A question about Siamese twins...

[Kenny]

If Twin A commits a crime and is found guilty, and the court finds that his brother took no part in the crime, and Twin A is sentenced to, say, 10 years in prison, what happens?  Are they both sent to jail?  Has something like this ever happened, or are Siamese twins just criminal masterminds who never get caught?

[Cathal (billythehick)]

Sounds like a story Flann O'Brien would write.

[AlexTheNerdyOne]

How could the brother be completely uninvolved, like not even know of the crime. Wouldn't he realise?

[TimeladyKelsey]

He might, but how could he go to the cops without his brother knowing?! :O

[AlexTheNerdyOne]

DUN DUN DUN

[Kenny]

There are violent crimes that could be committed too quickly for the innocent brother to do anything about or have foreknowledge of, but for the sake of this discussion let's say that brother A committed some serious tax fraud, and the court found brother B innocent of any involvement.

[TimeladyKelsey]

Hmmmm... this question just got far more difficult... I suppose house-arrest would be an option, but I think that if the crime was tax fraud they'd allow the brothers to stay free without frequent check-ups.

[Eystein,]

The brother could have been asleep, or tranquilized either by a local anesthetic or a blunt instrument.

[Holly Draine]

Not to be really, really morbid, but now I'm thinking - you know those kinds of siamese twins that have the same body until you reach the head and upper part and everything? What if one of them, like, rapes someone? O_O What if one twin turns the other in for committing a crime? What if one of them is given a sentence of death? DAMN IT. This is JUST the kind of thing I obsess about and can't get out of my head for days on end...

[Kenny]

I think I've more or less figured it out from a legal standpoint:

Imprisoning or executing someone who has been found innocent is illegal and is a violation of that person's rights. Not imprisoning or not executing someone who is found guilty of something is not violating that person's rights. So it would seem that if one Siamese twin could keep their sibling in plausibly in the dark, that person could literally get away with murder.

[Fake Crowley]

Shoot, you beat me to it.

[Fake Crowley]

Simple.

Protecting the innocent trumps punishing the guilty. It's law, I think.

[TimeladyKelsey]

I've had another thought!! :D

Okay, so it's possible to seperate siamese twins, but it's really risky (Depending on, like, where they're attached and how any internal organs they share). So, perhaps the court would make them undergo this procedure?