Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I Could See a Lawyer Making the Case

In a crime at UNC Chapel Hill, it is determined that the perpetrator is a student who was wearing Duke sweatpants and a Carolina sweatshirt. A student is arrested who was wearing both of these items of clothing on the evening of the crime.

The defense provides evidence that shows the probability that a randomly selected student in Chapel Hill is wearing Duke sweatpants is 1/10, and the probability that a randomly selected student in Chapel Hill is wearing a Carolina sweatshirt is 1/5. The prosecutor concludes that the probability that a student is wearing both Duke sweatpants and a Carolina sweatshirt is (1/10)(1/5) = 1/50 = 2%, which is large enough to cause reasonable doubt for the jury.

What do you think? Are you convinced there is reasonable doubt?

1 comment:

  1. So I failed probability in high school (it may be the lowest grade I've ever gotten on anything, heh) but don't Duke and North Carolina hate each other? Wouldn't that significantly decrease the odds of someone wearing both pieces of clothing?

    ReplyDelete

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