A lot of people are up in arms over the verdict announced the day after Independence Day that Casey Anthony is not guilty on the charge of 1st degree murder.
So many Americans - and almost every media outlet - has declared Casey guilty for quite some time now, so their anger and disbelief does not come as much of a surprise. However, I am going to take a minority approach and say that the jury made the right call.
First off, let me remind you that in our court system, a person must be found guilty of the charges levied against them beyond a reasonable doubt. That means it is the burden of the prosecution to provide evidence and arguments for their case that is irrefutable and, frankly, that didn't happen with this trial.
The two pieces that were missing to have a conviction were the method of the murder and the motive of the murderer.
The prosecution said the motive for Casey to kill her daughter was to allow her to live the "Bella Vita" or beautiful life of partying and clubbing, evidenced by her partying spree following Caylee's death. I am with the jury on this one is believing that this is pretty weak. Casey would have to be pretty shallow and egotistical to KILL her daughter just so she can party. This was evidenced pretty poorly because the prosecution showed Casey and Caylee in home video of a typical mother and child bonding, playing and showing affection. To this point, the prosecution failed.
To the point of method, the prosecution created the story that Casey drugged her child with chloroform, straggled her by covering her mouth with duct tape, stuffing her body in a trash bag, and dumping the body in a nearby swamp. The issue with this evidence was that is was circumstantial and could not be tied together beyond a reasonable doubt.
Take the chloroform, for instance. The prosecution thought Casey used this because there were 80-some searches for it on the internet from her residence. However, Casey's mother testified that she had looked it up, not Casey, because she feared her daughter was drugging Caylee with it. Regardless of whether Casey was using chloroform, the argument for it's use in Caylee's death is shot.
So let me clarify my thoughts on this trial in a brief summary. Casey Anthony may very well have killed her daughter, which is a terrible travesty and at the end of the day no matter what the verdict, a child is dead and no one should rejoice about that. I think Casey got acquitted because of bad prosecution, a drawn-out trial, over-informed jurors, and an over-reached conviction. Regardless of what you personally thought concerning Casey's innocence or guilt I think we as Americans should reflect on our system and appreciate that we would rather see a thousand guilty people walk than one innocent person be penalized. We don't live in a perfect world or a perfect society, but our system is appropriate and as close to perfection as we have seen on this earth.
I am so happy to see that i'm not the only level headed person who thinks this. My in-laws treated me like I was the Anti-Christ when I stated my opinion that there was enough reasonable doubt to not convict her.
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe she had much more to do with it and knows much more than she says. I do think she is at-least indirectly responsible for the death of her daughter if not more so. As of now though there is no proof of it.