How difficult is it to avoid public opinion when you’re facing criminal charges?

by | Sep 20, 2014 | Business Feature

When someone is facing criminal charges, they will find that the court of public opinion can be almost as important as any actual courtroom. What people think they did based on news reports and rumors is not supposed to play a role in the proceedings, but that’s not to say that it never does. This is especially true with the way that social media is a part of everything these days, so reports and rumors can spread like wildfire. The best lawyers only use social medial to present real, verified news—check out Joseph Tacopina’s Twitter feed, for example—but individuals are able to post anything that they want. Below are a few ways that public opinion can shape a case.

It Can Be Hard to Find a Jury

This is one of the biggest issues facing the court. They are supposed to find a jury of the person’s peers that is not biased in any way. The jury, ideally, should know nothing about the case before they sit down to hear both sides present their arguments. The problem with how fast news travels now is that people hear about crimes as they happen. In the span of a few hours, they could form an opinion about whether or not someone is guilty, based mostly off of initial news reports that may or may not prove to be correct.

This does not mean that it will be impossible to find a jury, and many jurors are clearly able to put aside public opinion and make the decision that they think is best, but it can mean that the process takes longer. More of the jurors are ineligible if they are shown to already have an idea of how they would decide the verdict before the evidence has been put forth.

It Can Impact Future Cases

This is something that is occasionally seen when someone is given a not guilty verdict based on the actual evidence from the case even though the public may think that they are guilty based on news reports or personal feelings. If the same person is arrested for another crime in the future, it can make it hard to find jurors who do not feel like they should declare the person to be guilty as a way of rectifying what they see as an incorrect verdict in the prior case.

It Can Impact the Person’s Life After the Case

Similarly, public opinion may have an impact on what the person can do after the case is over. If the public thinks that the verdict was wrong, employers may feel less confident about hiring the person. Technically, a verdict that clears the person’s name is supposed to make it so that no one holds a grudge against them and so everyone can see that they are fully innocent, but it is hard to change what people think. Many who have been cleared find it hard to get work afterwards. This is why it is so important for the trial to show distinctly that a person is innocent so that public opinion matches up with the ruling.