! Very scary!! What are the chances of something like that happening!! Yikes!!

Answer 5

YES! You can be convicted of a crime based solely upon circumstantial evidence, however the fact as you are stating them are to vague to constitute evidence. If you are referring to the Scott Peterson case there was a lot more than just circumstantial evidence in his case. If you consider that he purchased a boat and his wife and child were found in San Francisco bay that is some pretty strong circumstantial evidence!!

Answer 6

Get real! MOST evidence is circumstantial.

Someone sees you walk into a house, hears a gunshot, and sees you run out, get into a car registered in your name and drive off. Ten minutes later, someone else sees you throwing a gun into the river as you drive over the bridge. A gun is recovered from that spot that is proven to be the murder weapon. That's circumstantial evidence, but it's still pretty good evidence that you committed the crime.

Answer 7

It happens all the time......circumstantial evidence and preponderance of the evidence.
Makes you wonder but that's life here on earth. At least in the US we have the right to an attorney and a trial. Some places your accuser points and your guilty - no chance to defend yourself.

Life isn't prefect but its better than the alternative.

Answer 8

People are convicted this way all the time...

In regards to your details...
Sounds like you have got the finger being pointed at you for something you didn't do! Its not a good spot to be in...

I am currently in that position. My wife is absolutely convinced that I cheat on her... The sad part of it is that I pride myself with the fact that I have never done this. I change a few things in my life from my normal routine, and now I must be doing something wrong... It's bullshit! If she want to be miserable over something that hasn't happened, then so be it!

Answer 9

people will precieve whatever they want about a person. And when someone such as a lawyer or another person states something in a case to make someone or the jury think something if they make them believe it then the person can be convicted. People have been convicted before on absolutly nothing

Answer 10

well to answer your question, my answer would happen to be YES!
I dont think that it is ONE thing but a totality of the evidence.
If you just happened to have a new girlfriend, and you told her that your wife had died, then you bought a new boat that just happened to have been in the mariana where your wife's body floated up a few weeks later....
then yeah you will probably will be convicted.
BUt dont take my word for it
just ask SCOTT PETERSON

Answer 11

Yes, people have and are routinely are prosecuted on circumstantial evidence, testimony, and forensic evidence, although forensic evidence is usually the most credible.


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