Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Innocent until proven guilty…it’s a pretty interesting phrase, mostly because we don’t really believe in it. You could call it more of a suggestion than a legal right permitted to someone who has been accused of wrong. These days we’re quick to point fingers and appoint blame to the suspicious. We’re so sure that they’re guilty, that we believe any evidence would prove our assumptions.

Drew Peterson has been making headlines this week due to the fact that he is the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife Stacy. Stacy, Peterson’s fourth wife, went missing in late October. Peterson, a police sergeant in Bolingbrook, Illinois, also lost his third wife when she was mysteriously found dead in their bathtub. Her death is believed to be, by some, a homicide made to look like an accident. His second wife is reported to have said that Peterson used to hit her and said he could kill her and make it look like an accident. All cases point blame at Peterson.

Wednesday, on NBC’s Today show, Matt Lauer interviewed Drew Peterson about his current wife’s disappearance, and the accusations made against him. Peterson stated how he believes his wife has run off with another man and is in hiding. He also mentioned that FOX News’s Geraldo Rivera told him how to phrase certain things- all leading to the belief that he was indeed guilty. Believing in the possibility that Stacy is alive, Lauer asked Peterson if there was anything he wanted to say to his wife. Turning to face the camera and with a chuckle, Peterson asked for his wife to come home.

The following morning on Today, there was a segment on the study of Peterson’s body language during the previous day’s interview. Peterson remained quite calm throughout the entire interview, even slouching back in his chair. It was pointed out however, how Peterson’s foot becomes quite active when asked about his third wife’s death- hinting that he was uncomfortable. There has been mention that Drew Peterson was very watchful of what Stacy did or who she met with. This raised the question that if Stacy did meet another man, Peterson is likely to have known about it.

This story seems to mimic in some ways that of Scott Peterson’s, the man found guilty for the death of his wife Laci and their unborn son. But it also carries out that same traits all cases do when a husband’s wife goes missing.

Not all accusations made against a person(s) are true. A few examples would be that of the Dukes Lacrosse team or the man whose wife went missing for several days. Turns out she was trapped in her car after having driven into a ravine.

I want to make it clear that I’m not defending Peterson or anyone believed to be guilty of some crime. The purpose of this post is to get everyone to think before they lay blame on a person, while reporting on the story at the same time. Another example of laying blacme would be of the parent’s of the still missing Madeleine McCann. Parents accused of doing away with their own child. It would certainly seem that in today’s world a person is never innocent until proven guilty but rather guilty until proven innocent.