Attorney General Tom Corbett issued a lengthy press release upon charging personal injury lawyer Mark David Frankel and his son, Stephen, with stealing more than $1 million from clients.
The press released included quotes from Corbett, saying, among other things, "Frankel and his son helped themselves to their clients' money" and that the Frankels had "victimized" victims of personal injury and wrongful death.
The press release lists a litany of bad acts and crimes that Corbett attributes to the Frankels.
And it concludes with this parenthetical remark: "(A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)"
"(A person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.)"
Misleading headline. Corbett did not say that either Frankel is innocent. He simply reiterated the presumption that exists in all criminal cases, namely that the accused is presumed innocent at all stages of the proceedings until a finder of fact concludes otherwise or until there is a plea.
There is nothing particularly unusual or strange about this, and the headline, "Frankel's innocent, attorney general's office says!" is simply a gross misreading of what Corbett's press release said on its face.