Presumed Innocent

Factual error: Tommy Molto stands up and tells Judge Lyttle that the prosecution has not been able to find a key piece of evidence: a bar glass found in the victim's apartment. The jury is present when Molto makes this statement. That would never happen in a real courtroom. The judge had not yet decided whether testimony about the glass could be offered by the prosecution, so he certainly would not want the jury to hear anything about the glass until AFTER he made that decision.

K.C. Sierra

Factual error: Judge Lyttle holds several private discussions with the lawyers outside of chambers without having a court reporter present. A court reporter would always be present in such situations. The point of those private discussions is to prevent the jury from overhearing them, but they are still on the record.

K.C. Sierra

Plot hole: They found seminal fluid left in Caroline Polhemus. Why didn't they subject it to DNA testing, which would have been a powerful indicator of Sabich's guilt? Fertility (or otherwise) has nothing to do with it - as well as non-motile sperm (which contain DNA anyway) the seminal fluid would contain discarded skin and blood calls in abundance. DNA testing was first used in a criminal case in 1985 and was in fairly common use by 1988.

More mistakes in Presumed Innocent

Rusty Sabich: The jury is going to remember Caroline tortured to death. They'll want someone to pay for the crime.

More quotes from Presumed Innocent

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.