Media, it's 'unless' proven guilty

As a criminal defense lawyer who has tried many cases over 44 years, I cringe every time the media misstates the basic presumption of innocence that all citizens enjoy. In your Sunday editorial concerning a rush to judgment regarding Speaker Hastert, you indicate that he is presumed innocent "until" proven guilty.

This is not a correct recitation of the presumption of innocence. Jurors are instructed that the presumption remains with a defendant and is not overcome "unless" from all of the evidence they decide guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. "Until" denotes the inevitability of a guilty verdict. Whereas, "unless" denotes the possibility of such a verdict.

Constantly, various media outlets discuss that a person is innocent "until" proven guilty. It leaves the public with the wrongful impression that a person will, indeed, be found guilty at some point. Of course, this is not the case. Defendants are acquitted every day.

This is not an issue of semantics. "Until" and "unless" have vastly different meanings.

Jack Donahue

Naperville