Eli5 What does the term technicality mean when it comes to the law

Question

I genuinely don’t understand what a technicality is, and I really want to know.

In: 1

Answer 1

It means “the system followed the rules, and I didn’t like the outcome.”

For instance, if the police violate the rights of a private citizen, and the prosecutor tries to use the tainted evidence they obtained to send a person to prison, and they get caught, then the person isn’t convicted, because human beings have rights which are sometimes upheld by the courts.

People who don’t understand that refer to this as “getting off on a technicality.”