Team Flash Could Have Easily Proven Barry’s Innocence
The rest of Team Flash focused their efforts on a wrong-headed attempt to plant evidence against Marleze DeVoe. It was hardly an inspired plan; for one thing, the police would have needed a warrant to search Marleze’s house and find the carpet fibers in the first place.
But this was all a distraction. If Team Flash had focused their attention on the evidence, they could have easily proved Barry’s innocence.
THE DNA EVIDENCE COULD HAVE SAVED BARRY
The DNA evidence was a crucial part of the Prosecution’s pitch. Importantly, the Prosecutor even pointed out that Barry’s DNA was found under DeVoe’s fingernails. This certainly seems like a compelling argument at first glance. Ironically, it should actually have formed the heart of the Defense’s case.
There’s only one logical way Barry’s DNA could have wound up under DeVoe’s fingernails; if, during a desperate attempt to escape, DeVoe scratched his assailant. The Prosecutor even made that case in an intense, disturbing opening statement. But a medical check of Barry’s body would have shown no evidence of any scratches. In reality, Barry has accelerated healing that mean any injuries from his fight with the Thinker would have healed up completely by the time he was arrested, but that’s not known to the jury.
So the DNA, far from becoming compelling, actually becomes inexplicable. It becomes evidence that Barry has been framed, challenging the Prosecution’s narrative.
HOW DID DEVOE’S BODY GET TO BARRY’S APARTMENT?
That leads to another difficult problem for the Prosecution. How did DeVoe’s body get to Barry’s apartment in the first place? There was no sign of DeVoe’s wheelchair in Barry’s loft apartment. This seriously complicates the Prosecution’s case; they have to explain why Barry would meet with DeVoe elsewhere, then ditch his wheelchair and carry him up to his home. Given Barry is a forensic scientist, there’s no rational explanation for this action. Again, ironically an apparently compelling piece of evidence can easily be turned into proof of a conspiracy against Barry Allen.
THE MURDER WEAPON CAN’T BE PINNED ON BARRY
In what no doubt seemed a masterstroke to DeVoe, he “killed” himself with a knife belonging to Barry. Unfortunately, that raises further issues for this case. It means the Defense can dismiss fingerprint evidence. Of course Barry’s fingerprints would be all over that knife. It’s been in his apartment since he and Iris got married.
Rewatch the key scene, and you’ll see a lot of blood spatter. In fact, there’s even blood on the knife’s handle. In contrast, there’s no blood on any of Barry’s clothes. Furthermore, if there’s blood on the knife’s handle, then there really should have been some on Barry’s hands. The Prosecution could argue that Barry had cleaned himself up before the police arrived, and presumably destroyed the bloodied clothes too. Unfortunately, there’s no rational explanation for why he’d do this before disposing of the body itself. He’d need to clean up again and destroy another set of clothes. It’s simply not logical, once again especially not for a forensic scientist who works with cases of homicide.
Besides, it would be up to the Prosecution to prove he’d done this. There’s no evidence of any bloodied clothes in the apartment. Meanwhile, all Barry would have needed is a few witnesses confirming he was wearing the same clothes he’d worn earlier in the day.
The sad truth is that it was actually fairly easy to prove Barry’s innocence. The Flash got caught up in pointless questions and side-debates. Team Flash were focused on redirecting the police inquiry to draw in Marleze DeVoe, and Cecile was sidetracked working out how to defend Barry’s secrets. They should really have focused on the crime scene itself, which they could have undermined with ease.
The Flash continues with “The Elongated Knight Rises” on The CW at 8 pm on Tuesday, January 23.
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