Why Is Artest Apologizing?

Well, they had the Artest press conference. And while none of my conspiracy-minded questions got answered, there was at least one totally bizarre occurrence.

A remorseful and emotional Artest addressed the situation for the first time in front of the media.

"First, I want to apologize to my wife, to my family ... " Forty seven seconds later he raised his head with tears in his eyes and continued.

"I want to apologize to the Kings, to my teammates, the NBA, everybody who supported me," he said. "For another incident to come up is very unfortunate, and I definitely want to apologize for my behavior."

Okay, so there's the heartfelt apology from Artest. Moments later, though, here's Petrie:

Petrie said the decision to bring Artest back was based largely on the presumption of innocence inherent to the court system.

"The presumption of innocence still stands," Petrie said. "He's a basketball player, and at some point he needs to get back on the court."

I'm having trouble finding the words the say this politely, but huh? Artest is crying, atoning, acknowledging he's done wrong yet again...and Petrie is talking innocent until proven guilty? I guess Artest feels bad that he's put everyone through this ordeal, even if he did nothing wrong. If he's not admitting he hit his wife, exactly what wrongdoing is he all choked up about?