Deaths in 2024

[Last Hussar]

I only see the guilty ones.

[Orcs]

If a person is charged with a crime they remain innocent until proven guilty in common law jurisdictions.
An acquittal in court removes all guilt in law. They were innocent and remain innocent.
Whatever the facts and common sense may say!
Not sure of the semantic point not being 'cleared' is making. I suppose there was nothing for them to be 'cleared' of save an accusation subsequently 'proved' false?

Surely he is dead now, so innocent/ guilty / acquitted, does not bother him any more 

[Nick the Lemming]

Akebono.

[Last Hussar]

Thanks for posting someone who is 3 months younger than me...

[Gwydion]

Surely he is dead now, so innocent/ guilty / acquitted, does not bother him any more 

Doesn't bother him, doesn't bother me, it seemed to be bothering Ellie's dad. I just wondered why?

[streetgang]

If a person is charged with a crime they remain innocent until proven guilty in common law jurisdictions.
An acquittal in court removes all guilt in law. They were innocent and remain innocent.
Whatever the facts and common sense may say!
Not sure of the semantic point not being 'cleared' is making. I suppose there was nothing for them to be 'cleared' of save an accusation subsequently 'proved' false?

Simpson was acquitted in the criminal trial, however Simpson was also found liable by jurors in a 1997 wrongful death lawsuit.

[Ithoriel]

Simpson was acquitted in the criminal trial, however Simpson was also found liable by jurors in a 1997 wrongful death lawsuit.

Schrödinger's criminal?

[Gwydion]

A civil action with a different standard of proof - balance of probabilities vice beyond reasonable doubt.
He remained not guilty of murder in criminal law and - at that point - a free man.

[streetgang]

A civil action with a different standard of proof - balance of probabilities vice beyond reasonable doubt.
He remained not guilty of murder in criminal law and - at that point - a free man.

Indeed. He was deemed not guilty in a criminal sense and yet he was liable for their deaths in the civil manner. So his being "cleared" (whatever that is) only applies in one sense (the criminal).

"Cleared" is not a legal term for an outcome that I have ever heard professionally in 22+ years dealing with these matters.

[John Cook]

When I did jury service, over 15 years ago now, the judge told us that we had to "be sure" before we could return our verdict, or words to that effect.  When we retired three barrack room lawyers on the jury embarked on a heated argument on what "being sure" meant and, presumably brought up on TV courtroom dramas, asked if "being sure" was the same as "beyond reasonable doubt".  Our foreman asked the question and we were told that "being sure" had replaced "beyond reasonable doubt" to avoid confusion in the minds of jurors, and because the term "beyond reasonable doubt" implied that a degree of doubt still remained.  Anyway, in the case of OJ, I ran out of s***s to give many years ago but in a common sense context, I have no confusion where the meaning of "cleared" and "acquitted" is concerned.

[Ben Waterhouse]

Indeed. He was deemed not guilty in a criminal sense and yet he was liable for their deaths in the civil manner. So his being "cleared" (whatever that is) only applies in one sense (the criminal).

"Cleared" is not a legal term for an outcome that I have ever heard professionally in 22+ years dealing with these matters.
 
One of the jurors said they knew he was guilty but wanted to stick it to "the man" so found him not guilty, for Afro American solidarity...

[Raider4]

Anecdote time:

A relative was on the jury for an attempted murder trial. On the third day the (alleged) victim was called to give evidence. The young woman sitting next to my relative whispered to him "I thought he was dead?".

[Ithoriel]

Anecdote time:

A relative was on the jury for an attempted murder trial. On the third day the (alleged) victim was called to give evidence. The young woman sitting next to my relative whispered to him "I thought he was dead?".

"He used to say that the lot of Emperors was most unfortunate, since when they discovered a conspiracy, no one believed them unless they had been murdered" - Suetonius, of the Emperor Domitian

[Gwydion]

When I did jury service, over 15 years ago now, the judge told us that we had to "be sure" before we could return our verdict, or words to that effect.  When we retired three barrack room lawyers on the jury embarked on a heated argument on what "being sure" meant and, presumably brought up on TV courtroom dramas, asked if "being sure" was the same as "beyond reasonable doubt".  Our foreman asked the question and we were told that "being sure" had replaced "beyond reasonable doubt" to avoid confusion in the minds of jurors, and because the term "beyond reasonable doubt" implied that a degree of doubt still remained.  Anyway, in the case of OJ, I ran out of s***s to give many years ago but in a common sense context, I have no confusion where the meaning of "cleared" and "acquitted" is concerned.

My understanding is that the burden of proof in criminal cases remains exactly as it has always been and the judges in Crown Court simply changed the terminology for jurors because, as you say, many were believed to be confused by the phrase 'beyond reasonable doubt'. Both phrases describe the same concept, and I can't but wonder if this isn't a tad patronising, believing non-professionals to be unable to grasp such elevated language.

[paulr]

The above anecdote suggests that some can't understand the concept of attempted