HOW DOES It Feel To Be Wrongfully Accused?
There was only one career path that sparked any enthusiasm in me during my school years. I was destined to become a lawyer. At 17, my law degree commenced. Immediately, I found myself endowed with the principles that had garnered my interest. Lecture after lecture, further reinforced the notion that truth and justice were inextricably linked, and that the innocent were being protected. Seldom had I felt happier and more intellectually nourished than when I departed from a classroom. Crucially, the lectures, had neglected to inform me of one thing. That in six months time I would find myself being bundled into the back of a police car, knees driven into my body and tears streaming down my face. My crime, daring to be the last one at the scene of a vicious assault.
Naturally, the police, given the evidence they had, (i) myself being the one to call them in the first place, (ii) the one to care for the victim, (iii) the only one that had not yet scarpered, decided that the appropriate course of action was to have me detained and then later charged. Despite all of this, I retained faith in our justice system and a belief that all was not lost…But then faculty turned their back on me. Classmates no longer spoke to me. Why? Because I had chosen to speak openly about my innocence. God forbid the hot air spouted in lectures was forced to make its way back down to earth. God forbid that the buzzwords such as “truth”, “justice”, “dignity” and “presumption of innocence” scribed into every textbook needed to actually prise themselves from the paper and apply themselves to a real-life scenario.
Welcome to the disorientation that reflects the reality of being wrongfully accused. Imagine waking up one morning to the realization that you have a trial in one hours’ time, for a crime that you did not commit. During the trial, a jury will listen to the narrative of the prosecution, that implies your guilt. The defence, in turn, will proclaim your innocence. When all parties have been heard, it will be solely up to the jury to decide your fate. As the trial commences, you find yourself looking over to your friends for support. Then, it dawns on you. Your friends are nowhere to be seen. Luckily, your family and those who have stood by you are present. They attempt to convey strength, faith and optimism. But, you see behind this façade. Deep down, they are broken. For, their life, as well as yours, has been put on hold. You all face the prospect of a life that may never return to how it was. Ultimately, it boils down to the jury. You glance over to them in the hope that it is a fellow human being that they have in their sights. Inside, you scream, “I’m innocent!” But, then you realize, it is not a fellow human being that they have in their sights at all. They want someone to pay for these crimes and you’re the prime candidate. If you’re lucky (and I mean extremely lucky), you might just hear the words, “not guilty, you are free to leave”. If indeed, you find yourself in the “lucky” category, will your rightful status as an innocent human being be returned to you? No. The truth is, your innocence no longer belongs to you. The second that you are wrongfully accused of a crime, your innocence is taken from you, along with your humanity.
As you push through the doors of the courthouse, you find yourself greeted with the murmurings of “suspect walks free”, implying that you have somehow managed to elude a deserved punishment. Your chosen career path is now nothing but a distant memory, a fallacy. Much like your ‘presumption of innocence’. The reality is that the truth, innocence and justice do not matter. Sadly, we live in a society where it is virtually impossible to be successful in any large-scale institution without possessing an astute ability to dehumanise people. We can be extremely compassionate in some aspects of our lives while being simultaneously wicked, cruel and neglectful in others. Without humanity, there can never be a functioning justice system.
medium.com By Liam Baxter
