Thoughtful post, wld. Maybe it began with Sherlock Holmes, this idea that any crime is solveable if enough brainpower can be thrown at it. It's certainly a myth the press have bult on ever since. In reality it can be impossible to establish past events beyond doubt.

Even with advances such as DNA analysis, police and juries must in the end rely on expert witnesses who argue between themselves about the interpretation of such evidence, or in the case of the late, unlamented West Midlands regional crime squad, a senior witness who consistently lied about the forensic evidence.

Here's a link to a case that makes interesting reading for anyone who thinks fingerprint evidence is always conclusive: Shirley McKie.

Giok, I detest the lynch-mob mentality and have often complained when it's been in evidence in the US. So I'm not going to ignore it when it raises it's ugly head here in the UK.