...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Acquitted Too Late
- 429 statements
- 82 feature instances
- 92 referencing feature instances
| Acquitted Too Late | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Acquitted Too Late | label |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late | page |
AcquittedTooLate | |
| Acquitted Too Late | comment |
A character has been wrongfully convicted of a capital crime, or their peers have been convinced of their guilt/wrongdoing. Their lawyer, girlfriend, parents, and children are all working to get him released from prison by way of a pardon, or perhaps a new trial. Time is running out, however, as the date of execution has been set. The lawyer finally talks to judge and gets a stay, or the parents or girlfriend finally get in to talk to the governor and he issues a pardon. But by the time word gets to the warden of the prison, the execution has already happened. Or in a non-legal case, something that makes the discovery of this character's innocence moot has already occurred. In some cases, it is long too late and those working to prove the characters' innocence know that they have since been executed and are merely working to posthumously Clear Their Name. And Then There Were None is the Trope Namer. The flipside of this is the Last-Minute Reprieve where an acquittal comes just in time. Related to Suspect Existence Failure, which is when a suspect's guilt is cleared because they've become the next victim. Usually the aftereffect of Vigilante Injustice. As this is a Death Trope, unmarked spoilers abound. Beware. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late | fetched |
2024-03-16T11:00:38Z | |
| Acquitted Too Late | parsed |
2024-03-16T11:00:38Z | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to DefiedTrope: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to FantasticRacism: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to FelonyMurder: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to GroinAttack: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to IsntItIronic: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to LonersAreFreaks: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to OnlySaneMan: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to ParentalIncest: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to PlayedForLaughs: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingComment |
Dropped link to ThePlayer: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Acquitted Too Late | processingUnknown |
ThePlayer | |
| Acquitted Too Late | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_116df0ac | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_116df0ac | comment |
Hell and High Water plays with this. Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash are assaulted and left for dead when it's assumed that they're the spearheads of a cyberbullying operation, with the former actually dying while the latter is set to become a double amputee. The two are returned to full health by way of Divine Intervention bringing Sunset back from the dead and granting her dark magic powers to heal them both (in exchange, Sunset will help revive a Dying Race). It takes a good while before people learn that they actually survived, during which the real cyberbullies are revealed, but only one of their killers is left remorseful when it turns out that they killed Sunset and Rainbow for no reason. The rest of the perpetrators are more concerned with hiding their involvement than anything else. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_116df0ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_116df0ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hell and High Water (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_116df0ac | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_13d2e7c3 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_13d2e7c3 | comment |
Averted in an episode of the 1950s The Adventures of Superman. Supes flies the pardon from the governor to the prison where he arrives just as the switch is being thrown. He interposes his arm in the way to block the charge from going through the innocent man. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_13d2e7c3 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_13d2e7c3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Adventures of Superman | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_13d2e7c3 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_1463a028 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_1463a028 | comment |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The second-season episode "Taken" starts off with a young woman stumbling out of an elevator during a hotel opening. The staff shuttles her off to the side, and a suspect (who is on the sex offender registry as a pedophile) is later arrested. Turns out it's a scam to get money from the hotel, the supposedly under-age "victim" was in her 20s rather than her teens, the sex was consensual, and the "suspect" was a patsy set up by the girl and her family. Unfortunately, by the time anyone remembers that they have an innocent man in jail, the "suspect" had already been killed in prison (pedophiles being very unpopular in prison populations). Fortunately, that made the woman and her accomplices legally culpable for murder. Disturbingly enough, Munch is the only one who is bothered by the suspect's death (as opposed to being glad the woman and her accomplices didn't get away) and takes the trouble of informing the dead man's ex-girlfriend (who, it turns out, was the same girl the suspect purportedly "molested" when they both were teenagers, he 17 and she 15 and who, it also turns out, was still in love with him and had been for nearly a decade). In "Repression", a young woman "recalls" that her father sexually abused her in her youth after a psychiatrist "recovers" memories of the abuse. In typical SVU fashion it goes downhill from there, with the father being vilified as a monster by everyone, including the SVU department and his own family, culminating in the father being shot by his other daughter in a misguided attempt to protect her sister from him. Only then does the truth come to light. The ultimate vindication was that the daughter's hymen was intact. An unusual variation comes in "Unstable", in which the critical death is not the innocent man, but the man who actually committed the crime. The innocent man remains alive, but with the real rapist dead, there's no way to prove his innocence, and he will have to serve out his sentence. The same situation is narrowly averted half a season later, in "Confidential"; much like the earlier case, the real murderer is found after committing a similar crime, but is killed before he can be tried. Fortunately for the wrongfully convicted man, the dead man's lawyer breaks privilege, admits he confessed to her, and points the detectives to the evidence they need to prove that her client, not the man in prison, committed the murder. In "Decaying Morality", a girl accuses a pizzeria worker of raping her. Due to lack of evidence, the detectives let him go, but the girl's father takes matters into his own hands by trying to beat a confession out of him, only to end up causing him to go into cardiac arrest. When it's revealed that the pizzeria worker didn't rape the girl note It turning out to be her own uncle, but she was too drowsy from the drugs he gave her that she couldn't remember, the father is naturally devastated that he murdered an innocent man. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_1463a028 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_1463a028 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_1463a028 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_15788203 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_15788203 | comment |
A non-lethal example occurs in the Viva Piñata episode "Candibalism". When Fergy is declared guilty of being a cannibal (he ate a life-sized chocolate bunnycomb after trying to pass it off as his cousin), he gets catapulted to the moon. Right after he's sent flying, a piece of paper flutters down... which turns out to be a receipt for a life-sized chocolate bunnycomb. Fortunately for Fergy, the moon happens to be full of sweets, so it's not a total Downer Ending, and Fergy is back on earth by the next episode without any explanation. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_15788203 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_15788203 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Viva Piñata | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_15788203 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_17293dfa | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_17293dfa | comment |
