Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.
Superheroes in Court
Remember in "Batman Forever" when Batman was in court? I often wonder about that sort of thing. There was a Spiderman story a while back where defense attorneys were using a "Spiderman defense": Thug found webbed to a lightpole along with stolen goods and a note from Spiderman - if you can get to the interrogation room before your client confesses, you can shut the whole thing down. How are they gonna prove anything? They can't tie your guy to the scene, they might not even know where the scene was if Spidey wasn't specific in the note. They can't even get your guy for receiving since the beating he took and the fact that he was all tied up kinda cuts against there being any sort of knowing and voluntary exchange.
What about when the cop from the evidence room is called to establish chain of custody?:
"Officer, will you tell me when this envelope was checked into evidence?"
"I've written a note here. . . it looks like October 12th at 9:15 a.m."
"Did you record the investigating officer's name?"
"Uhhhh. . . It doesn't actually look like there was an investigating officer. . . "
"Well, who asked for it to be checked into evidence?"
"Uhhhhhh. . . It looks like it was Batman. . . "
At which point you can have the evidence excluded.
Could Batman's statements be admissible as investigative hearsay? Records kept in the normal course of super-hero-ing?
Many amusing situations can be imagined.
What about when the cop from the evidence room is called to establish chain of custody?:
"Officer, will you tell me when this envelope was checked into evidence?"
"I've written a note here. . . it looks like October 12th at 9:15 a.m."
"Did you record the investigating officer's name?"
"Uhhhh. . . It doesn't actually look like there was an investigating officer. . . "
"Well, who asked for it to be checked into evidence?"
"Uhhhhhh. . . It looks like it was Batman. . . "
At which point you can have the evidence excluded.
Could Batman's statements be admissible as investigative hearsay? Records kept in the normal course of super-hero-ing?
Many amusing situations can be imagined.
Comments
It was also the premise of The Incredibles.
And society's response to comic book vigilanteismisticnessity was also the premise of The Watchmen.
I'm talking about when real life criminal procedure accomodating superhero activity. Such as when a cop would be testifying about something and then have to say that Batman gave him the burglar tools he found on the Riddler. The question that arises is: Where did Batman really find the tools? Is Batman available to testify? Is Batman a credible witness? Can we be sure that the guy testifying in the Batman suit is really Batman?