Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Social Construction of Innocence and Guilt in the Media

Casey Anthony, OJ Simpson, and Ralph Wright Jr. While only the first two names might be immediately familiar, all three of these individuals have something in common. All three have faced biased, sensationalized media coverage, and all three of their lives irreversibly changed by not just the court decision, but the coverage of that decision itself. Indeed, the media coverage of the murder trials for these three individuals played a larger role in the public perception of their innocence and/or guilt than the facts of the case or any lawyer’s argument ever could. This analysis is not intended to perpetrate personal opinions of guilt or innocence, but rather explain the ways in which articles and perception can alter the ways a defendant is seen. Overall, there was no way that we, as the public, should be making allegations of what he did or did not do. Specifically, this article aims to analyze the media coverage of one of these cases, that of former Air Force Sergeant Ralph Wright Jr. in order to show that media coverage does much to impact the public’s perception of innocence and guilt, regardless of what the evidence suggests; and prove that in this way, the concept of guilt and the stigma it places on incarcerated people are socially constructed. This article also targets young people aged sixteen to thirty-five, as this group is the primary consumer of social media and media news coverage; this group is predisposed though these media channels to consume biased coverage and personalized news, and therefore stands to gain the most from understanding the ways in which media distorts our understanding of innocence and guilt.

The Case of Ralph Wright Jr.

One specific case centered in Florida is that of Ralph Wright Jr., a former Air Force Sergeant located in Pinellas County (Krueger, 2014; Sullivan, 2017). In August of 2014, both Ralph’s ex girlfriend, Paula O’Connor, and their 15 month old child Alijah were found murdered. The case was described by the judge as “Cold, calculated, heinous, and cruel” (Krueger, 2014). O’Connor was found strangled at the bed of their infant’s crib, while Alijah laid in it, smothered to death. The double murder caused an uproar in the Tampa Bay area, and the original article written from the time of sentencing versus the article written a few years later shows some disparity in the bias that is internalized within modern media journalism. Both come from the same publisher, the Tampa Bay Times, but with different authors. The original article goes on to describe the incident; Wright was described as a deadbeat dad, who refused to help support their son. The now deceased O’Connor even set up a website labeled “Deadbeat dad” in retaliation, in addition to filing a paternity lawsuit. The murder was claimed to be calculated due to the cover up after it occured, in which O’Connor’s car was moved to reduce suspicion of her disappearance and wiped of fingerprints and DNA, which suggests it was planned out by the killer. They claimed Wright murdered his ex and their son for financial reasons, so that he did not have to help their child’s medical expenses. The Tampa Bay Times does however shed light on Wright’s personal life by mentioning the fact he did have loving relationships with family members and made strides within the United States Air Force, but does not elaborate further. They claim he was the only one with motive to kill. The article claims that when the guilty verdict was read, Wright stayed calm and collected, “showing no reaction.”

In the first article, they use adjectives and descriptors such as deadbeat, reinforcing many stereotypes held about black fathers. This immediately sets him up as a man lacking empathy, without strong emotional ties to his past lover and their child, a man more than capable of murdering a helpless child at 7:00am and visiting a Starbucks at 8:00. They reinforce the perception of him as a cold, calculated killer, despite any substantial evidence putting him at the crime scene, other than a glove. This is common within murder cases, and the killer is often dehumanized to justify the death sentence (Jewkes, 2004; Kilgore, 2005). By setting him up in this manner, and by claiming he was emotionless as he signed his papers accepting his sentencing, it relieves the public of the need to feel for sorry for sending him to death row. Interestingly enough, in the courtroom pictures from his sentencing, he shows visible concern, and a multitude of emotions wear on his face. One interpretation of this could possibly be “emotionless,” but it is moreso used to set him up as a man overflowing with apathy for his actions.

