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tomneal wrote:

Innocent means that you did not commit the crime.
Not Guilty means that there was not enough evidence to determine that you did commit the crime.
There is a big difference between the two. In the US, we find defendants not guilty; this means that there wasn't enough evidence to detemine, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you did infact commit the crime. It doesn't mean your innocent (you still may very well have done it) it just means that your guilt couldn't be proven.

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimf ... tween_not/

Yeah, I understand the relative meaning of "innocent" as opposed to "not guilty". I'm just asking how you prove innocence in legal terms. You'd be trying to disprove a negative...... or something like that.

I think the only thing that can happen to get a verdict of innocent is to have the judge issue something like a "Declaration of Innocence" if the evidence for the defense destroys the prosecution's case.....not just casts sufficient doubt on it.

tomneal wrote:Rick Perry is not the first person to spend a fortune defending against bogus charges.

It's not exactly gun related but I'd like to see three possible verdicts:

Guilty
Not Guilty
Innocent

If you are found Innocent, the District Attorney pays your defense bill.

I only have one quibble...... How are you to be "found innocent?"

The DA/AG has the burden of proving guilt. If he/she is unable to prove guilt, then you are by default not guilty. How do you upgrade that to proving innocence, and who has the burden for that proof - the defense or the prosecution? I'm willing to bet that no prosecutor will take the burden of proving innocence for the person he just tried to jail unless ordered to do so by a judge. And if he has to do it under compulsion, how good of a job is he going to do of it? And de-facto, "not guilty" IS "innocent". I would amend your last sentence to say that if you are found not-guilty, the DA pays your defense bill. And if you are guilty, you pay the state's bill. Loser pays would significantly reduce all kinds of litigation, in both the civil and criminal realms.