D&D General Could a thief get away with a 1-man crime wave by making it so obvious that she's the 1 responsible that the police assume she's being framed

[RuinousPowers]

Not really. It would take a significant amount of evidence to support the framing before anyone would even entertain the idea.

 

[JMISBEST]

I was thinking circumstantial evidence that has no individual concrete link to her but between them theirs enough circumstantial evidence to convict her but when the police realize how many pieces of circumstantial evidence have seemingly been dropped they think, as the thief wants them to, that someone's framing her

I've thought of 9 pieces of circumstantial evidence that all indirectly point to her, thanks to forensics 1 of these wouldn't work in real life, that she could deliberately leave to make the authorities think that the sheer number of pieces of circumstantial evidence that all indirectly point to her mean that she's being framed

Its very well know that when doing a break in she only wears white gloves and theirs a pair of white gloves at the scene

Its very well known that when doing a break in she only wears a blue mask and theirs fibers from a blue mask at the scene

Its very well known that she only smokes Tobacco's made by Dwarfs and theirs several packets of Dwarfern tobacco at the scene

Its very well known that she only ever drinks alcohol made by Elves and at the scene theirs a empty bottle of Elven Beer

Its very well known that she only ever wears green lipstick and at the scene is a tube of green lipstick

Its very well known that she only use's mascara made by Halflings and at the scene is a tube of mascara made by Halflings

Its very well known that she only use's perfume that's made from juice that's been extracted from like Apples and at the scene theirs a smell of perfume made from apples that's so strong that even the victims 6 year old son can tell what the smell is

Its very well known that when its cold enough to need to need to wear a scarf that she will always wear a purple scarf and at the scene are a few stands that clearly came from a purple scarf

A clue that wouldn't be used in real life is that its very well known that she has hair that's long, brown and curly and at the scene are a few bits of hair that are long, brown and curly

 

[mamba]

I've thought of 9 pieces of circumstantial evidence that all indirectly point to her

these are deliberately placed, if that is all that points to her, then she would have been better off leaving no clues, so she hopes to drown out the accidental clues she leaves behind with the deliberate ones?

Not sure that doesn’t amount to simply more clues leading to her… she would be better off framing someone else imo, if there is no other viable suspect, it still is her

 

[Reef]

@mamba is right. No investigator is going to look a gift horse in the mouth. They’ll be happy it’s a slam dunk. And like I said, it would never get past the first crime. They’ll find the gloves, go to the obvious suspect, and when she doesn’t have an alibi, arrest her. When the crimes stop, they’ll (rightly) assume they got the right person.

 

[soviet]

I work in this field and there is zero chance at all that a law enforcement agency faced with nine pieces of evidence wouldn't arrest that person.

There is no such thing as too much evidence or the answer is too obvious. Most criminals are pretty stupid. They take photos of themselves at the crime scene, connect to the wifi, leave personal documents there, leave fingerprints on the TV remote, record a confession, and so on.

If there was any suspicion by the police that someone might have been framed, they would still arrest that person, interview them, and (unless 100% convinced) prosecute them. 'I was framed' is generally a defence to be tested at court.

 

[Guest 7042500]

My advice is to stop treating the pseudo medieval world of D&D like a 21st century police procedural.

There is a wonderful book on Kindle for $1.99 called The Great Crown Jewel Robbery of 1303. It is the true story of how thieves broke into Westminster Abbey and stole the Crown Jewels of Edward I of England. It tells how the theft was planned, carried out, discovered, investigated, and tried in court.

It is NOTHING like the 21st century.

 

[soviet]

I feel bad about raining on the OP's parade here! It might work as a defence in court, particularly if there is a jury or a bribable jury/presiding judge.

 

[Guest 7042500]

But see, this is where medieval justice differs. If the Thieves Guild is made up of people who are known to be upright citizens of the community (assuming the Thieves Guild is secret), then if ten members of the Thieves Guild all swear that the criminal was having dinner with them at the time, they would not have the right to arrest the criminal.

Really, medieval "justice" is very very very very different from what we're used to. So take that and run with it. Have fun with it.

The past is a different country.

 

[soviet]

But see, this is where medieval justice differs. If the Thieves Guild is made up of people who are known to be upright citizens of the community (assuming the Thieves Guild is secret), then if ten members of the Thieves Guild all swear that the criminal was having dinner with them at the time, they would not have the right to arrest the criminal.

Really, medieval "justice" is very very very very different from what we're used to. So take that and run with it. Have fun with it.

The past is a different country.

I don't understand how these ten sworn witness statements would come up before an arrest takes place.

 

[Guest 7042500]

Maybe, maybe not. Are the upstanding citizens willing to resist the justicar?

Seriously, you'd love that book. "You must answer the question!" "No." The members of the Guild of Goldsmiths, for example, didn't give two sh*ts for the "King's Justice."

Really fascinating.