  Mystery
This week: But everybody knows that... Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "I honestly believe it is better to know nothing than to know what ain’t so."
~Josh Billings |
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We are often surprised to find out that a piece of information we always thought was an established fact is actually not true.
Some common misconceptions about police work and the law have been perpetuated by mystery stories and TV crime dramas. Here are just a few. Some of them may have been true at one time, others are only partly true, while others vary based on where you live.
 A wife cannot testify against her husband.
While it is true that one spouse cannot be forced to testify against the other, if they wish to testify, their testimony will be allowed. However, some communication between a married couple is considered privileged, similar to communication between a lawyer and client. The communication must have happened when they were married, and both of them must have agreed that it was to be held confidential. This restriction only applies to communication, not anything one spouse might have seen the other do.
A couple who lives together for seven years is considered married by common law.
Only nine US states actually recognize common law marriage, and the number of years a common law couple must spend together varies. In the states that do recognize it, simply living together for a number of years does not lead to a common law marriage. The couple must think of themselves as married, so two people who live together as roommates for several years would not be considered married under common law.
A person must be missing 24 hours before police will accept a missing person report.
This may have been a law at one time, but there is no waiting period to file a missing person report. If the missing person is a child, is elderly, or suffers from a mental or physical disability, police will begin an active search immediately. If the person is an adult with none of these conditions, you can still file the report at any time, and police will evaluate the situation to determine how to proceed. Filing a missing person report on an adult does not mean the police will tell you the person's whereabouts. If the person left voluntarily and does not want to be found, they will respect his or her wishes. An example would be a domestic violence victim hiding from an abusive spouse.
A person cannot be charged with murder if the body is not found.
While it is more difficult to prove homicide without a body, it does happen. "No body" cases require other strong evidence such as DNA. Convicted murderer Alfonso Rodriguez Jr was arrested in connection with the disappearance of his victim, Dru Sjodin, three months before her body was found. Rodriguez, a registered sex offender, had lied about his whereabouts the day she disappeared, and a knife with her blood on it was found in the trunk of his car.
Police can pronounce a victim dead.
This one happens a lot in TV crime dramas. A cop feels for the carotid pulse, and says, "He's dead," and no efforts are made to revive the victim, even if the death happened only minutes before. The only time this might happen in real life is in a situation where it is obvious that the patient will never be resuscitated (such as decapitation.) In cases where there is any hope of reviving the victim, emergency personnel are called, and the victim is taken to an emergency room. In many US states, a medical doctor, a coroner, or a registered nurse are the only personnel who can pronounce death. In other states, the highest ranking medical practitioner on the scene, often a paramedic, may pronounce death. This is the case in remote areas where the nearest doctor may be hundreds of miles away. In some countries, a medical doctor rides on every ambulance.
While you don't have to be a police officer or a lawyer to write a mystery story, your story will be more realistic if your characters face the same challenges present in real life investigations. For example, emergency medical personnel or others who try to revive a victim might unwittingly remove or contaminate evidence.
Something to try: Write a mystery story where the truth about a common misconception is part of the plot. |
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A girl finds out that her best friend isn’t what she appeared to be.
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Mystery: June 08, 2016 Issue [#7681]
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