Jim Leach began his law enforcement career in 1975, and he shares his insights as a multimedia analyst and consultant for Golden Media Group in matters relating to Criminal Justice. He served as a Special Agent in Charge for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
When you are investigating a criminal case, it will only be a matter of time until you have a possible source of information explain to you that this case should be easy to solve. It will go something like this:
“You got any idea who broke into Joe’s house Tuesday night?”
“Sure, man. Everybody knows Jim did that.”
Now, to the person who says, “Everybody knows”, it is obvious who committed the burglary. She is probably aware of a history of problems Joe and Jim have had, and maybe she has more information.
However, unless she shares all that information with the investigating officer, Jim is not going to be in a criminal trial any time soon.
The story of the former owner of the Miramax movie distribution giant, Harvey Weinstein, illustrates the point.
It would be easy to reach the conclusion that “everybody knows” Harvey did it when it comes to sex crime charges. In 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker published articles describing allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him. It has been written that nearly 100 women have accused Weinstein of such crimes. He denies all accusations of nonconsensual sex.
He has prior sex crime convictions in New York and Los Angeles.
Last week, a Manhattan judge declared a mistrial in a sex crime case against Weinstein after nine hours of jury deliberation stretched out over 3 days, failed to produce a unanimous verdict.
If you look at Weinstein’s record, it would be easy to understand someone saying, “Why, everybody knows he did it.” The thing is, our justice system is set up to protect the innocent more than punish the guilty.
Just because everybody knows he did it, won’t get it done. The prosecution must prove every element (part) of the law the person is accused of breaking. Please note that we said to prove each element.
Please be understanding when we (the Police) go into more depth with our questioning. We need all the information you have or can remember to put together a prosecutable case and ensure justice is served.
