History Main / GuiltyUntilSomeoneElseIsGuilty

* In the first case of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', [[Characters/DanganronpaMakotoNaegi Makoto Naegi]] is the first suspect. Because of the mechanics of a game over, Makoto gets voted out as the Blackened even after he's proven innocent. In fact, for the rest of the first and second games, the PlayerCharacter will be voted as the Blackened if you let your Influence Gauge run out by making mistakes, regardless of who is currently the suspect or if he's already been proven innocent, as in the first trial. Though the rules of the game mean that it doesn't really matter ''who'''s chosen as the Blackened if it isn't the true killer, because if the class votes for the wrong person (regardless of whether it's Makoto or whoever's currently being framed), everyone but the Blackened is executed.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': While this is not an actual rule in this universe's [[ArtisticLicenseLaw already bizarre law system]], the games will almost always require you to continue until the actual killer is caught. While in most cases, this is a natural consequence of the protagonist being unable to decisively prove their client innocent until they've explained and proven the entire crime down to the last detail, there are several instances where you're able to get everyone to wholeheartedly agree that your client obviously couldn't have been the culprit... but the trial continues and your client will still be found guilty if you don't figure out who really did it.

** ''Dual Destinies'' averts this twice, and both times, it's not exactly a good thing. The first time is at the end of case 4; while Yuri Cosmos does suffer a "breakdown" like most culprits do, he's not guilty of the murder of Clay Terran, yet revealing his wrongdoings is enough to get Sol Starbuck a "not guilty" verdict. If the fact that this has never before happened in series history wasn't enough to set off alarm bells, the fact that you hadn't even had a playable segment since you'd last received a new piece of evidence should; the evidence that exonerates Starbuck instead points the finger at *Athena*, and case 5 revolves around proving her innocent as well. A bad ending to case 5 involves a second aversion; if you mess up in [[spoiler: Bobby Fulbright]]'s testimony, Athena and Simon Blackquill will be declared innocent despite the true culprit never being identified. It counts as a bad ending for two reasons: One, Athena and Simon will never get closure regarding Metis' death, and two, UR-1 was one of two cases that catalyzed the Dark Age of the Law (the other being the case that got Phoenix disbarred, which was itself solved and Phoenix exonerated back in ''Apollo Justice''), and the Dark Age cannot come to a close without the case being solved.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Everyone except Brian, who received a confession from the real killer, believes Peter killed Lois in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS6E4And5StewieKillsLoisAndLoisKillsStewie Stewie Kills Lois]]." This is because Peter admits he secretly wanted Lois dead after a fight, mentions taking out a life insurance policy on her right before she died, and photos of Lois being brutally murdered were discovered in his trash can. At his trial, Lois shows up alive and names Stewie her attacker, clearing Peter. It’s later revealed that this never happened and it was all part of a simulation made by Stewie at the end of the second part.

A misdeed has occurred, and one character -- usually a protagonist -- is assumed to be the culprit, either because they have a history of being a troublemaker, or simply because [[TheCorpseStopsHere they were the first to find the body]] -- the second person on the scene of the crime saw them standing next to the victim and naturally assumed that they did it. The problem is that the accused character is innocent. While the character's closest friends and relatives may believe their innocence, [[ConvictedByPublicOpinion everyone else will believe they're guilty]]. The "evidence" can sometimes be wafer thin and lacking coherence, such as a motive. Arguments in their defense tend to be ignored - the other characters will still believe they did it. The only way everyone will be convinced that the accused isn't guilty is with the strongest evidence of all: exposing the true culprit, and yet this is ''not'' a [[KangarooCourt Kangaroo Court]] -- the court simply follows its own inscrutable train of thought, and ''will'' clear your name once it becomes apparent that the prosecution was trying [[FrameUp to frame you]]. It's just that the standards for proof are apparently -- and hopefully -- very different from [[RealLife real life]].

** Also averted in the third case of ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney Adventures'', where Ryunosuke successfully presents an alternative suspect to Magnus [=McGilded=] using the evidence at hand. Even though the prosecution immediately accuses Magnus of tampering with the evidence, something Ryunosuke himself asks to be investigated, the judge delivers an acquittal, reasoning that the prosecution has nothing to back up their claims, and should accept full responsibility for this mishap even if they were telling the truth. It's later revealed in case 5 that Magnus actually ''was'' guilty and ''did'' tamper with the evidence, though by this point he's already been murdered.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': Sector Security arrests Jack Atlas because someone with the same Duel Runner model ran other Turbo Duelists off the road, injuring them. Everyone only gets convinced of his innocence once they see both the real Jack and the imposter riding their Duel Runners at the same time, showing that the imposter was responsible for the crashes.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': While this is not an actual rule in this universe's law system, the games will almost always require you to continue until the actual killer is caught even if you've proven your client's innocence in a bit of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Gameplay And Story Segregation]]. However, in most cases, continuing the trial until the real criminal is caught is a natural consequence of the protagonist being unable to decisively prove their client innocent until they've explained and proven the entire crime down to the last detail, which includes proving who actually did it.
** "Turnabout Samurai" from [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the first game]] featured the first major instance of this in the series. Phoenix proves beyond a reasonable doubt that his client is innocent by the end of the case's second day (due to proving that the real crime scene was somewhere Will Powers was unable to reach at the time of the murder, even if he hadn't been drugged with sleeping pills), but the trial continues for another day as Phoenix is tasked with finding the real culprit. Fail the trial the following day and Will Powers gets condemned anyways even though the court just agreed the previous day that he couldn’t kill the victim.

* In ''WebAnimation/PhoenixWrightDevilsAttorney'', underworld law explicitly states that the accused is guilty until someone else is proven guilty- which winds up a problem when condemning either the defendant ''or'' the real killer would start a war. in the end Phoenix, the Judge and the prosecutor have to work together to achieve a mistrial in order to avoid condemning an innocent and sparking a war. [[spoiler:Since the true culprit is an artificial demon who's only a few months old, they end up judging that she's too young to prosecute, thus ending the case as a mistrial.]]
* Mocked in ''WebAnimation/SoThisIsBasically VideoGame/AceAttorney'', which uses the trope name almost word for word. Phoenix argues that his client can't have committed murder with a gun due to having been a five-month-old infant who couldn't even pick the gun up. (This is only narrowly an exaggeration of a case in ''Apollo Justice.'') The ObviouslyEvil witness admits that Phoenix proved that it was impossible... and then, with absolutely no evidence, launches into a rant about how the baby somehow picked up the bullet and dropped it out of a tall building or a blimp so that it landed on the victim's head and killed her, before challenging Phoenix to disprove it. Upon hearing this, the judge happily declares the baby to be guilty.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Aside from her closest friends, all the characters believe Ahsoka Tano killed Letta Turmond, who was instructed by a Jedi to bomb the Jedi Temple. The characters also believe that Ahsoka is the mastermind behind the bombing. Once Anakin captures Barriss Offee in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E20TheWrongJedi The Wrong Jedi]]" and makes her confess that she was responsible for the crimes, everyone is finally convinced of Ahsoka's innocence.