Phillips Captured

I'm hoping for no interesting courtroom developments that catch my attention and require a post, because I'll be quite happy to put the whole saga of Ralph Phillips behind me. In case you missed the local and national non-stop news on the case, he was captured after a daylong manhunt just over the PA border in Warren County, not far from Jamestown.

As a defense lawyer, though, I'm a little bothered by the rush to assume guilt. I won't blog much on that since I expect I won't change anyone's mind and probably earn the ire of many who don't care about the distinction I'm trying to make. Simply, I think the "presumption of innocence" is a huge right and I don't think anyone should lose it, no matter the horror of the crimes that have been committed.