Person of interest is a phrase used by law enforcement when announcing the name of someone involved in a criminal investigation who has not yet been arrested or formally accused of a crime. This can sometimes result in a trial by media. For the band, see The Police. ... A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Trial by media is a phrase popular in the late 20th century and early 21st century to describe the impact of television and newspaper coverage on a persons reputation by creating a widespread perception of guilt regardless of any verdict in a court of law. ...

The use of the term became widely critiqued when United States Attorney General John Ashcroft used it in a press conference when asked if Dr. Steven J. Hatfill was a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks case. The legal meaning of the phrase is (as of November 2004) subject to a lawsuit. It is unclear how Ashcroft's November 2004 resignation might affect the liabilities, if any, established by the suit. Seal of the United States Department of Justice The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice (see 28 U.S.C. Â§ 503) concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. ... John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) was the 79th Attorney General of the United States. ... A joint press conference by U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House. ... Dr. Steven Jay Hatfill (b. ... The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, also known as Amerithrax from its FBI case name, occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001 (a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks). ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that civil trial be merged into this article or section. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that regulates governmental sanctions (such as imprisonment and/or fines) as retaliation for crimes against the social order. ...

Dr. Hatfill, who claims he has lost his professional reputation and employment prospects as a consequence of being publicly identified, alleges that the Justice Department and the FBI used the phrase as an excuse to implicate him personally, without commencing legal proceedings, to divert media attention from their own failure to charge a suspect for the attacks. The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans. ...

Normal Justice Department parlance for subjects of investigation includes "suspect," "subject" and "target." Each has specific meanings relevant to different levels of investigation. Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, wrote to the Attorney General for clarification of the unfamiliar phrase in September 2002. In December of that year, Nuclear Threat Initiative's Global Security Newswire summarized the response as follows: Look up Idiom in Wiktionary, the free dictionary An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional—that is, whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed. ... In the parlance of criminal justice, a suspect is a term used to refer to a person, known or unknown, suspected of committing a crime. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the... Charles Ernest Chuck Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is the senior United States Senator from Iowa. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Democratic Party. ... Capital Des Moines Largest city Des Moines Area  Ranked 26th  - Total 56,272 sq mi (145,743 km²)  - Width 310 miles (500 km)  - Length 199 miles (320 km)  - % water 0. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is a an American public charity founded by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn which exists to strengthen global security by reducing the the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and also to reduce the risk that they will actually be used. ...

the U.S. Justice Department has said that it did not intend for Hatfill to come under such intense media scrutiny by describing him has a "person of interest" in the anthrax investigation, according to department letters sent to Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), which were released yesterday. ... The department did not intend to cause any harm to Hatfill when it described him as a person of interest, Assistant Attorney General Daniel Bryant said in one of the letters. Instead, the department meant "to deflect media scrutiny" and "explain that he (Hatfill) was just one of many scientists" who had cooperated with the FBI investigation, Bryant said.

Grassley said yesterday that he appreciates the department’s replies to his inquiries. "I also appreciate the department’s candidness that the action regarding Mr. Hatfill and his employment is unprecedented," Grassley said in a statement, and that “there is no ... formal definition for the term ‘person of interest’” (Gugliotta/Lengel, Washington Post, Dec. 13).

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See also

• Richard Jewel
• Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI)'s Global Security Newswire piece in full