I'd like to see a three way verdict: guilty/not guilty/innocent.

An innocent verdict would mean the defendant had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they did not do the act and would put the state on the hook for all costs. A jury that hung between not guilty and innocent would be considered to be not guilty, no retrial. Reality works better when misdeeds carry costs for those who commit them.

▲

mcbuilder 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

People mentioned it in the article, it used to be "innocent until proven guilty". No need for a third category.

	▲	infamouscow 3 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		You're presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

▲

darreninthenet 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They used to have this in Scorland - Guilty, Not Guilty and Not Proven, with the last two legally having the same affect (ie being aquitted) but I believe Not Proven was abolished at the start of this year.

	▲	crote 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I believe the problem was that in practice it became He Totally Did It But The Evidence Sucks So He Gets To Walk Free, and was increasingly interpreted as such. In the public's eye, everything besides a Not Guilty meant you did it.

▲

ndriscoll 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Or if the jury acquits, they are asked whether it was reasonable for the state to prosecute the case for each of the charges. If ≥50% say no on any charge, criminal charges are automatically brought against the prosecuting attorney and judge for malicious prosecution. Conviction carries mandatory disbarment plus prison time.

▲

soulofmischief 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"Your honor, I was innocent of that prior crime and it shouldn't be used to enhance the sentencing of this current case, nor to influence the jury's perception."

"I'm sorry, it says you weren't found guilty; it doesn't say you were innocent."

Now extrapolate this to your friends or potential employers.

"Sure, LorenPechtel wasn't proven guilty of murdering 500 orphans as accused, but he never fully proved his innocence with a detailed and corroborated minute-by-minute log of his activities for the past 5 years. So maybe he did it!"

It's innocent until proven guilty. Not guilty until proven innocent. A third category would be abused to high heaven, and the courts already engage in far too much abuse.

▲

crote 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Except for plea bargains, where it is often "innocent until bullied into accepting a plea deal as the better option - even when you didn't do it". No need to prove anything there.

	▲	soulofmischief 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I am currently in the court system defending my innocence regarding a recent incident which I can't currently discuss, and the officer who charged me was literally bragging about how most of the charges would get "pled down"; he was openly and deliberately frontloading me with bogus extra charges hoping some would stick if I did a plea deal for the rest. He told me that if I talked back to him, he'd give me an assaulting an officer charge just because he could get away with it. The corruption is baked into the system from top to bottom.

▲

idontwantthis 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There are sort of other options like an Alford plea where, my understanding is, the prosecution knows you didn’t do it, you plead guilty anyway and they tell you to just fuck off.

▲

nujabe 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I like this!

▲

ant6n 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

so then if you're not guilty, so not actually innocent, you're like... kinda guilty, right? you could still end up on the no-fly list, or the sex offenders list, or what have you.