Clear a charge, any charge
Since immediate concerns bar me from further yeah, no discussions (for now), I’ll just mention something odd that I heard while watching CNN today, but that seems to be not uncommon: any in a particular positive context. What context? Here’s Google:
- COOPER: That was JonBenet Ramsey’s aunt, talking about the big development today in the case. John Karr has been cleared of any charges in the murder, after his DNA did not match the DNA found at the crime scene. In 1923, the handsome, neat young man killed two men in three days, one of them at the Halfway House. Birger claimed self defense and was cleared of any charges on both occasions, but the second time he took a bullet in his lung and spent some time at Herrin Hospital recuperating.
- Years ago he was used as a scapegoat by his crooked senior partner, and although he was eventually cleared of any charges, his wife left him and his name remains dirt among his peers.
So far, my reaction is: huh.
This sounds fine to me! “Clear it of any debris” comes to mind.
Hmm, but to me, anyway, positive “any” is indefinite. So it’s okay to say “when you leave the site, make sure to clear the area of any debris to make the next users’ lives easier.” But if it’s already established that particular debris (or whatever) exists, then it sounds odd. Well, definite debris is a little odd in and of itself… How about “before, this area was a bustling center for nighttime entertainment, but recently developers have decided to start from scratch. As you can see, the area that used to contain several theaters and malls has been cleared of any buildings.” That sounds odd.
So it comes down to: is it weird to talk about indefinite/unknown charges in these cases of criminal charges? To me, it seems pretty weird.
I believe this usage is because Kerr at least was not actually charged with any thing. Arrested, yes, and convicted in the media, but not charged. So he was cleared of any charges that might have been pending.
Usually prosecutors leave the door open to make charges at any time in the furture, even if no charges have yet been filed. (A “charge” is a generic nonlegal term indicating an indictment or other written document filed with the court alleging the commission of one or more crimes. It’s something more than an arrest.) So if someone is cleared of “all” charges the implication is there have already been some charges filed. If the suspect is cleared of “any” charges then the prosecution feels there are no possible charges based on the evidence.
Belatedly:
So I guess the interpretation is something like “cleared of any possible charges.” But somehow it still seems odd, because I always thought that when you “clear” someone of a charge, it meant that they must have been charged with something.