solved the case of the broken water lines in the county — and was charging a Pamlico county woman who owned a water line repair company in the case. The Sheriff’s office charged her and a New Bern man with 6 counts of damaging a public water system and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses. Reader Patrick Del Rio took issue with the coverage…

As reported on December 18, Pamlico Sheriff’s Office said it had solved the case of the broken water lines in the county — and was charging a Pamlico county woman who owned a water line repair company in the case. The Sheriff’s office charged her and a New Bern man with 6 counts of damaging a public water system and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses. Reader Patrick Del Rio took issue with the coverage…

As reported on December 18, Pamlico Sheriff’s Office said it had solved the case of the broken water lines in the county — and was charging a Pamlico county woman who owned a water line repair company in the case. The Sheriff’s office charged her and a New Bern man with 6 counts of damaging a public water system and one count of obtaining property by false pretenses. Reader Patrick Del Rio took issue with the coverage…

">

home

forecast weather station weather station

It's Friday March 29, 2024

News From The Village Updated Almost Daily


Reader Takes Issue With Water Line Break Arrest Coverage
Mug Shot Appropriate?
December 22, 2012

I’m certainly glad that the water pipe vandalism case has apparently been solved. The variations in water pressure have been pretty radical out where I live. But I’m struck by the language used in both the Sheriff’s press release and Towndock’s reporting.

Nowhere do I see the words “suspect” or “alleged”. It sounds as if the mystery is solved, the perps are guilty and the case is closed. That’s pretty dangerous language from a legal standpoint that most “big city” lawyers might counsel against in concern that a fair trial might be compromised.

Despite the fact that we live in an area that sees nothing wrong with publishing the mugshots of minors we need to be careful about trying cases in the media so that justice can be applied fairly.

Patrick Del Rio,
Oriental
12/19/12

Editor’s Note:

We cannot speak to the writing in the Sheriff’s press release. We would like to address the letter writer’s concerns about what TownDock.net wrote.

While the verb “allege” was not used, all of the statements in the TownDock report were attributed to the Sheriff’s Department. Ultimately, it is attribution which helps a reader weigh the words by clearly seeing who is saying what. We could have occasionally used the verb “allege” in place of “say”, but the reporting was making clear that it was the sheriff’s department doing the saying.

While some publications (not this one) may feature a weekly parade of arrestees’ photographs, including when a formal charge is not even stated, this situation is quite different.

In a high profile story such as the water line vandalism case, which affected so many people, use of the mug shot did seem warranted. The individual was not a “suspect”, but rather someone who, at the time of the reporting, had been charged with the crime. It was not possible to get an independent photo of the arrestee, as she was in detention. For that reason, the mug shot was used.

We inherently share the writer’s concerns about a fair trial. And we take his point that we could have included a line about the process — that it would take a court of law to determine whether the people mentioned in the story were guilty – or not guilty – of the crimes for which they are charged. Please know that the omission only stemmed from the presumption that our readership understood that the charges and the arrest were just the first steps in that process.


Share this page:

back to top

TownDock.net welcomes correspondence on this subject and others. Please limit your letter to 500 words.
Send your letter to letters@towndock.net.
No anonymous letters will be accepted. Well-made, civilly-spoken points welcomed. Please include the city & state where you live.
If you cc TownDock letters you send to government officials, they may be included in the Letters column. (Such correspondence to government – town, county, state federal – is part of the public record.)