In Chapter 1 of Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Kaede Akamatsu sets up a Death Trap to kill the mastermind by dropping a shot put ball on their head, accidentally catches someone else in it instead, is found guilty in the subsequent trial, and executed. In Chapter 6, the final chapter, it's discovered that while the victim did get caught in Kaede's trap (and Kaede was convinced it had succeeded), the falling shot put ball actually missed him entirely. The mastermind then snuck up behind him and clobbered him to death with an identical shot put ball to make it look like the trap worked. After all, she had to make sure the TV show didn't deviate from her script. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_17293dfa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_17293dfa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_17293dfa | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2268de37 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2268de37 | comment |
Very narrowly subverted on an episode of Grimm. A man attacked by two Wendigo shot one in self-defense and was sentenced to death because nobody believed his claim that he'd been attacked by monsters. When Nick and Hank find the evidence that the surviving wendigo is a cannibal killer, they call the DA, who doesn't pick up her phone. When they finally get in contact with her, she hesitates before giving the order for the execution to stop while some of the lethal injection had already been administered. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2268de37 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2268de37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Grimm | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_2268de37 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_24e7496e | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_24e7496e | comment |
In Go Tell It on the Mountain, Richard is arrested for a robbery he didn't commit, and while he is acquitted at trial, the experience — including the abuse he takes at the hands of white police officers — leads him to commit suicide on his first night home. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_24e7496e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_24e7496e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Go Tell It on the Mountain | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_24e7496e | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_282cda37 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_282cda37 | comment |
This can happen in Prison Architect. Prisoners on Death Row have a "clemency" percentage, which is the chance that they will be found innocent of their crime or have their sentence reduced. If you execute a prisoner who is later declared innocent, you'll be heavily fined and possibly fired. However, if their clemency was under 5% (or 10%, after researching Reduce Execution Liability) then you will not be punished. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_282cda37 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_282cda37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Prison Architect (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_282cda37 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_28508de | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_28508de | comment |
In the Winx Club fanfic "The Moments We Live For", Flora's father was executed for supposedly paring a preteen before the state found evidence clearing him. Flora and her mother had to move because practically everyone turned on them and were too prideful to apologize even after he was cleared. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_28508de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_28508de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Winx Club | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_28508de | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2e80e66f | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2e80e66f | comment |
A Diplomatic Visit: One hundred years before the present day, Gravon the griffon chef was sent to prison by a Kangaroo Court while Celestia was out of the country, and her efforts to use her rank to overturn his conviction were blocked by a pair of associated councils, who threatened to remove her from power if she did so. He subsequently died in prison of malnutrition before she could use the legal system to have him freed. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2e80e66f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_2e80e66f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Diplomatic Visit (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_2e80e66f | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_31060d84 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_31060d84 | comment |
In the last 7 Days (1998) episode to air, a man is convicted of murder and executed. Then, another man reveals he committed the murder and publishes the missing security tape — after he fled into South America. Frank uses an emergency to take a copy of the tape with him into the past (the guy was a friend of his), but the data doesn't survive the travel. This is one of the few episodes to feature Deus ex machina. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_31060d84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_31060d84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 7 Days (1998) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_31060d84 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_37f35e5e | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_37f35e5e | comment |
Happens in Return of the Obra Dinn: One of the Formosan guards, Hok-Seng Lau, is executed by firing squad for the death of a passenger, but it's revealed later that said passenger was actually murdered by Second Mate Edward Nichols. Perhaps the wrongs are rectified in the Epilogue: although Lau's reward or estate can never be known or claimed, at least his executioner got fined £50 for his murder along with that of Fourth Mate John Davies and attempted mutiny. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_37f35e5e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_37f35e5e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Return of the Obra Dinn (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_37f35e5e | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_39c20861 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_39c20861 | comment |
There’s an episode of Highlander where Duncan has evidence that clears a soldier who’s about to be executed, but he doesn’t make it in time-the guy is shot just as he’s arriving on the scene and shouting at them to stop. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_39c20861 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_39c20861 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Highlander | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_39c20861 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b0464ea | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b0464ea | comment |
The Chrysalids: At some point before the story, Joseph Strorm accused his neighbor of keeping a "deviated" tailless cat, but the court process didn't move quickly enough for Joseph's liking, so he simply killed the cat. Then evidence turned up that tailless cats actually have a long and well authenticated history, leaving quite a lot of egg on Joseph's face. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b0464ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b0464ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Chrysalids | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_3b0464ea | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b34143f | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b34143f | comment |
Harry Potter: Sirius Black had been sent to Azkaban for crimes he didn't commit (and in one case, never actually happened) and wasn't allowed to have a trial. He didn't live long enough to see the real culprit being exposed. Within Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, readers learn that Voldemort had his uncle Morfin Gaunt framed and incarcerated for his murder of his Muggle father and grandparents. When Dumbledore found evidence indicating the truth, he tried to get the conviction overturned, but Morfin died in prison before the ministry reached their decision. Voldemort also framed a House Elf named Hokey for poisoning her mistress with the same methods he used to frame his uncle. The Ministry didn't bother investigating the situation any further because she was a House Elf. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b34143f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3b34143f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Harry Potter | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_3b34143f | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3ccfa555 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3ccfa555 | comment |
In the fourth case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations, Mia Fey defends already convicted murderer Terry Fawles for a second murder he apparently committed after a jailbreak. Over the course of the trial, Mia not only comes close to clearing him of the crime he's on trial for but also the crime he got sent to Death Row for in the first place. Unfortunately, the real murderer is Dahlia Hawthorne, who has Fawles wrapped around her finger so tightly that he commits suicide on the stand rather than testify against her. Thankfully, Mia gets Dahlia later and when she pops up yet again, Phoenix has her number. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3ccfa555 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3ccfa555 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_3ccfa555 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3f41fbc7 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3f41fbc7 | comment |
