WeX Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 As the poster said, a 'not guilty' verdict and being innocent are not the same thing, a not guilty verdict doesn't mean a witness wasn't telling the truth. yes they are in British law, you are innocent until PROVEN guilty. As this man has been found NOT guilty of ALL charges he is innocent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waldo Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 yes they are in British law, you are innocent until PROVEN guilty. As this man has been found NOT guilty of ALL charges he is innocent. That's not necessarily true. It it were; the courts would never make any mistake, and would always arrive at a 100% correct verdict. A person can be factually innocent (in actual fact, they did not do the deed they are accused of), yet be found guilty by the court. People who are factually guilty (they did it), can also be found not-guilty. In which case, are they guilty or not-guilty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgksheff Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 yes they are in British law, ...... Not true. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janie48 Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I wasn't really offering an opinion on this case tfh, but he's been found not guilty and should be allowed to continue his life as though he'd never been charged in the first place. Yes, but that's easier said then done. Even with the result he was hoping for, in the remaining time he has left, he may easily have been affected more then it seems at present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 As the poster said, a 'not guilty' verdict and being innocent are not the same thing, a not guilty verdict doesn't mean a witness wasn't telling the truth. And a not guilty virdict might also mean the accused was telling the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyfriday Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 And a not guilty virdict might also mean the accused was telling the truth. So do you believe prosecution witnesses should be charged with perjury when defendants are found not guilty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee_ Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 So do you believe prosecution witnesses should be charged with perjury when defendants are found not guilty? When people make accusations that are so obviously false,, In court, the woman making the rape claims changed her mind about how old she was at the time. Another woman initially told police she was warned about Mr Roache by actor Johnny Briggs, who played Mike Baldwin, but when it was discovered he was not in the show at the time she said the warning had come from a different actor. A fifth indecent assault charge was dropped due to insufficient evidence after the woman, who accused him of abusing her in his car, told the court she had "no actual memory" of the episode. then thats a big fat yes, they should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 So do you believe prosecution witnesses should be charged with perjury when defendants are found not guilty? Difficult to say, but in theory - yes. Ken Barlow went to court because they thought they had, in the words of the police, a reasonable chance of conviction. The police are, or should be, experts in lying and if people's stories add up probably better than 12 random people off the street. If they weren't sure he was guilty it wouldn't have gone to court at all. BUT fast forward several months and 12 random people think one set of people aren't telling the truth - it literally boils down to that. No witnesses, no DNA evidence etc just a case of one persons word against another. They didn't believe one side was telling the truth or ken would be banged up by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeX Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Not true. . Yes it is. The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe: "Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law". ---------- Post added 07-02-2014 at 09:41 ---------- That's not necessarily true. It it were; the courts would never make any mistake, and would always arrive at a 100% correct verdict. A person can be factually innocent (in actual fact, they did not do the deed they are accused of), yet be found guilty by the court. People who are factually guilty (they did it), can also be found not-guilty. In which case, are they guilty or not-guilty? It is true as its what the Human Rights act states of which the UK is a signatory. Its British law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickiethecat Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 It could only ever be a case of who you believe. After all this time, there is no question of forensic evidence, no proliferation of cctv cameras. Plus, how can anyone be expected to remember where they were on this or that day? It's either who has the best legal team, or who comes across as most credible. Is that a good basis for trying a criminal case? I don't think so. I agree. For this reason I think it's time to draw a line under the post-Saville celebrity witchhunt and questions need to be asked about why the CPS ever brought these historical cases to court when without any reliable evidence there was little chance of a conviction even if the accused had been guilty. May be also, given the gravity of some of the accusations, it should be made harder for women to make spurious and unproveable claims of sexual assault in future? At present it seems like anyone with a grudge or desire for fame and compensation can make up a sexual assault against a celebrity they don't like and it gets taken seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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