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Except that in America people are innocent until proven guilty. In the eyes of the law, he is innocent.
by jtreminio 13y ago
Except that in America people are innocent until proven guilty.
In the eyes of the law, he is innocent.
- gamblor956 13y agoNo, in the eyes of the law, he is "not guilty." Innocence is a factual finding which has the same burden of proof as guilt because it is a definitive finding that the defendant did not commit the crime charged. Judges admonish juries that people are "innocent until proven guilty" becaues most jurors aren't sophisticated enough to make the distinction.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- SeanLuke 13y ago> Except that in America people are innocent until proven guilty. This is a slogan, not a legal statement.
- icebraining 13y agoSo when the SCOTUS in Coffin v. United States wrote "The law presumes that persons charged with crime are innocent until they are proven by competent evidence to be guilty," they were just writing a slogan?
- SeanLuke 13y agoOf course. This whole debate, which is entirely moot since it's not a criminal trial, arises from the fact that "guilty" and "not guilty" (and "innocent" I guess) have both informal meanings and formal legal meanings, and those meanings are different. The OP used the formal meaning, in a formal context. People tossing about the informal meaning are not adding to the discussion.