Hidehiko in Princess Nine. His name still hasn't been cleared at the end of the series, but if his still-living real-life counterpart's reinstatement into Japanese professional baseball several years later is anything to go by... | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3f41fbc7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_3f41fbc7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Princess Nine | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_3f41fbc7 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_43e07277 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_43e07277 | comment |
In both Gesta Danorum and The Saga Of Ragnar Lothbrok, King Aella of Northumbria has Ragnar thrown into a Snake Pit to die, but changes his mind at the last minute. He gives orders to release Ragnar from the pit, but the message arrives too late, and Ragnar is already dead. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_43e07277 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_43e07277 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gesta Danorum | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_43e07277 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_46937a7a | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_46937a7a | comment |
In the third season of The Killing, Linden doesn't find out who the real killer is until it's too late for Seward. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_46937a7a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_46937a7a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Killing | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_46937a7a | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_47607004 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_47607004 | comment |
Played with in an episode of The Closer; Priority Homicide is fairly certain they know who the serial killer is, they just need to find him... which they do, as a corpse, murdered before the murders (re)started. The guy never had a chance to claim his innocence. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_47607004 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_47607004 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Closer | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_47607004 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_515ed19c | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_515ed19c | comment |
The central point of The Ox-Bow Incident. Posse lynches suspected cow rustlers; they learn of their error when they get back to town. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_515ed19c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_515ed19c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Ox-Bow Incident | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_515ed19c | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_53a0bd32 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_53a0bd32 | comment |
The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "Shadow Play". A man about to be executed, Adam Grant, believes that everything around him is a dream, and if he is executed, they will all cease to exist. A reporter convinces the prosecutor who convicted Grant that this belief means that Grant is insane and shouldn't be executed. The prosecutor calls the governor and gets a stay of execution, but the call to the prison arrives just after Grant has been executed. After Grant's death, the entire set fades to black. It fades in with a different cast of characters, except for the protagonist. Turns out Grant was right! | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_53a0bd32 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_53a0bd32 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Twilight Zone (1959) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_53a0bd32 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_57b4b159 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_57b4b159 | comment |
In the Name of the Father: Giuseppe was exonerated, but only after he'd died as a result of his ill health, which prison exacerbated. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_57b4b159 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_57b4b159 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| In the Name of the Father | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_57b4b159 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5a8a52ff | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5a8a52ff | comment |
In The Lincoln Lawyer, Jesus Menendez had been framed for rape and murder. While he even lived to see himself pardoned once the real culprit had been caught, he caught AIDS while in prison. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5a8a52ff | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5a8a52ff | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Lincoln Lawyer | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_5a8a52ff | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5b51c02c | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5b51c02c | comment |
Conviction (2016): In "A Different Kind of Death", Earl Slavitt is proven innocent only after he's been put to death. This was mostly due to the real killer's interference. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5b51c02c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5b51c02c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Conviction (2016) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_5b51c02c | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c208620 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c208620 | comment |
Subverted in the Superman: The Animated Series episode, "The Late Mr. Kent": Clark and Lois find evidence clearing an innocent man from Death Row, but he's already been put into the gas chamber. Clark, being Superman, simply flies in, disperses the gas, and gets him out. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c208620 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c208620 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Superman: The Animated Series | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_5c208620 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c4c8bcd | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c4c8bcd | comment |
Crossing Jordan inverted this. Jordan's father brings together the staff from the medical examiner's office to reenact a murder investigation from The '60s. After acting out the investigation, they realize that modern technology could have made the final step and identified the culprit. So, they do that and discover the murderer was the detective investigating the murder. They decide to go after the man, only for the elder Cavanaugh to inform them he died a few months before the reenactment. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c4c8bcd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5c4c8bcd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Crossing Jordan | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_5c4c8bcd | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5f831ed | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5f831ed | comment |
In Murder on the Orient Express, it's mentioned that Ratchett is not only responsible for the death of Daisy Armstrong, but also a maid who was suspected of being an accomplice. She was eventually proven innocent, but only after she had committed suicide. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5f831ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_5f831ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Murder on the Orient Express | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_5f831ed | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_668ec3fd | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_668ec3fd | comment |
The movie The Life of David Gale. The victim had actually committed suicide. David Gale, an anti-death penalty activist with a history of depression, framed himself for her murder and deliberately withheld the evidence proving his innocence until it was too late to save him, as an attempt to politically sabotage the death penalty by guaranteeing that an innocent man (himself) would be executed. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_668ec3fd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_668ec3fd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Life of David Gale | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_668ec3fd | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_69eca61f | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_69eca61f | comment |
