# Has the trope of a witness implicating themselves of a crime instead of the defendant ever happened? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264 "2021-10-27T03:21:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/1 "2021-10-27T03:21:55Z")
So its a pretty common trope in legal shows. Person A is on trial for a serious crime (typically murder), cunning defense lawyer believes Person A innocent and works out it was actually Person B that did the crime. Using their super crafty legal skills they put Person B on the witness stand and _surprise_ convince him to implicate himself. The judge orders the bailiff to clap Person B in handcuffs and releases person A, Cheering all round, brave lawyer walks out to closing credits. Has anything remotely like that _ever_ happened? I get its a pretty common defense tactic to try and convince the jury someone else did the crime. And more than one person can be prosecuted for one crime, not necessarily at the same time. But has witness testimony (from someone who is not a co-defendant or otherwise implicated in the crime prior to the testimony) ever actually been so implicating (in the crime being tried) it shifted the target of prosecution from the defendant to the witness. And even if it did could anything like the judge saying “bailiff apprehend that witness, release the defendant!”, actually happen in a real court room in any jurisdiction ? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/2 "2021-10-27T18:02:42Z")
The best I’ve found is this (which is not what you’re looking for) > **[Murder Defendant Recants Story, Admits Shooting](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/01/08/murder-defendant-recants-story-admits-shooting/c3adbb46-70ab-4060-b207-e04a01377fef/)** > ". . . I thought he was going to shoot me and I fired the gun. And I didn’t know whether I killed him. I wasn’t trying to kill him . . . . " > > With that testimony, Harlow Brian Sails, 21, stunned the jury in his murder trial in Upper Marlboro yesterday as he admitted shooting an off-duty D.C. police officer who had intervened in the robbery of a jewelry store. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/3 "2021-10-27T18:05:24Z")
What fictional examples come to mind I wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/4 "2021-10-27T18:07:37Z")
“Legally Blonde” for one ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/5 "2021-10-27T18:10:01Z")
Like, every freaking episode of _Perry Mason_? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/6 "2021-10-27T18:18:24Z")
And in fact it’s actually called a “Perry Mason moment”. > **[Perry Mason moment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Mason_moment)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > In court proceedings in the United States, a Perry Mason moment is said to have occurred whenever information is unexpectedly (to most present), and often dramatically, introduced into the record that changes the perception of the proceedings greatly and often influences the outcome. Often it takes the form of a witness's answer to a question, but it can sometimes come in the form of new evidence. It takes its name from Perry Mason, a fictional ch... ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/7 "2021-10-27T18:20:36Z")
I don’t remember the title, but sometime in the 1980’s I read an anthology of short stories from _Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine_, in which one story, consisting of nothing but dialog until the last sentence, has a district attorney in a murder trial doing direct examination of a police detective on the stand. During it, the DA accidentally reveals knowledge that only the killer could have known, since the police didn’t reveal it to anyone. The detective points that out. The final sentence was something like, “But the district attorney broke down in tears.” ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/8 "2021-10-27T18:20:59Z")
TvTopes calls this the Perry Mason Method. [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePerryMasonMethod](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePerryMasonMethod) The case of Harlow Sails [noted above](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/2) is the only entry in the “Real Life” folder. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/9 "2021-10-27T18:43:36Z")
While the scenario posited by the OP isn’t something I’ve seen, it is possible for the prosecutor to dismiss the case, or offer a plea, in the midst of trial, so it wouldn’t be impossible for them to announce “we’re dismissing the case” because of something that a witness said, as rare as that may be. (I was recently in a trial where the victim, who accused the defendant of choking her, had decided that she didn’t want him prosecuted by the time the trial started. Since the state was not agreeing to dismiss, she went to trial and testified “I don’t remember” and “I’m not really sure” to practically every question. During a break outside the presence of the jury - where the lawyers were debating the admissibility of her past statements - the judge looked at the prosecution and said, “What do you say? Reduce it to disorderly conduct, give him time served, and call it a day?” But the prosecutor said no, since she “was basically through presenting her case”. She ended up losing the verdict) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/10 "2021-10-28T15:28:29Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > in his murder trial in Upper Marlboro Ok that’s weird I literally read this in Upper Marlboro, MD (at a pumpkin patch not a jewellers, but still) ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/11 "2021-10-28T16:01:36Z")
Not an exact fit to the OP, but during the trial of [Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Gallagher_(Navy_SEAL)) (charged with murdering a POW), the prosecution’s witness (a medic on Gallagher’s team) admitted to killing the POW instead. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/12 "2021-10-28T16:15:58Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/13 "2021-10-28T16:17:27Z")
This is pretty darn close to what the OP wanted. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/14 "2021-10-28T16:43:00Z")
Yup that’s as close as we are going to get. Though the fact trial continued and resulted in a conviction is not usually part of the trope. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2021, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-trope-of-a-witness-implicating-themselves-of-a-crime-instead-of-the-defendant-ever-happened/953264/15 "2021-10-28T17:37:55Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > During a break outside the presence of the jury - where the lawyers were debating the admissibility of her past statements - the judge looked at the prosecution and said, “What do you say? Reduce it to disorderly conduct, give him time served, and call it a day?” But the prosecutor said no, since she “was basically through presenting her case”. She ended up losing the verdict) My thought was “So what?” The guy ended up with time served anyway. Best case - he just avoids a conviction record for… ooh! _Disorderly conduct_! Worst case, he does get convicted. Prosecutor can’t really lose.