Criminal,
Letters
Oct. 2, 2019
Presumption of innocence is a trial right only
The Sept. 23 article on bail, “Critics unsure bail changes moving in right direction,” quotes Phil Telfeyan, executive director at Equal Justice Under Law, who stated that “arrestees … are presumed innocent” and “should be assumed innocent” as the reason for releasing arrestees without bail. This is a common misapplication of the presumption of innocence.
Richard J. Chrystie
The Sept. 23 article on bail, "Critics unsure bail changes moving in right direction," quotes Phil Telfeyan, executive director at Equal Justice Under Law, who stated that "arrestees ... are presumed innocent" and "should be assumed innocent" as the reason for releasing arrestees without bail. This is a common misapplication of the presumption of innocence. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court in Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 533 (1979), expressly stated that the "presumption of innocence is a doctrine that allocates the burden of proof in criminal trials" and "has no application to a determination of the rights of a pretrial detainee during confinement before trial has even begun." So the presumption of innocence is a trial right only and has no application to the setting of bail or any other facet of the criminal justice process.
-- Richard J. Chrystie
Orange County
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