If the float or sink trial is just a comedic flourish, were there other ways of determining innocence that would end in death? Would the community care for the children of the executed, or in any way express remorse that they got it wrong?
There is always more to write, but in the meantime here is an answer I wrote that discusses how "trials by water" were used in Medieval England:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8v3u1w/comment/e1kj7eq