Inverted in Prime Suspect Five, when Campbell Lafferty turns himself in for the murder of a drug dealer, but the police are unable to corroborate his story and release him. He is subsequently murdered by the drug dealer's associates. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_69eca61f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_69eca61f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Prime Suspect | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_69eca61f | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72373277 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72373277 | comment |
Narrowly averted in The Superman Adventures story "Superman's Busy Day". The Man of Steel's Super-Speed is just fast enough to save the victim before the gas gets to him. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72373277 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72373277 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Superman Adventures (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_72373277 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72c0abac | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72c0abac | comment |
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th: Parodied in the I Know What You Did Last Summer segment when one of the teenagers flashes back to his own sin. His older brother, who's on death row, handed him a letter and asked him to pass it on to the Governor because it would prove his innocence, but his little brother was too much of an asshat to do it on time. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72c0abac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72c0abac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_72c0abac | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72e68fc6 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72e68fc6 | comment |
In Spirit of Justice, Dhurke Sahdmadhi is found innocent in the assassination attempt of his wife Amara and the murder of Justice Minister Inga a mere three days after his death (though the latter ends up being meaningless because he was Dead All Along while assumed to have been the killer; It Makes Sense in Context). However, within Khura'in culture there is the mindset that children do bear the sins of their parents, so exonerating Dhurke despite his death wasn't completely pointless, as his children would regain respect. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72e68fc6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_72e68fc6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_72e68fc6 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_78fbc3f4 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_78fbc3f4 | comment |
The Zombie Survival Guide mentions a recorded encounter where the sole survivor of a hunting party claimed that they were attacked by zombies. The other colonists didn't believe him and he was executed. Turns out he was telling the truth. Oh, and the colony? Roanoke Island. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_78fbc3f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_78fbc3f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Zombie Survival Guide | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_78fbc3f4 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7cf0865 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7cf0865 | comment |
Very narrowly averted in one episode of The Flash (1990). A man accused of murdering his wife is sentenced to be given the chair at midnight. He successfully pulls the guy out of the chair at super-speed at 11:59:59 PM. Then he directs the guard's attention to the presence of the man's still-living wife (who Flash had brought with him to the prison to exonerate her husband) and exposes the person who kidnapped her. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7cf0865 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7cf0865 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Flash (1990) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_7cf0865 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7df67e7a | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7df67e7a | comment |
There was no killer in Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. David's death, the film's inciting incident, happened because he tried to drunkenly film himself opening a champagne bottle with a kukri for a TikTok video and accidentally slit his own throat. Unfortunately, the last two surviving characters, Bee and Sophie, only learn this after everybody else had killed each other out of paranoid suspicion that David had been murdered and they were now caught up in a Slasher Movie scenario with one of them as the killer. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7df67e7a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7df67e7a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bodies Bodies Bodies | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_7df67e7a | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7ec23584 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7ec23584 | comment |
In Mega Man X: Command Mission, Epsilon serves as the main antagonist and is labeled as Maverick due to the revolt he causes in Giga City. At the end of the game, with the revelation that the events were manipulated by Colonel Redips, and the fact Epsilon took measures to avoid human casualties, his Maverick status was posthumously deterred. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7ec23584 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_7ec23584 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man X: Command Mission (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_7ec23584 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_892aa56a | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_892aa56a | comment |
An episode of Murdoch Mysteries has a scene like this, that drives the executioner into a depression: | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_892aa56a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_892aa56a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Murdoch Mysteries | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_892aa56a | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8a27d31c | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8a27d31c | comment |
In the October Daye series, Rayseline plans this for October in Late Eclipses. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8a27d31c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8a27d31c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| October Daye | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_8a27d31c | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8bd02a57 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8bd02a57 | comment |
Yomiel is struck and killed by the Temsik meteorite while escaping police custody in Ghost Trick. He's cleared of all charges six months later. And after using time travel shenanigans, Yomiel is acquitted of treason but still sent to jail for attempted homicide of a little girl who was cooking yams in front of an open flame in the middle of nowhere with her parents nowhere to be found. The case is really ambiguous and Yomiel himself lampshades that the circumstances which led to him taking a little girl hostage were suspicious and disturbing to begin with. He still technically serves the full sentence for this crime, which cost him and his fiancée ten years of their lives. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8bd02a57 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8bd02a57 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ghost Trick (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_8bd02a57 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8c05f749 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8c05f749 | comment |
Plays a part in the Death in Paradise episode "In the Footsteps of a Killer"; eight years prior, a woman was arrested for murder and died in prison, as she was the only one of the pool of suspects who couldn't provide an alibi. However, the episode opens when a man the victim slept with on the night of the crime returns to the island to give her an alibi; the night he slept with the victim was the last day of his holiday on the island and he had an early morning flight out, with the result that he never realised she was in trouble until he returned. This new information leads to the team re-opening the case and determining that the true culprit had faked their own alibi. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8c05f749 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8c05f749 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Death in Paradise | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_8c05f749 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8d81f086 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8d81f086 | comment |
Monk, "Mr. Monk and the Other Woman." Grayson is the primary suspect in the early investigations, thanks to his file being burned. Stottlemeyer drops him off the suspect list when he's found dead in Monica's garage. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8d81f086 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8d81f086 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Monk | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_8d81f086 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8dfbdff2 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8dfbdff2 | comment |
