Legal Question in Constitutional Law in District of Columbia
Innocent until proven guilty
Hello.
Recently I was visiting my cousin, she is studying law. We are both Canadian and live here in Canada, anyway I don't remember haw it came into the conversation but she said that in Canada you are innocent until proven guilty, unlike in the US, for a second I thought she was joking, but indeed she was serious and there was no arguing with her thats what she was told at school and all I had was info from television, and as far as I know in the US you are also innocent until proven guilty. Is this correct?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Innocent until proven guilty
All criminal defendants in American trial courts are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. On appeal, however, the result of the trial is generally presumed correct. Appeals focus on legal issues rather than factual ones so there is generally no effort to prove the defendant's guilt or innocence at that stage, but this distinction may be what your cousin had in mind. I don't know off hand whether Canadian appellate courts work the same way.
Re: Innocent until proven guilty
One charged with a criminal offense in the United States is, by law, presumed to be not guilty. There is no plea of innocent. This presumption is applied in the courtroom during criminal proceedings. Of course the average person does not in fact believe this premise; s/he believes that the defendant must have done something or the police wouldn't have made an arrest. This mind set must be overcome in any criminal trial.
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