One of the issues in determining the character of Thomas Scott is a lack of unbiased evidence. An example would be his trial which was held in-camera by a small number of Metis and without any outside observers. An eye-witness to this trial, Nolin, testified later that Scott was not present for the accusations of the charges against him nor for any evidence to support these accusations. These accusations plus their evidence (coming partially from Louis Riel) were latter summarised in English by Riel and presented to Scott. Louis Riel himself described the behaviour of Scott that led to his execution not once but multiple times over many years. However, the charges against Scott that were put forth by his contemporaries in 1870 were not the same as those allegations levelled against Scott in latter years by Riel and then by others. In other words, as the years progressed, the accusations became more and more detailed and Scott became a more villainous character. Some of these elaborations entered the oral tradition of the Metis.