Law & Order: A series of murders are carried out in one day. The detectives discover circumstantial evidence connecting a loner to the crime, and he refuses point blank to give an account of his whereabouts during the crimes. While he's remanded into custody, the ADA tracks down his mother, who reveals that her son was with his gay lover at the time, and the reason he wouldn't talk is he didn't want her to know, not knowing she already did. By the time this is discovered, however, he has been stabbed to death in prison. Another episode uncovered the fact that a lab technician falsified fingerprint evidence that sent two men to prison. One of them had been murdered in prison by the time the episode takes place. The survivor is later exonerated (the lab tech could be charged with felony murder for the former). The UK version of the show had an episode, "Shaken", where a young nanny and her boyfriend were accused of killing her employer's baby. They were arrested and jailed, but the nanny is freed, leaving the boyfriend behind bars. By the end of the episode, the husband's ex-girlfriend (who couldn't have children) confesses that she killed the baby out of rage and depression. The boyfriend is cleared, but the Crown Prosecutors find out that he was beaten to death by another prisoner when they go to get him out of jail. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8dfbdff2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8dfbdff2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Law & Order | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_8dfbdff2 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8e077a1 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8e077a1 | comment |
Power Rangers Ninja Steel: Ripcon is framed as a traitor by Madame Odius, and is subsequently destroyed in episode 12. In episode 21, nine episodes after his death, Odius gloats to Galvanax that Ripcon was never the traitor: she was. Unusually for this trope, it's not Galvanax who executed him - he was destroyed by the Rangers while trying to prove his innocence and get back on Galvanax's good side. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8e077a1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_8e077a1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Ninja Steel | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_8e077a1 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_91e45f5 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_91e45f5 | comment |
In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the trial in which Phoenix lost his attorney’s badge involved a stage magician, Zak Gramarye, being accused of killing his mentor. Zak goes on the run to avoid the conviction, and in the last case of the game, his partner Valant admits that he staged their mentor’s suicide as a murder to implicate Zak out of jealousy, thereby exonerating him of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately, by this point, you’ve already found out that Zak was the murder victim in the game’s first case, which happens several months before the fourth one. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_91e45f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_91e45f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_91e45f5 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_93df96 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_93df96 | comment |
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson ends up being found guilty, despite the best efforts of Atticus to try to convince the juries not to convict him because he's an African American. Atticus tries to get a re-trial, but Tom is killed while trying to escape prison before he can. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_93df96 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_93df96 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| To Kill a Mockingbird | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_93df96 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_95d04675 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_95d04675 | comment |
The basic premise of Ordeal by Innocence is that Jacko Argyle, who had died in prison after being convicted of murdering his adoptive mother, had an air-tight alibi; the person supplying the alibi was the detective in the book. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_95d04675 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_95d04675 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ordeal by Innocence | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_95d04675 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_99c003af | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_99c003af | comment |
A subplot of a The Boondocks episode had Huey desperately trying to get a wrongly imprisoned man a stay of execution before the deadline. He fails, but at the last second a bolt of lightning cuts the power to the electric chair, and the governor's call gets through in time to save his life as a result. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_99c003af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_99c003af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Boondocks | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_99c003af | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9d7264f | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9d7264f | comment |
One CSI: Miami episode had the suspect arrested in the pre-credits sequence. Throughout the episode, it keeps cutting back to the hell he's going through in prison, until a guard eventually finds him standing over a dead body during a riot with a shank. Turns out that a) he was innocent of the first crime, and b) he killed the other inmate in self-defense; the deceased had been raping him. His dialogue with Horatio at the end implies he's already been screwed up by even his short stay. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9d7264f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9d7264f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| CSI: Miami | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_9d7264f | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e2f90f4 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e2f90f4 | comment |
One Piece: Zig-zagged when it came to Montablac Noland from Skypeia arc. Noland was an explorer who happened upon the Shandian tribe, befriended them and found out they had a city of gold. When he returned home, he told his king about this who wanted to see the land for himself. But when Noland lead him to them, the people and half the island was gone. The king thought Noland tricked him and had him executed for it. To further twist the knife, he also created a fairy tale out of it too that made Noland look bad. Many years down into the present day of the story, Noland's grandson, Cricket, finds the island of Jaya where the tale takes place and went on many diving expeditions in the hopes of proving his ancestor right. He finds some gold trinkets but no definitive proof of what happened to the gold city. It isn't until the Straw Hats come along, befriend him, him helping the crew get up to the sky islands, and Luffy finding and ringing the golden bell after defeating Eneru that Cricket realizes Noland was indeed telling the truth as he realized a powerful water geyser dubbed the Knock Up Stream pushed half of Jaya into the air in the past and the tribe along with it which explained why it disappeared. While nothing can be done about the stigma from the bogus fairy tale, this revelation at the least finally absolves Noland in Cricket's eyes. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e2f90f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e2f90f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| One Piece (Manga) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_9e2f90f4 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e80a90a | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e80a90a | comment |
In Sophocles' Antigone, by the time Creon realizes he was being an asshole and Antigone should go free, she's already killed herself. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e80a90a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9e80a90a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Antigone (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_9e80a90a | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9f9298f5 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9f9298f5 | comment |
Master of the Giallo genre, Dario Argento, did it with his first-ever Giallo, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. The prime suspect takes a fatal plunge from a window but it turns out that he was actually protecting the real killer: his crazy knife-wielding wife. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9f9298f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_9f9298f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Giallo | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_9f9298f5 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a5468e3 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a5468e3 | comment |
