wrongful accusation
Unjust criminal charge
A wrongful accusation is a charge of misconduct or crime made against someone who is innocent.
The phrase emphasizes injustice to the accused rather than malice by the accuser—though both may be present.
He spent fifteen years in prison before the wrongful accusation was overturned.
Compare with false accusation, which emphasizes the untruth of the charge itself.
- slanderSpoken false defamation
- defamationFalse statements harming reputation
- bum rapUnjust accusation, informally
- rush to judgmentHasty conclusion without evidence
- libelPrinted defamation
scapegoating · thrown under the bus · pointing fingers · false charge · perjury · cry wolf · kangaroo court · trial by media · miscarriage of justice · character assassination · recant · Dreyfus affair · justice · aspersion · trauma · false testimony · false imprisonment · smear
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- legal themes in fictioncourtroom drama, jury duty, verdict, acquittal, conviction
- thriller tropesplot twist, red herring, cliffhanger, whodunit, femme fatale
- false accusationsfalse charge, false claim, bum rap, frame-up, frameup
- melodramavillain, heroine, hero, damsel in distress, happy ending
- HitchcockVertigo, The Birds, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Rebecca
wrongful accusationexoneration
Official clearing of blame
vindication · fair trial · due process · acquittal · absolution
wrongful accusationexoneration
Official clearing of blame
vindication · acquittal · absolution · clearance · exculpation