Translating "may have been": "puede haber sido" or "fuese/fuera"?

Question

Just wondering how to phrase the following: "He may have been a bad person".

Would it be "Quizá puede haber sido una mala persona" or "Quizá fuese/fuera una mala persona"?

I would go for the latter but am unsure.

Answer 1

I would actually remove "quizás" and use either of these:

• Puede que haya sido una mala persona.
• Puede que fuera una mala persona.

The difference lies in the "temporal distance": if "being a bad person" happened a long time ago, then "puede que fuera" reflects that fact. If instead it happened recently, then "puede que haya sido" is closer in time.