Was Sirius railroaded? And what was his view?

[kennyg1864 at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 192708

1. I've always been bothered by the ease with which SB was sentenced to life in prison amongst the Dementors.
 

 I don't have my copy of PoA handy, but IIRC he was convicted based on "all that was left of Peter Pettigrew was a finger", and "several dead Muggles".  And that's the total sum of the evidence.
 - No witnesses

 - No trial
 - No body (although that's probably less critical in WW than in Muggle world, if you can vanish a body)
 

 Plus SB knew that PP could transform into a rat.  
 

 I know it's critical to the plot of the story, but it doesn't fit with the WW notion of justice.  Not even a chance to appear before the Council on Magical Law.  
 - Barty Jr, Rodolphus, and Bellatrix did appear, and had known allegiances to Voldemort
 - SB did not appear, and had no past transgressions (other than motorcycle speeding)
 

 I suppose Fudge could have been spooked by the recent death of the Potters, and maybe pressured by the WW to "find the culprit quickly", as Muggle mayors are.
 

 But to convict a wizard with no criminal history, and no chance to speak in his own defense...just seems so wrong.  
 

 2. Even if SB didn't know that PP was in hiding for 12 years, did he suspect that PP had transformed at the murder scene, and framed him?  SB knew that *he* was innocent, so did he think all along that PP was the most likely suspect, even before he saw the newspaper?
 

 Thoughts?
  
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