Trial By Media?

Dominic Strauss Kahn, Casey Anthony, OJ Simpson, Christopher Jefferies: what have these people got in common?  Trial by media?

I'm sure that US readers of this will know exactly who the first three people are, just like UK readers will know who Christopher Jefferies is, because all of these people have had their guilt or innocence decided in the media before any trial ever took place.  It's not just a US phenomenon but it's definitely a part of life here in the USA.

OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony were both declared guilty of murder in the "court of public opinion" but went on to be found innocent of murder by their jury.  DSK and Jefferies were also declared guilty by the same media court before the case against DSK started to fall apart and Jefferies was cleared when the real murderer was caught.  The difference between Europe and the USA couldn't be more obvious in this respect.  It almost doesn't matter that OJ was found guilty in a civil case and has been a pariah ever since; and Casey Anthony now faces life under the shadow of presumed guilt because we all know that "she done it really".

Meanwhile, back in Europe, the media outlets which cast their guilty judgment on Jefferies are facing contempt of court charges and the French are still dismayed at the treatment of DSK as he was paraded for the media, unshaven and in handcuffs for the traditional "perp walk".

Is the US moving towards an assumption of guilty-until-proven-innocent or have the decadent old Euros gone soft on crime?