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Consciousness of Guilt; Consciousness of Innocence

In most states, a person facing criminal charges who flees the jurisdiction will be hit at trial. The jury will be instructed that it can infer guilt based on the defendant?s flight. The concept is known as flight as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Here is a typical instruction:  The flight of a person immediately after the commission of a crime or after he is accused of a crime is not sufficient in itself to establish his guilt, but is a fact which, if proved, may be considered by you in the light of all other proved facts in deciding whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty. The weight to which this circumstance is entitled is a matter for you to decide."  CALJIC No. 2.52  An innocent person, the thinking goes, should not fear the legal system...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on September 26, 2009 (boomark / email).