Committing a crime

Committing a crime

Committing a crime brings shame and guilt to the suspect, which is subtle (McTaggart 2012). The feeling of guilt and or shame may have different outcomes on the suspect. One of the results will be taking a flight to seek asylum in a different state or even hiding his/her whereabouts.  Guilt makes the suspect regretful, remorseful, and experience tension. These feelings may trigger reparative actions such as apologies, confession, and costs in compensation for the damage created. Shame is the painful feeling directly on the suspect. The suspects will often defend themselves in aggressive forms, such as shifting the blame to others or even denying their actions. The suspects who experience guilt and shame but fail to put a blemish on others, in most cases, are likely to go to jail, unlike their counterparts. Many experts argue that although it all depends on defense mechanisms and experience of their lawyers, actions by suspects to fly or hide their whereabouts after committing a crime is an indication of knowledge and consciousness of guilt.

Flying or concealing whereabouts without explanation after committing a crime is an indication of knowledge of guilt (Wortley 2013). Such an understanding of guilt is a piece of circumstantial evidence for the prosecution in a criminal trial. Circumstantial here would mean that the suspect intended to commit the crime or, indeed, committed the crime.

As such, the conscious of guilt is a robust and highly criminal inference drawn by a judge from the conduct of the suspect after a crime is committed (Naude 2012). The decision would thus be that the suspect is found culpable and guilty of the crime being charged against him/her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Wortley, R. (2013). Situational precipitators of crime. In Environmental criminology and crime analysis (pp. 70-91). Willan.

Naude, B. C. (2012). The probative value of post-offence conduct evidence. Obiter, 33(2), 320-333.

McTaggart, A. (2012). Shame and guilt in Chaucer. Springer.