After watching a few Casey Anthony snippets on TV Monday night, I put my iPhone down and said to Jennifer, "Looks like Anthony is going to get off." My sweet wife kindly said back, "What are you talking about?" My simple response,"I'm tellin' ya. Watch this." Thankfully, the conversations ended, as Jennifer was about to fume.If you were on earth Tuesday, you noticed (or took part in) the public fury, as the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial was announced. Facebook and Twitter went stupid crazy, as the biggest courtroom upset since the O.J. boondoggle, unfolded in front of millions of eyes. My friends were stunned, and they showed it via their keyboards.
Here's the thing. The prosecutors couldn't put the case in a box, and wrap it up tight. Further, the defense attorney had a good enough answer, (however vague) for EVERYTHING...to keep the jury thinking and guessing. He had an answer for everything, including: Searcher tampered skull with stick, MOM typed "chlorophyll" on computer, Casey partied nasty b/c that's how some people grieve, dad made her a liar because of childhood sex stuff, NO DNA on duct tape.
Did a ghost place duct tape on the mouth of the deceased? Of course not!! Well....Hmm....well...ummmmmmm......I don't think so, anyway. I guuuuess not. Hmmm. Well, crap. Did one?
Does a bear crud in the woods? NOOOPE! He cruds on the ground. Well, where's the ground? Zoo? Road? Park ranger throw it in a Hardee's parking lot? Hmmm. Well, you get the idea.
Did the defense cheat? I'm not a judge or lawyer, so I don't know. I do know, however, that Baez created a room of smoke and mirrors. While the jurors were looking one way (death/murder), he created a fireworks show in another direction, in the form of childhood sexual abuse.
The defense did this so well, in fact, that he made it tolerable for the accused to lie. Actually, he made it such that lies didn't matter, as this is what his client was, "trained to do."
The lies became so accepted, that I'm not even sure why folks had to, "raise their right hands." I mean, really. Why even go through this motion? This is another flaw in the system, by the way. Folks putting their hands on a bible, and raising their right hands doesn't mean squat to a person staring down death row. Surely, the rationale is they'll just make it up with their Maker, when it comes to that.
Getting back to the subject, the prosecutors just couldn't wrap it up tightly enough. That said, when it comes to jury verdicts, nothing should surprise the public. For instance, it wasn't too long ago when our own Attorney General couldn't send away a person that had a dug out kidnapping dungeon/pit on their property.
Anyway, I'm not comfy writing about this, at all. Every time the image of that sweet two year old is on the TV screen, I want to take the flat side of a canoe paddle to someones forehead. That said, I'm not surprised by the verdict.
Consider this. Of all the Facebook and Twitter rant banter, I haven't seen one lawyer post a thought. Maybe I've missed something, but I can only think that they're immune to this sort of verdict/judgement, and not surprised either.
Here's the salt in the rub. Casey Anthony with probably sign a book deal, and cut a movie opportunity, and for a while...become a millionaire.
P.S. Don't be surprised if Jose Baez and Casey Anthony end up together...as a couple. I don't know squat, but with these two, be ready for anything.
3 comments:
I hate the result as much as anyone else but from everything I've seen the prosecution failed to make the case for murder. The jury unfortunately had no choice because the prosecution didn't do its job.
Sending someone to jail or death is a tremendous task for 12 people. The prosecution absolutely failed to show any REAL evidence other than circumstantial. Had that been myself being charged with a crime, esp if it was one I didn't do, I damn sure hope that the burden of "beyond a reasonable doubt" would fall on the prosecution, and not the other way around. We are innocent until proven guilty in this country. PROVEN is key. The prosecution either failed due to lack of evidence or because she didn't do it. Either way, thank God we are afforded those rights and protections under our laws or we would have even more people being convicted of crimes they didn't commit. So far well over 200 innocent people have had their convictions overturned because new evidence (mostly DNA) proved them innocent. Whether I agree with the jury's decision or not, the bottom line is they could not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, and that means the system works. People like Nancy Grace have bastardized our justice system for popularity and ratings, which is indefensible in and of itself. Casey Anthony may have been a bad mom, a terrible mom, but that doesn't make a her a murderer and a lot of the nation bought into the "emotion" of this trial, (another reason cable news is terrible...they don't have to report it, they can create it, 24/7 if you like). Happy to report our jury system still works. And a question, how many of your friends that tweeted and Facebooked about it have tried every possible way to get out of jury duty....I'm sure most of them. It is our civic duty to serve, and if we opt out then someone else has to fill in.
Franklin:
First, thank you for your blog. I'm not a blogger, or a Facebooker, but I am an attorney. I feel an obligation to reply to your post.
I think the second "anonymous" comment raises some good points. Remember, you are innocent until PROVEN guilty in this country. The burden is on the State. It has been said that our system is designed to send 10 guilty people free before it sends 1 innocent man to prison. While it's not perfect, we can all agree that's better than the other way around.
I think the story of the Boston Massacre and John Adams' representation of the British soldiers and their Captain is worth revisiting here. We all know the history of the Massacre. 5 men were killed and nearly a dozen more wounded. As hard as it is to imagine, public outrage far exceeded what is is now for Casey Anthony. It far exceeded what it would be today for a suspected child molester who looked guilty.
There was a problem finding representation for the soldiers. Not surprisingly, it was looked at by attorneys as being a bad for business. There was no upside to taking the case.
John Adams, who would later become our second President, agreed to represent the soldiers and their Captain. He, one of our Founding Fathers, thought it was send the wrong signal if the soldiers were convicted without a fair trial. That was the kind of system he was revolting against. In the end, six of the soldiers were acquitted and there was understandable outrage from the public.
I find Adams' diary entry from a few years later very telling:
"The Part I took in Defence of Cptn. Preston and the Soldiers, procured me Anxiety, and Obloquy enough. It was, however, one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested Actions of my whole Life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country. Judgment of Death against those Soldiers would have been as foul a Stain upon this Country as the Executions of the Quakers or Witches, anciently. As the Evidence was, the Verdict of the Jury was exactly right.
"This however is no Reason why the Town should not call the Action of that Night a Massacre, nor is it any Argument in favour of the Governor or Minister, who caused them to be sent here. But it is the strongest Proofs of the Danger of Standing Armies."
It's applicable today. You and I both know that either Casey Anthony murdered her child, or that she knows exactly what happened to her. She should be in prison for the rest of her life, but she's not. The prosecution had a tough case when the cause of death could not be proven. Remember, 12 jurors, selected through a process involving the State and the Defense, agreed that there was not enough evidence to convict her of murder beyond a resonable doubt. It's as simple as that.
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