CSI-verse: Occurs on the main CSI when a registered "sex offender" (he was not a child molester or a pedophile; rather, he got drunk and urinated in public, and while doing so inadvertently exposed himself to some kids) is suspected in the death of a little girl. The mere suspicion (plus revelation of the sex offender status he tried to hide) ruins what little life he'd built for himself in Vegas. Another episode of CSI began with an ex-cop convicted for murdering his wife (another cop who really got around) getting stabbed to death during a prison riot. The investigation of his death revealed that his "victim" had faked her death to get him sent to prison and had arranged his death when he tried to get his case reopened. One CSI: Miami episode had the suspect arrested in the pre-credits sequence. Throughout the episode, it keeps cutting back to the hell he's going through in prison, until a guard eventually finds him standing over a dead body during a riot with a shank. Turns out that a) he was innocent of the first crime, and b) he killed the other inmate in self-defense; the deceased had been raping him. His dialogue with Horatio at the end implies he's already been screwed up by even his short stay. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a5468e3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a5468e3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| CSIVerse | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_a5468e3 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a56552eb | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a56552eb | comment |
In The Confession, Donté Drumm is executed for the crime of having killed Nicole Yarber. His exoneration does not occur until months after his death, a small comfort to his family. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a56552eb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a56552eb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Confession | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_a56552eb | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a77de360 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a77de360 | comment |
In the Dilbert TV series, a death row inmate is pardoned, but the warden then mistakenly presses the 'fry' button instead of the 'place call on hold' button. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a77de360 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_a77de360 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dilbert | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_a77de360 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_abe2e836 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_abe2e836 | comment |
Despite being the trope namer, And Then There Were None is actually not, strictly speaking, an example itself. The Ten Little Murder Victims plot (which it also named) means that one of the people on the island must be the killer U.N. Owen, and once somebody is found killed by U.N. Owen, they're cleared of suspicion of being him. It's also a subversion, since the real U.N. Owen is one of the "victims", having faked his death after the 'death=innocence' idea took hold. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_abe2e836 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_abe2e836 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| And Then There Were None | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_abe2e836 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b2dfcf37 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b2dfcf37 | comment |
In one episode of the show In Justice, a gentle mentally challenged man was arrested for the murder of a priest and sentenced to death. His lawyers try every last-minute appeal they can think of to delay his execution and they fail. He dies on schedule. Afterward, we see the heroes know who the real murderer is, and are able to persuade his wife to retract the alibi she gave him. If the team continues investigating (a strong possibility give that the hero confronts the murderer in his house) they may be able to find enough proof to get a posthumous exoneration. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b2dfcf37 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b2dfcf37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| In Justice (2006) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_b2dfcf37 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b5a087d7 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b5a087d7 | comment |
Robot Chicken: One sketch has a man rush in to stop an execution at the last moment. He's in time, but everyone in the audience is disappointed, so they take a vote and decide to pretend he was too late. Another sketch has a mouse being executed via mousetrap. Just after the trap springs shut and sends his head flying off, another mouse runs in announcing "The governor just called!" |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b5a087d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b5a087d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Robot Chicken | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_b5a087d7 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b6c6f9f7 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b6c6f9f7 | comment |
I'd Trade My Life For Yours: The story begins with Kaede and Shuichi trying to convince the class that they were the killer. Shuichi is voted off by a margin of one and executed for Kaede's crime. It isn't until the fourth chapter that Kaede proves Shuichi's innocence to the class with the existence of a copycat crime. At the end of the fifth trial, Monokuma executes Kokichi even though it is unclear if he killed Maki or if it was a suicide. Kokichi is found innocent when Maki shows up alive and well. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b6c6f9f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_b6c6f9f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| I'd Trade My Life For Yours (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_b6c6f9f7 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_bf3a0285 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_bf3a0285 | comment |
Possibly at the end of the Without a Trace episode "Two Families". The Victim of the Week was a man who believed that his death-row inmate son was innocent. The agents find the man, and the real killer, but the episode ends with them sitting in the office, waiting for a phone call to tell them if they've halted the execution. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_bf3a0285 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_bf3a0285 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Without a Trace | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_bf3a0285 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c35714d6 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c35714d6 | comment |
Blackadder: Averted very narrowly in "Corporal Punishment" when Edmund is pardoned (for having shot General Melchitt's favorite pigeon) between the syllables "F" and "ire". In "Head", the second Blackadder thinks he is himself responsible for this when he reschedules Lord Farrow's execution from Wednesday to Monday so he can have the rest of the week off, only for the Queen to pardon Farrow on Tuesday. Fortunately, Baldrick had got it wrong as usual and beheaded Lord Ponsonby instead. Unfortunately, the Queen wants to pay Ponsonby a visit... |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c35714d6 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c35714d6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Blackadder | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_c35714d6 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c94b0000 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c94b0000 | comment |
On NYPD Blue, the squad investigates a child rape/murder in which they strongly suspect the boy's father, but don't have a strong case against him. They arrest a mute homeless street preacher in order to make the real suspect overconfident so that he'll slip up. Tragically, the decoy arrestee is too non compos mentis to realize that they know he's innocent, and commits suicide in his cell. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c94b0000 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_c94b0000 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| NYPD Blue | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_c94b0000 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cac1f772 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cac1f772 | comment |
Another episode of CSI began with an ex-cop convicted for murdering his wife (another cop who really got around) getting stabbed to death during a prison riot. The investigation of his death revealed that his "victim" had faked her death to get him sent to prison and had arranged his death when he tried to get his case reopened. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cac1f772 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cac1f772 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| CSI | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_cac1f772 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cc1ec7ec | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cc1ec7ec | comment |
