Guilty, Not Guilty, Innocent. What’s The Difference?
People always ask me how I can defend a criminal knowing what they have done? To me the real problem is defending someone you know is innocent.
A subject that isn’t discussed amongst paralegals is what does guilty, not guilty, and innocent mean? A better understanding of these terms can help a paralegal better assist their attorney. Secondly, understanding these terms can help a paralegal understand the law better. Thirdly, these terms don’t mean what people think it means.
Guilty
While this may be easy to understand, the ways a Defendant can be found guilty are many. Depending how the guilty verdict was obtained it can be mean several different things.
The most common plea bargain is a plea of guilty. When a Defendant takes a plea of guilty the Defendant is admitting that the State can prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead of going to trial the Defendant will take the recommendation of the State. The Defendant will than appear in front of a judge and if the judge agrees, the plea is accepted by the court and the case is closed.
In the rare event that the judge rejects the plea, or a Defendant does not take a plea, the case will go to trial.
If the State can prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury will convict the Defendant and find the Defendant guilty.
However, this does not mean that the Defendant is truly guilty. A verdict of guilty means the State proved on that day, with that evidence, with that jury, with that trial judge, that the Defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
As I will explain further, people are convicted and later have their convictions overturned, or have a mistrial and are found guilty at another trial.
Not Guilty
If the Defendant is found not guilty or acquitted, it doesn’t mean they are innocent.
Not guilty means, as previously stated, the State could not prove on that day, with that evidence, with that jury, with that trial judge, that the Defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This is far from saying the Defendant is actually innocent.
The classic example is the case of O.J. Simpson. Most legal experts thought that O.J. would be found guilty. However, a racist cop and a mishandling of evidence, led the jury to believe, that based upon the evidence and the law on that day, that O.J. Simpson was not guilty. Of course, O.J.’s case had many problems, which worked in his favor. All of that created reasonable doubt. But is he actually guilty?
Additionally, a court can overturn a guilty verdict and order a new trial. However, by overturning, a guilty verdict, it only means that the appeals court found a legal error and is sending the case back to the trial court to sort out that issue or issues.
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Innocent
Innocent has a very special meaning in the law. Unlike, guilty or not guilty, where there is uncertainty of the Defendant’s guilt, innocent means that then Defendant never had the culpable state of mind, or intent, to commit the crime. That is a fancy way of saying that the Defendant did not commit the crime alleged.
There could be many reasons as to why someone is innocent. Unfortunately, being found innocent happens after the Defendant has been exonerated. It is a long painful process to be exonerated but it does happen.
Also, exoneration and innocence mean two different things. A Defendant is exonerated after new evidence of innocence becomes available. But to get to this point the Defendant had to be found guilty or taken a plea of guilty.
Once the conviction has been given, it is on the Defendant to prove their innocence.
It is estimated that 21% of all people who were exonerated took a plea bargain. While varies reasons exist for that, the reality is that even Defendants who take plea bargains can still be truly innocent of the crimes they plead guilty to.
It is important to note that the job of the prosecutor is to seek justice, based upon the information and evidence they obtain legally. Often times this is forgotten. If the prosecutor wrongfully convicts someone, and they know it, it is on the prosecutor to right that wrong and seek justice. However, its usually an appeals court that exonerates a wrongfully convicted individual. Even when the courts rule in favor of the exoneree the State still tries to control the narrative and never seeks justice for the victims.
Unfortunately, in our criminal justice system, many legal errors are done by defense attorneys. Paralegals who know what these different terms mean can help Defendant’s understand their situation better and help them make a more informed decision.
The true injustice of an exonerated person is that it could have been prevented.
Sources:
Exonerated individuals:
Innocent: