As ruas, a opinião pública e o processo penal: uma análise a partir do caso Calas

Abstract

Jean Calas, formally charged with the crime of parricide, was tried and convicted without evidence. The absence of the materiality of the alleged criminal act was suppressed by the conviction of the magistrates, allied to the popular outcry of the masses occupying the streets, claiming for justice. From the analysis of this historical judgment, located in the French courts of the eighteenth century, the article intends to draw attention to the risks arising from the influence of public opinion on the course of criminal proceedings. Using bibliographic sources, it will be shown that intolerance was the guiding thread that guided the procedural rite, leading to the condemnation of an innocent man. In times of judicial activism we can learn from history, but it is not certain that we will.