criminal-law
Accountability for famous people
<p>If a heavily famous person (let's suppose a famous football player [I don't call it soccer]) kills an other ordinary civilian  and there's proof of such an act, will he get away with his crime, realistically talking, by simply being wealthy or will he be landed to jail like everyone else?</p>

<p>A rich person can afford the most expensive defence lawyers. The most expensive defence lawyers can find evidence that a cheaper lawyer might miss. They should be better at finding previous cases that are beneficial to the case. They should be better at convincing a jury that there is doubt about your guilt than a cheaper lawyer. And the cheaper lawyer, working full time on your case, will be more likely to be able to help you than a lawyer paid by the state who covers many more cases.</p>

<p>If the rich person committed a crime and there is good evidence, their lawyer can't bend the law and get them off the hook that way. Money can still help you. If you punched me in the face, and I had the choice: I can call the police and report it and you go to jail for six months, or I take a million dollars and keep quiet. Most people would take the money. (A good lawyer will be able to tell Mr. Rich what he can do <em>legally</em> to get out of trouble, what would be illegal, and what they can get away with).</p>

<p>In Germany and other countries, to make sure rich people can't just pay their way out of problems, minor offences like causing a traffic accident may get you a conviction for example for "20 day sentences". Which means you have the choice of going to jail for 20 days, or paying 20 days income (and not your "official" income, but your real income). So Bill Gates would have to pay an amount of money that is just as painful for him as the much smaller payment I would have to make would be for me. </p>

<p>Given the number of Premier League players in the UK arrested and prosecuted for various relatively (to your example) minor criminal acts over the years, including driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, assault, sexual offences etc, I think there would be no problem prosecuting them in the UK for murder.</p>

<p>Examples include: </p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/22/adam-johnson-former-sunderland-player-released-from-prison" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Adam Johnson</a> - jailed for 6 years for child sex offences.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-league-footballers-saunders-jailed-16517808" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Various Premier League footballers</a> jailed for various offences.</li>
</ul>

<p>Other general examples include:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Archer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lord Jeffery Archer</a> - a senior politician, worldwide successful author, jailed for perjury </li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Aitken" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jonathan Aitkin</a> - politician, jailed for perjury</li>
<li><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-47040912" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fiona Onasanya</a> - Member of Parliament, jailed for perverting the course of justice</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Glitter" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gary Glitter</a> - singer, entertainer, jailed for child sex offences</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Talbot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fred Talbot</a> - famous TV personality, failed for indecent assault</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Clifford" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Max Clifford</a> - major UK political publicist, jailed for sexual offences</li>
</ul>

<p>Obviously this is just for the UK jurisdiction.</p>

<p>I decided to use google and found this lovely site: </p>

<p><a href="https://www.theclever.com/20-billionaires-who-ended-up-in-jail/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.theclever.com/20-billionaires-who-ended-up-in-jail/</a></p>

<p>Number eight on the list: Bernie Madoff. 
Jeffrey Epstein supposedly had a wealth of $2 billion, so he didn't make it on the list. But he shows that having more than $800 million not only doesn't keep you out of jail, sometimes it doesn't even guarantee you get out alive.</p>

<p>And then there are Domenico Dolce &amp; Stefano Gabbana, convicted for tax evasion. Probably the most well-known names on the list in Europe and USA, possible excepting Madoff and Epstein. </p>

<p>But richest man in jail is Eike Batista, once worth $30 billion. </p>
