Region: US | Usage example: The intern was dead to rights with the breach log open on his screen.

Dead to rights

Meaning

Caught in the act with clear evidence.

Used when someone is indisputably guilty or mistaken.

Origin notes can vary by region and source; this page gives the commonly reported explanation and usage context.

Legal texts from the 1800s used the term to describe incontrovertible proof.

Appears in detective fiction and courtroom reports in the 19th and 20th centuries.