Justice versus Conscience

Liam Allan, a 19-year-old criminology student falsely accused — a symbol of a justice system on the brink of failure

Smell a Rat

Page Description

“Smell a rat”: idiomatic phrase that means
to suspect that something is wrong
or suspicious, usually with regards
to a particular situation or person.

Wrongly imprisoned

Current Page

An Unreal Dream

Pitfalls of Justice

Tough Questions

A Toxic Culture

Uncovering Injustice: The Michael Morton Story

English

Dutch

English

Dutch

The expression “smell a rat” is an idiomatic phrase that typically means to suspect that something is wrong or suspicious, usually with regards to a particular situation or person. The key points of the expression include:

Suspicion: The phrase conveys a sense of suspicion or doubt about a situation or person. It suggests that the speaker has detected something that seems out of place or unusual.
Intuition: The phrase often implies that the suspicion is based on intuition or a gut feeling, rather than concrete evidence. It suggests that the speaker has picked up on subtle cues or signs that something may not be right.
Alertness: The phrase indicates a sense of vigilance or alertness, as if the speaker is actively paying attention to their surroundings and is quick to notice any potential signs of deceit or deception.
Skepticism: The phrase suggests a healthy skepticism and a willingness to question things that may not seem genuine or truthful.
Caution: The phrase can also imply a sense of caution or wariness, as the speaker may be hesitant to fully trust or believe in the situation or person in question until their suspicions are addressed or clarified.

Overall, “smell a rat” indicates a sense of suspicion, intuition, alertness, skepticism, and caution when something seems suspicious or not quite right. It is often used informally in everyday conversations to express doubt or suspicion about a particular situation or person.

To recognize that something is not as it appears to be or that something dishonest is happening:

He’s been working late with her every night this week – I smell a rat!

Cambridge Dictionary

In British English
to detect something suspicious

In American English
to suspect a trick, plot, etc.

To believe something is wrong:

When I got an e-mail asking for my password, I should have smelled a rat.

AMERICAN DICTIONARY

Getting Life:
An Innocent Man’s 25-Year Journey from Prison to Peace | Biography and Memoir

On August 13, 1986, just one day after his thirty-second birthday, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time.
By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couple’s bed-and the Williamson County Sherriff’s office in Texas wasted no time in pinning her murder on Michael, despite an absolute lack of physical evidence.

Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed. Drawing on twenty-five years of recollections, court transcripts, and more than one thousand pages of personal journals he wrote in prison, Michael recounts

the hidden police reports about an unidentified van parked near his house that were never pursued;
the treasure trove of evidence, including a bandana with the killer’s DNA on it, that was never introduced in court;
the call from a neighboring county reporting the attempted use of his wife’s credit card that was given to local police; and, ultimately, how Michael battled his way through the darkness to become a free man once again.