Thread:Comments:18-year-old charged for Thanksgiving lesbian assault/Comments from feedback form - "This is a travesty and how in ..."/reply

That would be due to the fact that, as of the time this article was written, he was *charged* not *convicted*. I'm honestly not looking to defend any ideological positions, particularly those based on bigotry, ignorance, and persecution, but the fact of the matter remains that it is far from an impossibility that this altercation was the result of factors completely unrelated to the sexual identity or orientation of any of the participants. That said, it is also a possibility that said factors were the cause of this particular incident. Therefore, the accused is *charged* with violating X law. This prompts the court to investigate whether these charges are true. If they find that they are, then the accused will *convicted* and be deemed guilty of violating X law.

This all taken into consideration, the charges of assault look to be a given instance of guilt. However, it would be unfair and unjust were one to decide this prior to the presentation of all available evidence and information.