alleged - presunto / supuesto ?

Question

I wonder if anyone can clear this up.

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I know that both "presunto" and "supesto" can be used as "alleged" in the sense of "The alleged incident took place on Friday."

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I've been told that "presunto" is best when refering to people, and "supesto" is best when refering to the crime/incident, but I can't find any clarification about this in my dictionaries.

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I did a google check and "el presunto culpable" has over 4 million hits and "el supesto culpable" has over 6 million. "El supesto delito" has over 12 million and "el presunto delito" has over 5 million. Also, "presunto culpable" seems to be a film which is translated into English as "presumed guilty" rather than "alleged".

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As always, any comments and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Mil gracias!

Answer 1

In Spain when talking about people in law we normally say: El presunto culpable, as we talk about "presunción de inocencia" not suposición de ....

Gracias Heidita. :) - amy_moreno, May 31, 2011