picture retrieved from Krueger, 2014

Picture retrieved from Daily Mail 2013

The second article was written three years later, after Wright was exonerated of all charges and his conviction and sentence overturned due to a lack of hard evidence (Sullivan, 2017). This is written by another author, so the angle they take on him is slightly different, especially due to the fact that they don’t want to completely reiterate the facts given in the previous article. Despite some circumstantial evidence and considerable suspicion of his actions, he was acquitted of the charges due to the lack of sufficient evidence. They go into detail of the specific form of relationship Wright and O’Connor had by explaining that they met on an online dating website while Wright was hiding the fact he was already married. Wright told O’Connor that he was on secret missions for the Air Force when in reality he was living his second life as a husband. The article also claimed that Wright avoided paying child support to further his “bachelor lifestyle.” Unlike the first article, Sullivan’s piece introduces other possible people with motives, specifically O’Connor’s other child, her daughter. Her motive was also financially based — the author suggests that she did it for the money — which totaled nearly $500,000, and which she spent completely within the first 18 months. Some of the judges were happy for him to be freed, “The bottom line is when someone is prosecuted for a crime like this, their lives are just in ruins by the time it’s over with,” he said. “They lose everything they have. … It remains a huge shadow over their lives.”

The first article, despite his descriptions as a deadbeat, remained much less biased than the latter. They bring up good things that he may have done as well, such as his involvement with the Air Force. As for the second article, there is little reason to bring up his past and set his persona out to be one of a bachelor. This just gives the audience, us the readers, a reason to dislike him and builds our own suspicions of guilt. He denies that the child is his, and they don’t go into detail which can be easily scientifically proven to see whether this was correct or not, and negate any further investigation into his paternity.

One disparity between the two articles is the lack of any benefit of the doubt, as they claim he was the one and only suspect. The daughter, and many others, could have easily been brought up, but they were not. This may be due to the fact that he, as a black man with a sleazy past and apathetic characteristics given to him, is easily pawned off as the bad guy in situations like this (Caldwell & Caldwell, n.d.). They also bring in the audience’s emotions towards children. As for the first article where they describe the child as a 15 month old, in the second they describe him as an infant. It might seem like a minor change, but the implications of wording often easily conveys the perception of the case, in the same way perceptions can be made of him when using descriptors such as deadbeat, calculated, and bachelor (Krueger, 2014; Sullivan, 2017; Caldwell & Caldwell, n.d.). Either way, in both articles bystanders express joy for justice being served. Neither article brings up any verbal statement given by Wright. The one undeniable truth in the case is that he ultimately did or did not do commit these crimes, but neither can be proven, and as an audience it is not our job to decide which is true. The reality is that either choice the judges make will completely alter his future, and they make that aware in their comments. It does in fact completely change the trajectory of his life, and that is why it is so important to remain impartial when cases like this are being discussed. The same story can be told in millions of different ways, each one speaking another person’s “truth.” Bias is present in everything, and judges as well as people who report on cases such as this need to keep in mind the impact it has on the people around them, and the people they are speaking of.

Discussion:

This case has a few key points of interest that need to be discussed in context to socio-political, historical relations. Historically, the justice system has had to judge people based mostly on their character if there was not enough evidence. This happened because the world did not have the technology it does now. Although this is not how the justice system is supposed to work, it has definitely carried to the 21st century. Wright was partly judged by his character because their was not much concrete evidence for the case. Ralph Wright Jr. was a 46 year old Air Force Sergeant which gives him credibility, but because he was black and left his side-chick after she got pregnant makes it seem like he was bad person. The identity of a person plays a big role in the justice system. America is known to have more blacks than whites but they always describes the blacks as bad for our society. As stated in Media, crime and criminal justice, “statistically the typical arrestee is young, black, and poor” (Surette, 1992). Also talked about by Ray Hinton, formerly incarcerated until he was proven guilty, he said the cop told him “I do not care if you committed the crime or not, just as long as we get another black man off the streets”. This is how the justice systems thinks of black people. They believe that black people create all of these problems. A surprising factor from the article by Tampa Bay Times published in 2014 was the title said “Former Air Force Sergeant sentenced to death”. The title makes Wright lose all of his credibility. People think that if an Air Force Sergeant with good morals could kill anyone, so could the rest. This could cause people to go into a moral panic which is when evil threatens the well being of society (Erich Goode & Nachman Ben- Yehuda, 2009). This is what the justice system and media wants us to think.

