Law Commons^™

She Acts Guilty: Sexually Charged Consciousness Of Guilt Evidence Should Be Excluded Because It Is Biased Against Women., Colin Caffrey

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

A lawyer may submit sexually charged evidence under a consciousness of guilt theory. Utilizing this type of evidence convicts women based on their character, not for their alleged crimes, in criminal cases across America. Consciousness of guilt evidence holds bias because it exploits common gender stereotypes in order to obtain criminal convictions. Sexually charged evidence does not directly show a defendant’s guilt, but simply allows the jury to infer guilt based on a defendant’s conduct. Violating gender norms or reacting to the occurrence of a tragedy differently than one might normally expect is not an admission of guilt. Sexually charged …