[twilightfog]

Abrams insisted the case was "never about caffeine," and she insisted that Schwab had to have been under the influence of another drug that didn’t show up in the test. Not all drugs do under standard rounds of testing.

To paraphrase: we didn't find anything to justify the charges, but we're still going to tell everyone that he is guilty.

[dx034]

No, telling that someone is guilty can only be done by a court. Prosecutors can say that they believe he could be guilty. In this case, they dropped that and said that he's likely innocent.

The unfortunate thing in the US is just that most cases don't make it to court, and a lot of people plead guilty to get a deal. This is not how the system was designed, and not how it works in most other democracies.

[charlesdm]

This just shows significant parts of the government are rotten to the core. It's an issue most likely to affect people who are unable to afford good representation.

Let's be honest: courts in most western countries are only really accessible to upper middle class and/or wealthier people. If you do not have proper representation, you will probably lose in cases like these.

The fact that some random smuck is given this much power is shocking.

[lettergram]

> No, telling that someone is guilty can only be done by a court. Prosecutors can say that they believe he could be guilty. In this case, they dropped that and said that he's likely innocent.

Just being charged with a felony means you are ineligible for conceal carry in a lot of places, even if you are found innocent in court.

That implies at the very least, that you are and will always be suspected guilty (on some level) even if the court never finds you guilty.