A while ago I posted on Kindaichi (manga) about how I thought the structure was weird, and Kupek posted a resopnse about how in Japan they value testimonies more than facts or something along these lines. So recently I went back to reading Kindachi and I'm curious how a case in Kindaichi would work if it was in say, America. I'll take one of the classic 'Kindaichi was framed' episode, which is pretty representative of the stuff that happens there. In here Kindaichi is accused to killing all the people mentioned before, but it's obviously someone else who did it. Now as always, Kindaichi will reason out how it wasn't him and it was someone else, but remember, he has NO PROOF that any of this happened. I'll list the evidence/situation as described by the arc.
Woman A:
Woman A was seen in an elevator on the first floor going up with suspect X. Police tried to get to the elevator but failed to get there on time. They caught up to the elevator at floor 3, where suspect X exited. He said that the woman continue going up (and he stayed at floor 3). At floor 5, police found the woman's dead body away from the elevator and Kindaichi is the only person on the 5th floor.
Man A:
Man A was stabbed by a knife and died. Only Kindaichi and suspect X are near him. No clue was ever found.
Man B:
Man B was shot and Kindaichi was carrying a gun, while suspect X was not. The bullet that killed man B turned out to be the wrong kind that'd go in the gun Kindaichi was carrying (it was too big), but the smaller gun was never found.
Policeman A:
Policeman A was stabbed by a guy who dropped a handkerchief, which was identified as belonging to suspect X. Eyewitnesses saw Kindaichi stabbing the policeman. Kindaichi said it was just a mirror trick, but the mirrors responsible for the trick were never found.
Now I admit I don't know much about the law, but it'd seem to be the only thing you can possibly prove was that suspect X attempted to stab policeman A, but even there if you have a good lawyer you can probably try to argue against it. The other 3 guys left no evidence that it was suspect X who did it. Of course in the manga the guy predictably confess it was all him and they arrested him, but I'm thinking if this manga was in US, it'd probably just go to court and get dragged out for years. By the way, suspect X is very wealthy, like most murderers in Kindaichi are, so he can definitely get a very good lawyer! It seems to me if this was in America, all the bad guys can just plead the 5th and probably get away with the murders.
Woman A:
Woman A was seen in an elevator on the first floor going up with suspect X. Police tried to get to the elevator but failed to get there on time. They caught up to the elevator at floor 3, where suspect X exited. He said that the woman continue going up (and he stayed at floor 3). At floor 5, police found the woman's dead body away from the elevator and Kindaichi is the only person on the 5th floor.
Man A:
Man A was stabbed by a knife and died. Only Kindaichi and suspect X are near him. No clue was ever found.
Man B:
Man B was shot and Kindaichi was carrying a gun, while suspect X was not. The bullet that killed man B turned out to be the wrong kind that'd go in the gun Kindaichi was carrying (it was too big), but the smaller gun was never found.
Policeman A:
Policeman A was stabbed by a guy who dropped a handkerchief, which was identified as belonging to suspect X. Eyewitnesses saw Kindaichi stabbing the policeman. Kindaichi said it was just a mirror trick, but the mirrors responsible for the trick were never found.
Now I admit I don't know much about the law, but it'd seem to be the only thing you can possibly prove was that suspect X attempted to stab policeman A, but even there if you have a good lawyer you can probably try to argue against it. The other 3 guys left no evidence that it was suspect X who did it. Of course in the manga the guy predictably confess it was all him and they arrested him, but I'm thinking if this manga was in US, it'd probably just go to court and get dragged out for years. By the way, suspect X is very wealthy, like most murderers in Kindaichi are, so he can definitely get a very good lawyer! It seems to me if this was in America, all the bad guys can just plead the 5th and probably get away with the murders.
