On occasion, one of my clients and their case will be featured in the news. I am ethically prohibited from talking to the media in a way that would influence public opinion about the case, so I usually keep my mouth shut. That being said, there are a few a things that I need to get off my chest.
First of all, the media is looking for a headline and are rarely interested in reporting all of the facts. Their are two sides to every story and really are both of them given.
Second, a person charged with a crime is merely accused of doing something wrong. There has yet to be a trial, or any witnesses called against him. He has not yet had a chance to publicly state his side of events. Yet many people believe that just because some one is accused that he or she is guilty. That is a very dangers thing to assume.
And third, when a person is in fact acquitted or found not guilty, the media very often doesn’t report on this, or if they do, give it a very skimpy amount of coverage. When a person is falsely accused of a crime and is then exonerated, that is BIG news. The government got it wrong. In many cases, they flat out tried to frame some for something they didn’t do. That is wrong and it is disturbing little accountability society requires or our criminal justice system.