In one arc in Daredevil the original White Tiger is falsely accused of murder and is killed during a struggle attempting to escape police custody. Matt only succeeds in finding the real killer and gets him confess what really happened afterward. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cc1ec7ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_cc1ec7ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Daredevil / Comicbook | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_cc1ec7ec | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d038410a | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d038410a | comment |
In Skyblock, but Every 30 Seconds a Random Item Spawns, Jim Jum dies of fall damage when Wilbur tries to free him from being hanged forever, and thus Wilbur has to acquit him posthumously. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d038410a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d038410a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Skyblock, but Every 30 Seconds a Random Item Spawns (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_d038410a | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d0c921a4 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d0c921a4 | comment |
Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake: During Chapter 3, Fluttershy is accused of breaking the rules by allegedly stealing a ring from one of the stores, despite her pleas that she didn't, and is executed for it. However, during the investigation, Monoponi reveals that he discovered Fluttershy in fact did not steal, and the ring was planted on her, leading to her falsely being executed. So, he decides to consider her another "victim" that needs to be investigated, and find the culprit that tricked everyone. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d0c921a4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d0c921a4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Danganronpa: In Harmony's Wake (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_d0c921a4 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d1232e64 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d1232e64 | comment |
Vienna Blood: In the second episode Max quickly realizes the mentally retarded man they initially arrest and charge for the brothel murders didn't do it, and Amelia is able to prove forensically that the blood found on his clothes is all from his job at a slaughterhouse. Unfortunately his name is already in the papers and a police sergeant intentionally sets him up for a Vigilante Execution by two vagrants he puts into the suspect's cell. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d1232e64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d1232e64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Vienna Blood | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_d1232e64 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d4f9ccf | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d4f9ccf | comment |
In Disney's Aladdin, Aladdin is arrested under Jafar's orders on charges of kidnapping the princess. When Jasmine confronts him about it and says it was all a big misunderstanding, Jafar apologizes profusely but says unfortunately his sentence (beheading) has already been carried out. In this case it's all a lie - the arrest was just an excuse, Aladdin is still alive, and Jafar still intends to kill him after he's served his purpose. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d4f9ccf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d4f9ccf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Aladdin | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_d4f9ccf | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d5a193c7 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d5a193c7 | comment |
In The Poughkeepsie Tapes, the killer changes his whole M.O. and starts killing prostitutes in order to frame a cop, who is found guilty and executed. The true killer then makes it clear the day after the execution that the cop was innocent. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d5a193c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_d5a193c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Poughkeepsie Tapes | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_d5a193c7 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dca6d756 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dca6d756 | comment |
In Poster Girl children who had been locked up for their parent's crimes in a ghetto are eventually released after ten years. Though several of them died during the ten years in the ghetto either due to the terrible conditions or suicide, including the main character's boyfriend David who killed himself because of the hopeless situation. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dca6d756 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dca6d756 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Poster Girl | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_dca6d756 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ddad77ae | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ddad77ae | comment |
Astro City: Silver Agent is convicted of murdering supervillain Mad Maharajah. Not only is it proven that Mad Maharajah not only framed Silver Agent, but he had also faked his death entirely. Moreover, due to time-traveling shenanigans, Silver Agent would go on to save the City repeatedly after his death, but still voluntarily went back to the past knowing he will be executed for fear of affecting the timeline. Upon learning what they had done, a statue of him is built with the inscription "To Our Eternal Shame". | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ddad77ae | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ddad77ae | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Astro City (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_ddad77ae | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dec321c6 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dec321c6 | comment |
An episode of Strange Luck handles this trope in a surprising way. A murderer confesses to his crime on the same day that an innocent man is going to be executed for this same murder. The governor believes him and issues a pardon. A series of strange events (its in the title of the show, folks) keeps the governor from being able to just call the prison, and with time running out, the governor, the murderer, and the show's hero Chance Harper all rush to the prison to stop the death of an innocent man. A thunderstorm with heavy rain comes up, making the roads slick, and Harper crashes into a power pole on the way to the prison. This has two effects: power to the prison is cut just in time to stop the electrocution of the innocent man... and the real murderer gets killed by a falling power line. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dec321c6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_dec321c6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Strange Luck | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_dec321c6 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e144ba19 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e144ba19 | comment |
This factors into one of the optional side quests in the Dragon Age II DLC Legacy. Hawke and company learn the ultimate fate of Tethras Garen, one of Varric's distant relatives, who was convicted (a few hundred years before the time of the game) of murdering his own sister and sentenced to die in the Deep Roads. Some months after his conviction, it was discovered that the organized crime outfit the Carta was actually responsible for the murder, and the distraught family spent years trying to find him and bring him home. The Deep Roads being what they are, it's likely that he was dead before his innocence was ever brought to light; but if the quest is completed, his remains are located and given the traditional dwarven funeral rites. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e144ba19 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e144ba19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Age II (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_e144ba19 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e5feb1e | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e5feb1e | comment |
