A lot of the punditocracy are totally outraged at the Casey Anthony verdict, which I could have predicted in the event of a Not Guilty verdict a lot easier than I could have predicted the verdict itself. A lot of the comments are so over the top they aren't really worthy of serious response. I'm halfway expecting Nancy Grace to call for the jurors to be investigated by child protective services on the grounds they would have to be unfit parents, grandparents, or even unfit to be in the same neighborhood as small children. Another extreme reaction might be to suggest they should have to hire Casey Anthony as a baby-sitter. Don't be surprised at anything you might hear over the course of the next few days.
But like it or lump it, it is what it is. Thanks to the arrogant attitude of the lead prosecutor in the case, his dismissive and at times even overtly derisive attitude towards the defense, no one was willing to listen to him objectively to start out with. Moreover, this was a typical case of judicial overreach. If the DA had been content to go for a second degree or a manslaughter charge, with maybe a secondary charge of abuse of a child, there is a very good chance Casey Anthony would be sitting in a prison for at least the next thirty years.
Granted, the jury could have found her guilty of those charges anyway, but the capitol murder charge sucked all the oxygen out of the room. That was the focus of the prosecution, and because of that, it became the focus of the jury. In other words, the jury did their job and followed the case the way it was presented to them. And unfortunately for the prosecution team, they came up short.
I would remind everybody of one other very important fact. These jurors lived, ate, and breathed this case. They were sequestered and had no outside contact with any views or reports pertaining to this case, and I suspect precious little of anything else. Because of this, they were focused on every single aspect of the case, and were up close and personal to the defendant and to both sides.
Translation-they saw the case uncut, unadulterated, and in its entirety. The rest of us saw it piecemeal through the eyes of a lynch mob media driven by ratings and the quest for advertising dollars. Because of this, they presented the most sensationalistic parts of the case, and the evidence, and I am of a mind that they did so in a good many cases out of context, possibly even out of all connection to reality.
Because of all of these things, Casey Anthony will be a free woman soon. Does that mean she is innocent. No, it just means the prosecution didn't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
It might be depressing, maddening, unfortunate, and even in a sense unjust-but the jury did the only thing they could do in their heart of hearts.
And frankly, I would take that any day over the show trials of the old Soviet Union, China, Cuba, or for that matter even over the relatively civilized and advanced system of Great Britain. There, the burden of proof isn't on the state or government. The burden of proof there is on the defense to prove their innocence.
That to me is a sobering thought. We are possibly the only country in the world-if there's another one I am not aware of it-where the burden of proof is on the state to prove their case. Our founding fathers made it that way purposely, in order to insure that a capricious or vengeful state could not single out political enemies for unjust prosecution, over any charge they might dream up.
Thus, as mad as you might be at the idea that a woman you are convinced is guilty is going to go free, you might want to take a deep breath and be grateful that our system made it so difficult, when the law is followed, for the state to throw her-or you, or me, or your family-in prison, or to death.
And again, bear in mind that a great deal of this trial, from the prosecution perspective, was political in its own right and media driven, which was doubtless the reason for the overreach. If this case had not drawn anymore than moderate regional attention, I can promise you it would have gone a lot differently, and would be very unlikely to have been tried as a capitol murder case. The result would probably have been a lot different as well.
As for what I think might have happened, I expounded my own theory here. Having followed the case to some extent since that post, I would have to amend certain parts of it, particularly the possible complicity, albeit innocently, of unknown parties. Otherwise, I stand by my theory as the most likely explanation for what happened to Caylee Anthony. It explains how she died, why there was no forensic evidence to speak of, and even explains why Casey acted in such a bizarre fashion in the immediate aftermath of the child's horrible, untimely and. yes, accidental demise.
And I would repeat, if the case had been investigated along these lines, and prosecuted that way, the chances are very good Casey Anthony would be in prison for a great deal of her life, perhaps up into her middle age, and maybe even beyond.
But hey-there's just something sexy about a capitol murder case, huh? It's a great way to pad your resume, sell a book or two, and maybe one day become a member of that most these days renowned of personages-the cable news network legal punditocracy.
