…the innocent sleep,
Sleep that knits up the ravel’d sleave of care,
The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast

Macbeth

Picture reblogged from youareanobject: alphamale: sleeping+beauty.jpg (image)

The “perp” in the “perp walk” is the perpetrator - the perpetrator of a crime.  Those arrested are put in handcuffs and forced to parade publicly in front of any photographer or television camera which cares to record their humiliation on their way to Court. 

But what about the presumption of innocence?  What about the “perp” who actually is innocent?

From Reuters:

Wed May 18, 2011 6:59pm EDT

Sometimes the subject of a “perp walk” turns out to be innocent. Here are a few cases where that happened.

RICHARD WIGTON

The Kidder Peabody trader was arrested on February 13, 1987, and led from his office handcuffed and crying. Two and a half years later, the insider trading investigations of Wigton and Timothy Tabor, another trader arrested that day, were called off. The New York Times noted the investigation was halted “with nary an apology” to Wigton and Tabor. Wigton retired in 1989 and died in 2008.

RALPH CIOFFI and MATTHEW TANNIN

The two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers were arrested on June 19, 2008, on conspiracy and securities fraud charges related to the collapse of two funds they ran that lost $1.6 billion. Although they surrendered to officials, they were still subjected to a perp walk en route to their arraignment. After a month-long trial in which the defense called only three witnesses, Cioffi and Tannin were acquitted. “We’re going home with the family for dinner, opening a bottle of wine and we’re just going to relax,” Cioffi told reporters after the verdict.

ROBERT BLAKE

Though he was taken in an unmarked police car after being arrested at his sister’s home, actor Robert Blake was still snapped by photographers as he was walked into Los Angeles police headquarters in 2002. Blake was wearing a white t-shirt, a green baseball cap and handcuffs. He was charged with shooting his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, outside of an Italian restaurant. The former TV detective was acquitted in 2005.

(Reporting by Erin Geiger Smith; Editing by Eileen Daspin)