Even you are calling that fictitious entity a &quot;thief&quot; rather than an &quot;alleged thief.&quot;  But it&#x27;s just a character in a story, not a real person, nor does it represent anyone.<p>It&#x27;s normal to make that part of a story to see how the law would play out in various cases.  The point of that has nothing to do with guilt or innocence, it&#x27;s to point out that the outcome of the desired ruling is simply to reward people for spending stolen money.  This is a perfectly normal thing that is often used when discussing laws. [1]<p>This is different from saying that about the actual people being accused.  This context is important.  Otherwise one is failing to separate reality and fantasy.<p>[1] Many examples can be found here:  <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;lawcomic.net&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;lawcomic.net&#x2F;</a>  It&#x27;s written by an actual lawyer:  <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;burneylawfirm.com&#x2F;Firm&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;burneylawfirm.com&#x2F;Firm&#x2F;</a>