Ace Attorney: In the fourth case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations, Mia Fey defends already convicted murderer Terry Fawles for a second murder he apparently committed after a jailbreak. Over the course of the trial, Mia not only comes close to clearing him of the crime he's on trial for but also the crime he got sent to Death Row for in the first place. Unfortunately, the real murderer is Dahlia Hawthorne, who has Fawles wrapped around her finger so tightly that he commits suicide on the stand rather than testify against her. Thankfully, Mia gets Dahlia later and when she pops up yet again, Phoenix has her number. In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the trial in which Phoenix lost his attorney’s badge involved a stage magician, Zak Gramarye, being accused of killing his mentor. Zak goes on the run to avoid the conviction, and in the last case of the game, his partner Valant admits that he staged their mentor’s suicide as a murder to implicate Zak out of jealousy, thereby exonerating him of any wrongdoing. Unfortunately, by this point, you’ve already found out that Zak was the murder victim in the game’s first case, which happens several months before the fourth one. In Spirit of Justice, Dhurke Sahdmadhi is found innocent in the assassination attempt of his wife Amara and the murder of Justice Minister Inga a mere three days after his death (though the latter ends up being meaningless because he was Dead All Along while assumed to have been the killer; It Makes Sense in Context). However, within Khura'in culture there is the mindset that children do bear the sins of their parents, so exonerating Dhurke despite his death wasn't completely pointless, as his children would regain respect. |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e5feb1e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e5feb1e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ace Attorney (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_e5feb1e | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e6318baf | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e6318baf | comment |
Midsomer Murders: In "The Debt of Lies", The thief who stole part of the money from the Goldman-Forbes heist is suspected to be Damian Bennet, the patrolman who helped discover where the original gang was hiding the money. He's innocent, however, but the real thief is DCI Sebastian Cabot, Barnaby's old mentor, who stole the money to help pay for care for his autistic son. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e6318baf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e6318baf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Midsomer Murders | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_e6318baf | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e66220af | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e66220af | comment |
Happens in Pan's Labyrinth when the villain finds two men with guns he accuses of being rebels and brutally beats to death, despite their protests that they were only hunting rabbits. Inspecting their bags afterwards proves their claim was correct. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e66220af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_e66220af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pan's Labyrinth | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_e66220af | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ed45546f | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ed45546f | comment |
In Hangmen Also Die!, the investigation by the Nazis determines that Czaka did not assassinate Heydrich. By this time, they have already killed him, however. To add insult to injury, they decide to close the case with Czaka as the official culprit in order to save face (having failed to uncover the real assassin despite the harsh reprisals). | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ed45546f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ed45546f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hangmen Also Die! | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_ed45546f | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ef7b3325 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ef7b3325 | comment |
The Fantastic Four story "Mission for a Dead Man" has the Human Torch doing this for a thug that was a former bully of his, as he is executed for the one crime he didn't commit and gives him a posthumous letter asking him to clear his name to prove to his mother that in this case he was genuinely innocent. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ef7b3325 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ef7b3325 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Fantastic Four / Comicbook | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_ef7b3325 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_efa49b17 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_efa49b17 | comment |
One episode of The Mentalist involves the team searching for the actual killer and saving a man convicted on death row. To the team's heartbreak, he's executed before they can find the real killer, and Abbott remarks that with the suspect dead, their bosses will never allow them to pursue any other leads. However, it turns out to be an elaborate trick. They were pretty sure that either the victim's husband or his new wife were guilty, so they faked the execution to gauge the reactions of the suspects, and Abbott deliberately dropped the comment about the case dying with the execution so that the real killer would think they couldn't be touched. Once Jane realized it was the wife, he planted the idea in the husband's head and then slipped a listening device in his pocket before sending the couple home. As predicted, the husband confronted the wife and she admitted what she'd done... at which point the FBI pulled up, arrested her, and then promptly called the governor to tell him what they'd heard. With the wife's admission on the record, the execution is halted and the innocent man released. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_efa49b17 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_efa49b17 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Mentalist | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_efa49b17 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_f91de837 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_f91de837 | comment |
Within Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, readers learn that Voldemort had his uncle Morfin Gaunt framed and incarcerated for his murder of his Muggle father and grandparents. When Dumbledore found evidence indicating the truth, he tried to get the conviction overturned, but Morfin died in prison before the ministry reached their decision. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_f91de837 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_f91de837 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_f91de837 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_fe83b608 | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_fe83b608 | comment |
The UK version of the show had an episode, "Shaken", where a young nanny and her boyfriend were accused of killing her employer's baby. They were arrested and jailed, but the nanny is freed, leaving the boyfriend behind bars. By the end of the episode, the husband's ex-girlfriend (who couldn't have children) confesses that she killed the baby out of rage and depression. The boyfriend is cleared, but the Crown Prosecutors find out that he was beaten to death by another prisoner when they go to get him out of jail. | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_fe83b608 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_fe83b608 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Law & Order: UK | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_fe83b608 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ff2165b | type |
Acquitted Too Late | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ff2165b | comment |
Cold Case: An episode appropriately titled "Death Penalty: Final Appeal" had a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder executed before the detectives could clear his name. In this case, however, the detectives did find evidence to clear the man in time, but the DA who put him in jail stonewalled their attempts to do so. They find the evidence they need and arrest the guilty man, the day after the innocent one was executed. Somewhat in "Thrill Kill": Two innocent men were imprisoned for killing three boys. One of the two hanged himself in prison, which is what prompts the detectives to re-investigate. They manage to free the other one though (it was loosely based on the West Memphis Three, who have now been freed but were still imprisoned at the time). One episode had the plot of a man being convicted of an 'arson' that was a negligent landlord, bad wiring, and an accidental fire. Both the man's kids were killed. His brother defended him and helped reveal his innocence, but there was no explicit mention of the landlord being punished. The innocent man had been killed in prison (this bears a strong resemblance to the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, convicted of murdering his daughters through arson but which may have been just an accident — he was put to death in 2004). |
|
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ff2165b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Acquitted Too Late / int_ff2165b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cold Case | hasFeature |
Acquitted Too Late / int_ff2165b |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.