Yes, but the key word here is “legally”. But it does not change “reality”.Yep, seriously. I know of at least two women who killed their abusive husband and boyfriend while the men slept. Their counsels cobbled together a self defense plea, that the juries bought, they are totally free today.
The law doesn´t see technicalities, it just sees the law. If it is not properly applied, to protect the accused, and the court finds it egregious, the suspect walks, or so much evidence is found inadmissable, the suspect walks.
Legally none of the people in the examples are criminals. They have not been convicted by a jury of their peers of a crime.
Legally, OJ Simpson is not a criminal, though I know he is. I followed the trial, but more especially the evidence, and there is no doubt. Yet, a jury of his peers acquitted him. I won a bet from a colleague who said the evidence was so overwhelming he could never get off. I said he would walk.
So, the mop flops, and people with no criminal records, that, from our observations are criminals, walk freely among us.
Call one a criminal, or say so in print, could get you hauled into court for libel or slander.
In the final analysis, the law determines who is a criminal, not our feelings or opinions.
Consider a situation where it works the other way. If I am charge with a crime, let’s say vandalism. And I did not do it. My innocence is a reality. But let’s say I plead guilty to get a lesser sentence (happen all the time in the criminal system). From the moment my plea is accepted by a court I am legally guilty. But reality does not change. I did not do it. Sometimes what is legally true and what is actually true are not the same.
In reality the person who actually committed the act of vandalism that I plead guilty to is guilty, and was guilty from the moment they broke that window. That is reality even if a court of law never recognizes that fact.