When is Innocent "Innocent"?

[dexthird]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ompensation-claim-over-Jill-Dando-murder.html

So his conviction was overturned and he was released. So therefore, in the eyes of the law, he is innocent. So evidence has been found "proving" his innocence (although call me old fashioned but I thought the idea was that its not up to anyone to prove their innocence but up to the prosecutors to prove the contrary) - ie: he's not guilty!

So surely the claim for compensation must hold, although maybe not 18. million.

 

[skitzee2k]

Dodgy ground though isn't it. I would rather have a guy put away with a 95% chance he is the right guy then leave him out because of the other 5%.

Is hard to prove anything.

 

[Blasphemous]

He's a convicted sex offender so for me, he's 'entitled' to nowt!

However, the investigation and prosecution was botched.

Barry George's coat was found a year after the BBC presenter's death and was taken from its evidence bag and photographed at a police station before it was examined by forensic scientists.

A witness, a retired reverend, claims that he saw police entering George's flat with guns when they took the coat away but this has been denied by the police.

This may have contaminated the scene.

Professor Morin suggests that the particle may have come from an incinerator burning paint or from somebody arc welding.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/5314996.stm

I recall watching the panorama show and thinking at the time 'this guy didn't kill Jill Dando'. I also recall thinking, 'how does it take a TV show to work this out and not the Police?' I'm more than a little sceptical of how that whole investigation was carried out. It's my belief that the police decided Barry George was their man and so they made the case fit him rather than investigate whether he was indeed the right man. I'm not saying I wouldn't have been influenced by his background, his location, his previous interviews etc etc. It must be VERY difficult to have a convicted sex offender in your sights and believe he could be innocent this time.

 

[joe-90]

She wasn't sexually assaulted so what difference does it make?

 

[Thermo]

i think a lot of people confuse being innocent with miscarriages of justice.

There have been many occasions when people have been released because their conviction was unsafe, ie there was a legal problem with the trial or the police actions in the gathering of the evidence, or due process wansnt properly followed.

That doesnt mean that they didnt commit the crime however.

 

[dexthird]

i think a lot of people confuse being innocent with miscarriages of justice. There have been many occasions when people have been released because their conviction was unsafe, ie there was a legal problem with the trial or the police actions in the gathering of the evidence, or due process wansnt properly followed. That doesnt mean that they didnt commit the crime however.

True. As indeed is the complete opposite situation - hence why he is therefore to return to the status of being presumed innocent and who has been "stitched up like a kipper" for 8 years.

I don't know whether he had anything to do with the death of Dando, and since there is insufficient evidence, we can only assume that he was and is innocent. Moreover, he has been "robbed" of 8 years of his life and put in an extremely stressful and unpleasant situation, and will have the penalty of misplaced notoriety on him for quite possibly the rest of his life (unless our "system" arranges and finances a change of identity).

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

She wasn't sexually assaulted so what difference does it make?

Once a sex case,always a sex case.They should be caged for life as more often than not they go on to re-offend and each time lives a ruined.

 

[EddieM]

Well in Scottish law they have Not proven as a verdict......

 

[joinerjohn]

The reasons given for BG not getting compo are that, although found not guilty, there are doubts as to whether he could actually prove his innocence.
Just remember, it's not him that proves his innocence but the solicitors/lawyers on his side. Whether they themselves believe him or not, they get paid vast amounts to defend him.
I don't know how some lawyers/ solicitors sleep at night. They must have defended cases where they have known their client was guilty and yet have won the case for them in court.

 

[dextrous]

The reasons given for BG not getting compo are that, although found not guilty, there are doubts as to whether he could actually prove his innocence.
Just remember, it's not him that proves his innocence but the solicitors/lawyers on his side. Whether they themselves believe him or not, they get paid vast amounts to defend him.

It's not up to him to prove his innocence, it's up to his accusers to prove his guilt. As this has not been done successfully then he remains innocent. Thus he should be compensated for having his time wasted and for dragging his name through the mud.

 

[Lincsbodger]

I also write on a website involved in Miscarriages of Justice.

Theres far more of these than you would imagine. Forget 'innocent until proved guilty', that went out the window years ago. Labour has removed massive amounts of you legal rights, and civil liberties.

Thanks to Labour, you no longer have:

The right to silence (see S 172 Road Traffic Act)
The right to legal aid
The right to habeus corpus
The right to trial by Jury
The right to cross examine all witnesses
The right to a public trial
The right to see all the evidence against you
The right to protection from self incrimination

The Police dont think twice about colluding and lying in court, fabricating evidence, attempting to intimidate you into pleading guilty, using biassed 'expert' witnesses, interviewing people without caution, using illegal listening devices in police stations, and withholding evidence useful to the defence. You even get collusion with Court Clerks, where weve seen court papers served too late suddenly appear backdated to make them legal.

Justice in this country has gone down the toilet.

Vote Labour for a Fascist Police State.

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

I agree many of the police are corrupt.Years ago i bought some stolen slates.The police searched my house(did they expect to find them under the bed?Anyway £300 went missing from my bedroom.It was either them,me or my mrs who stole it.Now i know me or my mrs did not take it.For the record i did not know the slates were stolen when i bought them.They never did recover the slates as id put them on a roof.When asked where the slates were i said they had been stolen.I was fuc#ed if i was going to cooperate with them after nicking my hard earned.