Another key point is the context of innocence when one is outside or inside jail. This is important to discuss because as human beings, we are biased. If Wright were to tell America he was innocent while he was being prosecuted no one would have believe him. This is because the media has already portrayed him as a criminal and so has the justice system. This is how the justice system and media influences the people.

The rise of technology is something that has helped people be proven guilty or not-guilty. DNA evidence is a key factor in many cases today. This also played a key role in Wrights case, when they overturned the case it talks about how there was not enough DNA evidence to prove that he was guilty and not enough evidence in general. This shows how technology has helped the justice system rightly convict people.

In American, society is heavily influenced by social media. Millennials have all grown up with social media and the use of the internet, it is all they know. Social media helps society form opinions even if the information is not correct or real, and in doing so hurts society. What the media puts out for the world to see is not always correct information. Media also will lean towards different sides so that you do to. This is the same with the Wright case by the Tampa Bay Times, as it did not care if he did the crime or not when he was found guilty in 2014; the article portrayed him to be a bad person regardless. Not all the facts were presented to readers. It makes one wonder how often is the public persuade to just assume someone is guilty. It makes one think how often is the justice system putting innocent people into prison. The justice system is willing to convict any person so that the case is solved. The justice system is flawed in America just like the media.

Impact of Social Media:

Information retrieved from Social, 2018

Media heavily distorts the reality of situations, and almost always has an underlying reason for doing so (Jewkes, 2004). Most commonly, it is to gain the most coverage, and make the institution the most money, and that means telling the story in the most palatable manner to its viewers. No matter the source or individual, media affects how the audience sees the world, and bends the way in which they shape opinions. This is most commonly seen in political-based news sources, in which the funding is coming from a certain political party. In other formats, crime news is told in a way that only portrays the most shocking and disturbing stories, which leads the viewer to believe that a certain group is more likely to perform these acts, and that they are much more common than what is actually happening in reality. This works both ways, where in the reporter is only reporting things that they think the audience would read, watch, and enjoy (Social, 2018). They use crime as a novelty, despite being so, and use it to forward and reinforce whatever values are most popular at the time (Boyd, 2002). These values are often incredibly conservative in nature, reinforcing that criminals are always bad, and there is no social pressure or justification behind their actions. This is seen in Wright’s case, where his punishment was clear cut and definitive.

Our Audience is Their Audience

As mentioned before, the primary audience for this piece is young adults aged sixteen to thirty-five, as this group consumes more media than any other. Therefore, this group is the most at risk for developing a skewed or otherwise misguided notion of innocence, guilt, and justice due to biased coverage. Consider the Wright case, in which the first headline read something like, “Air Force Sergeant Sentenced to Death in Pinellas.” What is a young person, casually scrolling on facebook, expected to make of this headline, or the subsequent story which utilized in its first sentence the words, “cold, calculated, heinous and cruel”? Young people are bombarded by headlines, advertisements, and click-bait constantly, so we’re already weary, yet we’d like to think we can trust in reputable sources like the Tampa Bay Times to give us the truth. When organizations such as this engage in biased coverage meant to demonize a man later exonerated of all charges, it undermines our confidence in any news media. Furthermore, it undermines our confidence in our own abilities to judge innocence from guilt when the same publication prints a second piece years later telling a very different tale of a daughter blowing through half a million Dollars worth of life-insurance in 18 months. Media coverage like this makes young people ask themselves, “Was I tricked into agreeing with them? Why was I so quick to label him a murderer when I was actually so ignorant?” In short, media coverage such as in the Wright case is prolific on social media, and young people are the most at risk for buying-in to the 24hr News Cycle’s mass produced conception of innocence and guilt. It is this group that stands to gain the most from realizing the effect this phenomena has on our society, and from doing their own research before sharing their opinions on guilt and innocence on social media.

