Too often, I encounter people who deeply believe that if someone is arrested, formally charged, and prosecuted for a crime, that person must have committed the crime- the more serious the crime charged, the more readily the guilt is presumed. For instance, just last week a friend shared with me that she was on a jury pool and while the charges were read / explained to her, she had already formed an opinion of the defendant’s guilt- thankfully she had not been selected.
The idea of “innocent until proven guilty” isn’t some punchline. . . it’s a key principle that is essential for our justice system to remain just and fair. As a criminal defense attorney, I see this tenant get violated too often and a bit of my heart breaks. In interviewing me for this case (& this part didn’t make the cut), Mark Winnie asked if I believed whether justice was served. I responded: Absolutely not! A man sat in jail for THREE YEARS before the powers in be realized he was innocent. There was a complete violation of Ken’s presumption of innocence. He does not have a single violent felony listed on his GCIC. Nevertheless, not only were we denied bond but we were even denied an opportunity to simply be heard on bond. With regard to the pandemic and the judicial suspension- the only thing suspended were the rights of the accused!
Every single day, the government is allowed to arrest individuals on probable cause, a very low standard (mathematically speaking, approximately a 33% chance), and they investigate the case while the person is in custody and denied bond- unconstitutionally based on allegations and proffers by the State. The level of complacency just completely perplexes me.
. . .in times of GUILTY & UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!
#InTimesOfTrialsAndAdversity.
Kalpin Shah Law 