Innocent until proven guilty

 

Innocent until proven guilty  The גמרא says that Rav Yehuda was struggling how to  deal with a צורבא מרבנן דהוו סנו שומעניה A Rav who had  a bad reputation. Rav Yehuda concluded, one should  not learn Torah from him.  This צורבא מרבנן was not a מומר (guilty person) but  a סנו שומעניה  (bad reputation- not proven) yet   Rav Yehudah concluded one should not learn Torah  from him.   The concept of  Innocent until proven guilty applies  only to בית דין when they may punish a person   after he was proven to be guilty.  It may also some times apply to הלכות לשון הרע.  It should not be confused with the Goyishe concept  that even if he actually did commit the crime but  was not found to be guilty in court he is innocent.

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