The notion of innocent until proven guilty is a widely held point of view in many legal systems across the globe. In fact, research corroborates that the tenet was born in the late thirteenth century, was preserved in the universal jurisprudence of ancient times, and later survived in the early modern period. Finally, it was employed as an influential argument opposing torture from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries.
However, the theory officially entered United States law in the legal case Coffin vs. U.S. (1894). The Coffin case involved two defendants, Francis A. Coffin and Percival A. Coffin, who had been convicted of misapplication of funds and making false entries in their employer's bank records. The court's decision would influence the law as it pertains to the accused. It was during this particular case that the court established the justification for and rationalization of presumed innocence.