To: Liatris Spicata who wrote (9786 ) 12/29/1998 3:21:00 PM From: j g cordes Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 13994
Intelligence and logic, is that what you're about? Where's Heimlich when you need him most! You say... A verdict of "not guilty" does not mean the accused is innocent (check out OJ, or any textbook in criminal law). It simply means that the jury did not find the facts presented sufficiently persuasive to convict. In this case, there is a possibility, however remote, that the jury could be swayed by political considerations. So much for the logic of your arguments. Would someone please inform Larry Sherwood that in America one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Now lets proceed with your "logic" and fill in the blanks to this equation of justice that seems to challenge you. If someone is declared "not guilty as charged" AND if one is innocent until proven guilty, THEN one is innocent through the whole process. Have someone explain it to you if you still don't understand. Its possible you may be mistaken or be lost in a semantic understanding as was Judge Clifford Hopper, a Tulsa County District Court Judge, who routinely used the phrase "presumed not guilty." His error opened the door to some 48 appeals for retrial. Had he or any other judge missed understanding the concept of presumed innocense, like you have, we'd be in another country. But lets not stop here! Lets listen to world opinion: "THE UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS Article 11 1. Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he had all the guarantees necessary for his defense. 2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offense on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offense was committed."