Can Superheroes Testify in Costume?? || NerdSync

Comic book superheroes are always fighting crime and stopping villains, but what happens after the battle? The villain has the right to a fair trial, but is the superhero who stopped them allowed to testify in court in full costume? Doesn't that violate their 6th amendment right to be confronted with the witnesses against them? Today, we're taking a look at the legalities of costumed vigilantes from both Marvel and DC Comics in the court room!

Tie-Ins are quick and snappy videos that take a look at some fun facts and concepts surrounding comics!

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———————SOURCES———————

The Law of Superheroes - James Daily and Ryan Davidson
Costumes and the Confrontation Clause
Secret Identities on Trial

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[williambarnes]

"I have the right to face my accuser!"
"That's me, your friendly neighborhood Spiderman!"
"I have the right to know your name!"
"First name Spider, last name Man."
"That's not your real name!"
"You just accused me of perjury. That's slander. Prove it's not my real name. I'll get out my super hero ID to show you. Look, says right here. Spider. Man. I want this as exhibit H please, for his perjury."
"It could be anyone under that mask!"
"You could be anyone under your mask!"
"I'm not wearing a mask!"
"That doesn't mean you aren't Mystique."
"How do we know it's really you?"
"The same way you know anything else in a court of law. Expert testimony for any points of fact you doubt. Hey! Charles Xavier! I know you can hear me from there. Tell everyone I'm me."
~That is indeed Spiderman.~
"Thank you. Anything further?"

[hinney]

If he took off his mask and said his name...we still have the issue of how would we know if that's actually Spiderman?

What horrible logic. He has a mask on, so we don't know if that's him for sure. If you've never seen his face, how will him taking off the mask make things any more clear?

[frosted]

If corporations are permitted to sue individuals, being represented by people as proxy, then a superhero should be able to use their masked personal as proxy in the same way.

[ShadowACE]

The fact that most of the time superheroes don't testify in court has been brought up before. There was a Spider-Man story, and forgive me I can't remember what title and issue it was right off hand, where a couple of cops talked about their frustration with heroes like Spidey. Sure Spidey would capture the bad guy and the cops were thankful for it, but they were frustrated that soon the bad guy was back on the street. Why? No witnesses willing to testify in court. Often the victims were too scared to press charges, and getting Spider-Man on the stand as a witness was next to impossible. Charges would then have to be dropped and the bad guy would be released.

[simmy]

"Who isn't an Avenger these days?"

I present to you, the X-Men.

[captaincomic]

I think that technically if, say, Spider-Man, were to testify against, say, Doctor Octopus, in costume, it would still count as Ock meeting the witness against him face to face, as he has only ever met Spidey in-costume.

[Magmafrost]

The thing is, the marvel universe is chock full of tech that can perfectly disguise someone as someone else. What does unmasking someone even achieve in such a world

[BiasFree]

The law states that the individual being accused has the right to know who is a witness against them, however in the case of superheroes as witnesses it is not the secrete identity being called as a witness. To use your example Peter Parker is not being called as a witness, spider-man is and in a world where superheroes are real the courts could view the superhero as the individual in question rather than that heroes secrete identity.

[DanteYewToob]

Get a public/verifiable or even elisted hero like Cap, Iron Man, Shulky etc. To vouch for the identity of the witness. I mean if Captain America, who's known as not only Steve Rogers but is actual U.S. Military and trustworthy swore in, and identified the Spidey in the booth as the one real Spider-Man, and take responsibility for him I think that would work.
I'd think that was fair even if I was on the opposing side, If Cap or Shulky vouched for the Spidey in the room as real, and he testified against me, I'd be mad and screwed but I'd call fair.
That's just my idea, anyone is welcome to add to it or rip it to bits!

[vizthex]

I love spidey's "so the whole swinging in on a web thing wasn't enough for you?" line.

and like he says, the heroes can just use their powers to prove their identity if they aren't in the avenger database. Not very easy to replicate them after all...

[finnickweasley]

Great video, but points deducted for not including one of the most hilarious comic panels, which is in the comic you kept showing where Spidey says the reason Jameson had hated him all these years was cause he was black and Jameson gets all flustered

[DoctorZisIN]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but there are two kinds of superheroes: Vigilantes with a secret identity, and celebrity heroes with well-known identities. The celebrity heroes usually work within the law. They come to the rescue when they are asked and help in major disasters or alien invasions. No problem there.
Vigilantes operate outside the law. They fight crime because the system has failed. Police, lawyers, judges... many are corrupt and the only way to dispense justice is to take the law into your own hands. Even Matt Murdock, if it were known what he's up to, he would immediately lose his license. As a vigilante you don't hope the guy you catch gets tried, only to get out by paying his way out. You dispense the penalty right then and there.

[computernerd]

My suggestion: when you're a masked superhero, your civilian face is at least as much a disguise as the mask you wear over it.

In Spider-Man's case, when Peter Parker is off duty, he wears the disguise of not having superpowers.

The only thing Spider-Man should need to prove in court is that he's not a copycat with an identical costume. That should be a simple matter of using his superpowers.

[hairywampa]

would a hero not count as a public figure? and entity separate from their private ones? they would be giving a witness as their hero identity, which could be considered distinct from their private one. But then of course they would need their own citizenship, and passport, and then theyd be registered as heroes, and then.... civil war

[MFAniki]

Let's be honest, this argument is kind of pointless, the super villain is just going to break out in a few days anyway.

[SupernerdScrawl]

There's actually a lot of good points brought up, but this can even go with villains. Like for example after Judas Contract. Deathstoke said in court that yeah Slade Wilson is Deathstroke, but that doesn't mean he was the one in the costume at the time of the crime. After that Beast Boy used the Mentos helmet to trick the Titans into think Deathstroke was attacking them while Slade was still in jail. This lead to Slade getting release which is exactly what Beast Boy wanted so he could get at him easy to kill him. Great story I defiantly recommend it. Costumes just bring up a lot of problems. I don't really see how a court could let that work. Unless instead of Spider-Man suing Jamason SHIELD did it on his behalf. Since Spider-Man has worked for them they can sue in his place. Though with a case like Superman he could just state that his name is Kal-El. Where as people like Batman wouldn't be able to work in court.

[NerdSyncProductions]

In retrospect, this could have been a full Comic Misconceptions video. So let's pretend that it is.

[yihao]

how to identify the superhero? idk man, maybe an demonstration of their power? lol

[emibulls]

I think that costumed heroes should be able to testify, but only after another well known publicly identifiable hero has vouched for them. So for example, Spiderman could testify without taking his mask off if another popular and credible hero without a mask, say Captain American for instance, came and said 'yes, this is the real Spiderman.'

[LocalMaple]

0:35 Yes. Somebody sued Disney claiming that Pooh deliberately punched them in the face while turning. So the guy in the costume went to court... in costume and character, pantomiming his answers. He proved that visibility didn’t let him see to his sides, and the limits of the arms couldn’t reach out or as high as the person claimed.