If it’s true.

Do people really forget the principle of innocent until proven guilty? It hasn’t been that long since it was being chanted like a religious mantra all over lemmy for Mr Mangione, as it should have been.

That principle is maybe the single most important principle in any legal system, period. I’d even place it on par with the concept of a trial by peers, maybe higher.

Now, we can all sit around and form our opinions as we wish. We can debate the issue until our fingertips go numb from typing, but the outright truth is that, unless I missed it, nobody has ponied up evidence directly. Quotes, statements, yes, but nobody, including Gaiman has made a public and full release of evidence.

Now, in this kind of situation, evidence can be scant. When you’re dealing with abuse over time rather than a single event where evidence is collected, it’s as hard as it gets. There’s likely zero physical evidence at all, so when it does come to light, it’s almost certainly going to be disclosures, messages, and maybe second hand witnesses (where someone saw physical evidence that no longer exists, I don’t know if there’s a better term for it).

But even that evidence has not been given in full. The articles (even the vulture one) don’t have much in the way of actual documentation, it’s all statements, accusations and denials. Neither of which is worth a damn. Him saying “nuh-uh” is no more useful than the accusation itself in terms of determining guilt, even solely in public opinion.

And, frankly, anyone making a definitive conclusion with as little real documentation as I’ve seen online so far, is probably an idiot anyway.

We can believe the accusers, take them seriously, give their voice full respect without immediately assuming guilt of a crime. An accusation is the first step, not the final one.