Not in Texas. In Texas you are guilty until proven innocent, but it may not be that way everywhere.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/146/352842329_41d877d9fb.jpg

I feel that very often victims rights are ignored, or even worse, the victim is further victimized by the criminal justice system. It often seems that the criminal justice system is concerned with justice for criminals, but not for victims. I'm not alone in this, as the UN released information indicating that as many as 50% of crime victims worldwide were dissatisfied with the "justice" they supposedly received.

http://www.un.org/events/10thcongress/2088a.htm

A hot topic in the US today is Juvenile life sentences. Many 17 year old offenders who have committed heinous murders of innocent victims including women and children are being supported by advocacy groups that do not believe in life terms for Juveniles. The families of the victims disagree, as you might suspect, yet are finding themselves having to fight for the opportunity to even be heard in legislative and judicial proceedings. Families of murdered victims must reopen the wounds of repeatedly going over details of their loved ones brutal murder, in the name of justice.

Where is the justice in putting a family of survivors through a court case, telling them at the end, "here is your justice, a life sentence for the 15 year old who brutally attacked and murdered your pregnant daughter", and then a year later they change their minds?

Here is the compelling testimony of one such surviving family member who lost first her sister, to a murderer, then her mother, who could not cope with the loss.

http://jammer71.blogspot.com/2008/09/juvenile-sentencing-hearing.html