With some well-chosen words, a reader hit a nerve. When it comes to writing about people being charged with or under investigation for crimes, should it be open season on them? Have we forgotten that people are innocent until proved guilty and that it's difficult for them to remove the taint after being publicly linked to possible illegal actions?
The issue is especially relevant these days in Orange County, because it's been on a roll when it comes to high-profile people under legal scrutiny.
Our former sheriff, Mike Carona, faces federal corruption charges.
Our treasurer, Chriss Street, is under investigation by state and federal agencies but not charged with any crime.
And most recently, two of our most illustrious businessmen, Broadcom Corp. founders Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas, were hit with federal charges -- although Nicholas appears to be in much deeper water than Samueli.
What got the reader's goat was my recent column on Samueli, which was largely sympathetic. The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Samueli and Nicholas of improperly backdating stock options in ways that misled shareholders. Last week Nicholas was indicted on criminal charges by a federal grand jury that he backdated the options and distributed drugs.
I asked in print whether Samueli's extensive philanthropy shouldn't be weighed against the SEC accusation and went so far as to inquire about a "rap on the knuckles" for him.
I thought I was being nice, but in the course of getting to the point, I upset the reader. "Why," he wrote, "would anyone even raise the question of how we might judge Dr. Samueli by weighing the 'good' vs. the 'bad . . . ' when we have no idea what the evidence looks like nor whether he is guilty of anything at all?"
He went on to indict me. "All of your speculation about virtue vs. sin is in my opinion really cheap journalism."
A similar chorus of protest has erupted over columns about Carona who, like all the others mentioned above, has denied any wrongdoing. In one column, for example, I mused about the possibility of Carona and baseball star Barry Bonds someday meeting each other in prison.
I won't admit to cheap journalism, but neither do I dismiss the complaints. Like I said, he hit a nerve. I could argue that once someone has been charged with a crime he or she does become fair game, especially if that person is a high-profile public figure.
