James Hanratty
Reasonable doubt
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penny4theguy
I like to think I am the type of person who doesnt say "of course he/she did it" of course we form opinions without knowing all of the facts,I dont know if James Hanratty was guilty or not,I did grow up thinking there was reasonable doubt,the trouble with our legal system is you can be found guilty even if all of the jury do not agree,(is it beyond reasonable doubt when all of the jury do not agree?) I think more time should be allowed to sum up (I know the jury's do get a lot of time to sum up,but if they cannot agree I would think this is reasonable doubt)I used to think a hung jury should be reasonable doubt,it is so easy for the judge to say I will except a majority verdict,(this saves a retrial of course)but back in those days it was a life at stake,a pardon after you are dead is not much use
I really do not know how do we define what we consider reasonable doubt.In James Hanratty's case he was found guilty by jury of twelve (I do not know if all found him guilty or not)while at the same time a petition was signed by 90,000 people.Perhaps the fact we still question the verdict raises a point,of course some people will say he was/ wasn't guilty,but I will always think at the time there was reasonable doubt,today's DNA suggests otherwise but ,Hmmm.



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replied to:  penny4theguy
crazyman2
Replied to:  I like to think I am the type of person who...
I think the DNA evidence is pretty convincing. It is highly unlikely that he was innocent.
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replied to:  crazyman2
penny4theguy
Replied to:  I think the DNA evidence is pretty convincing. It is...
I agree entirely about DNA,Oddly I hope he was guilty as I would hate to think an innocent man hung.
PS I read a large, item on Hanratty yesterday,the author of this (from 2002 I think)says the DNA proved his innocence.
I found this by googling in 'Was James Hanratty guilty'of course I am being selective as other articles said DNA proved his guilt,or was not reliable evidence as items of clothing, His and Hers were stored in the same box and this could have contaminated them.
One more thought,what are the odds/probability of Gregsons wife having never seen Hanratty,contacting the police to say she had seen a man with staring eyes as the murderer had been described (He was in a crowd,of course it turned out to be James Hanratty)? perhaps a chance to match DNA odds? If nothing else an amazing coincidence.

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