Word of the Month for February 2014: Presumption

For the record, I prefer to hang out with women.  Always have.  Don't have many guy friends but my Rolodex is full of female names.  This has caused not a few problems over the years.  For instance, I recall once I got a call (at 1AM) from a female friend who had been out drinking and needed a ride home.  When I met her at the bar, she still had a drink in hand (which she subsequently spilled on me) and when I was helping her into her apartment, she leaned in to give me a kiss (smearing her lipstick on my collar).  Two days later when girlfriend is rummaging through my laundry, she finds my shirt and accuses me of playing the field.  Not true, but try telling that to an angry female.  This, of course, leads us to the word of this month: PRESUMPTION.

According to Black's Law Dictionary, PRESUMPTION is defined as a legal inference or assumption that a fact exists, based on the known or proven existence of some other fact or group of facts.  In my case, the presumption that I was playing around and a quick phone call to the previously drunk female friend and I was able to quell all concerns.  Other presumptions are not so easy to overcome.

For instance, in the newspaper is the story about a former teacher who allegedly sexually molested a former student.  The presumption that she is a sex offender is huge given the fact that there is a video of her confessing to the crime.  Yeah, good luck overcoming that mountain of evidence.

Another easy example might be about the story of "poor" Justin Bieber who was recently arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.  I suspect there are LOTS of people hoping this "guy" gets deported, but until the jury says "guilty," it's only a presumption of guilt.

Want to read up on evidence and presumptions and other similar legal stuff?  Then might I suggest you take a look at:

• Evidentiary Foundations (Lexis)
• Modern Scientific Evidence: the law and science of expert testimony (West)
• Methods of Attacking Scientific Evidence (Lexis)
• The New Wigmore: A treatise on evidence (Aspen)
• Proof of Facts (West)

So, when all is said and done, the best course of action when faced with a difficult presumption is to stay quiet or, if you can't manage that, just say it wasn't me!