The Innocence Project

The Innocence Project relates to this case because they are an organization that helps people wrongly convicted to get out of jail. The innocence project, “uses DNA testing to exonerate people who have been wrongly convicted of crimes and advocates for reforms to prevent future injustice” (The Innocence Project, 1992). The four main values they go by is exonerate, improve, reform, and support. The innocence project was started in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law. This project has been going on for 25 years and has helped many people who have been wrongly convicted.

Information retrieved from Innocence Project, n.d.

Next Steps and Closer :

By reporting in an individualistic manner, you criminalize the victim. You don’t push to question the audience’s values and point out the holistic problems that bring the truth behind these stories. Criminality is completely subjective, and by forwarding these notions we become a part of the problem due to a lack of understanding of what those around us are going through. Specifically focusing on what it means to young adults in college to be able to make a change and critically think about the media you are presented with.

History is not written by the side who won, but by the side with power and wealth at their disposal. In a world that conditions you to have polarized and absolute opinions about stories, we need to gain a sense of humility when it comes to educating ourselves on problems and accept the fact that there is nothing wrong with changing your position or opinion on events. Forwarding these ideals, the self growth we will make both individually and as a society will help distance ourselves from the perpetuating and cyclical nature of discrimination that has burdened humanity.

Writer’s Memo:

Amelia: In this article, I wanted to focus on how biased America is towards certain people. People in America are quick to judge. We always assume the worst in people. America is so biased towards black people no matter the qualifications they have received. Especially because Wright was an Air Force Sergeant, they still made him look bad because he was black. After the fact that they found out he was innocence there was no apologies to Wright . It was disheartening to see and learn how unapologetic America can be. I am grateful that we have programs in place like the Innocence Project to help people like Wright. This is what I hope to get across to the audience.

Laurel: The main point of writing in detail about not one but two varying articles on Ralph Wright Jr. is to show the disparity and bias that can arise in two incredibly similar articles, with the only differences really being the perspective of the writer and the conviction given. It is just one example of how bias can completely drive how one interprets an article. This is especially important when tying back to the amount of media young adults have been found to consume daily. It not only points out that bias is present, but pinpoints specific Floridian based examples of it in hopes to ingrain ways in which the reader can become critical readers with the media they choose to engage with.

Matinicus: My goal for the introduction of this piece was to first catch the audience’s attention with a high profile case, which is why I started by naming OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony, and then transition into Ralph Wright’s case, which was at the center of our analysis. After than I explained the structure of the paper and the goals of each section, as well as our thesis. In the Audience section, I explained why young adults age 16–35 stood to gain the most from the conclusion our piece draws, and that they need to be especially careful of the media they consume.

References

Help us put an end to wrongful convictions! (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.innocenceproject.org/

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Goode, E., & Ben-Yehuda, N. (2009). Moral panics: The social construction of deviance. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell.

Jewkes, Y. (2004). Media & crime. Washington, D.C: SAGE Publications.

Kilgore, J. (2005). Understanding mass incarceration: A people’s guide to the key civil rights struggle of our time. New York, NY: The New Press.

Krueger, C. (2014). Former air force sergeant sentenced to death in Pinellas. Retrieved from http://www.tampabay.com/news/former-air-force-sergeant-sentenced-to-death-in-pinellas/2193141

Social, S. (2018). Teen social media statistics. Retrieved from https://smartsocial.com/social-media-statistics/

Sullivan, D. (2017) Supreme court orders Ralph Wright Jr. to be acquitted of 2007 St. Pete killings. Retrieved from https://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/florida-supreme-court-overturns-death-sentence-for-hillsborough-killer/2323582

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