How Did Christine Judge Leonard's Damning Evidence
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Christine provided Leonard with an alibi: Christine knew that her alibi would not be believed; she decided to testify for the prosecution; Christine then negated her own damning testimony.
Christine knew that her alibi would not be believed. After all, both common sense and expert advice told her her reliability as a witness was questionable. First, since she was his wife, it was thought that she would likely lie to protect him, because wives and husbands tend to love each other. Additionally, wives of her time were financially dependent on their husbands, so they would be inclined to lie for their husbands to protect themselves. Therefore, as a loved one and someone dependent on Leonard, she would not be a reliable witness. Second, Sir Wilfrid…show more content… This was possible because Christine was not in fact married to Leonard, and when she did testify, she delivered damning evidence. First, Christine and Leonard were not married to each other; she confirmed that the paper brought forth by the prosecution was indeed her marriage certificate between herself and Otto Helm. This proved that her union with Leonard was false, which allowed her to testify against him; if she was his wife, she would not have been permitted to testify for the prosecution, because “under British law, [a wife] cannot be called to give evidence damaging to [her] husband.” Second, Christine delivered damning evidence. First of all, she claimed that Leonard had returned home at 10:10, which was not only later than the time Leonard had said he had returned, but it also would mean he had no alibi during the reported time of death, which was between 9:30 and 10:00. Next, she claimed that he had blood on his coat sleeves upon returning home instead of staining his coat at home after accidentally cutting his arm with a sharp knife; the blood on the coat ended up sharing Emily’s blood type, making Leonard appear guilty. Finally, she claimed that he had admitted to killing Emily French. So, Christine provided testimony against Leonard. Hence, since Christine was not married to Leonard, she was able to deliver damning