Alternative Perpetrator and Forensic Gaps

Definition

A defence theory suggesting that a third party, rather than the defendant, committed the act.

The Forensic Gap

 In the case of the “falling ladder,” the court concluded that no one else but the defendant could have dropped the object. However, this conclusion is a Legal Fallacy if other individuals were present in the same spatial environment. If Party A (the defendant) was in a semi-conscious state after sleep, and Party B (a third party) was in an active state of conflict with the “victim,” the probability of the third party’s involvement cannot be ruled out.

A conviction cannot stand on the mere “likelihood” of one person’s guilt when another person with a stronger motive had equal physical access to the scene.