UPDATE @ 3:30 p.m. below
I have to admit that I’m surprised jurors found Casey Anthony not guilty of her daughter’s death today. They only deliberated about 10 hours. This after 33 days of testimony that I found both compelling and bizarre.
I know that I’m not privy to everything the jurors were told to do in this case, and what they were allowed to consider, and what they were told to throw out because of technicalities…but someone killed that little girl. The duct tape evidence presented during the trial proved that. Just not who put it around her nose and mouth. That was left for speculation.
Someone got away with murder today. Was it Casey? Or, was it her father and mother? Or, a combination of the three? The mother was caught lying about using the home computer to search for chloroform. The state proved she was at work on her computer at the time those searches were made. So they know she lied to cover something up. Is the mother going to be tried for lying to the police like her daughter is? And how about dad? How many lies did he tell?
I can’t wait to see how many years (?) Casey Anthony is sentenced to. I have a sick feeling she’s not going to do one more day behind bars because she’ll be credited for time served awaiting the trail. By the weekend, I expect to hear all about Casey’s celebratory tour of local bars and strip clubs.
There was no justice today for little Caylee Anthony. It reminds me of another sensational trial back in the day – O.J.s Simpson’s – where justice was mocked and subverted by clever lawyers employing every trick in the book to save his life. Yes, some karma has hit O.J. and he’s in jail right now for a lesser offense, but it doesn’t change the fact he got away with murder.
As for Casey Anthony and her parents…the way I look at it is they have to live with their shared dark knowledge until the day they die. They know why the duct tape was put there. They know she didn’t accidently drown. So, perhaps justice has been served, just in a more oblique way.
UPDATE: Internet explodes over Anthony verdict
I’ve been reviewing the case since the “not guilty” verdict was handed down this morning. Some more thoughts; it was the State who failed little Caylee Anthony.
Why? Because they reached too far. They went for Murder One and the death penalty rather than take the safer conviction route of manslaughter which would have been easier to prove in a circumstantial case like this. The real pity resulting from this miscalculation is that Casey Anthony can’t be retried – it’s called “double jeopardy,” and prevents the accused from ever being tried for the same crime again.
If you’re outraged that Casey got off because of the State’s stupidity, I agree with you. If this case would have been handled more professionally (by all concerned) from the very beginning we might not even be having this conversation. The jury would have convicted her.
I can’t go so far as to say our system worked perfectly in this trial. Too many troubling aspects and wild stories later proven to be false that the defense threw out against the wall and hoped would stick. True or not. The judge and the jury knew this dysfunctional family all lied to authorities at one time or the other. Their guilt came out in the course of 33 days of multiple testimonies.
Yet, knowing the family was obviously obstructing justice (they were recorded lying) the jury still took their side. Casey’s side. What happened to common sense? When someone lies in a murder trial they’re doing it for a reason. Why did Casey run the police around in the first place? She was hiding something. Not an accidental drowning because there’s not one iota of evidence to that possibility.
The duct tape evidence was a smoking gun – you don’t tape up someone’s nose and mouth and expect them to live and you sure don’t duct tape up a dead body – so why was it there? The defense never provided a believable reason why the duct tape was wrapped around that poor child’s skull…instead they said she drown accidently.
Forget about that duct tape. The problem is I can’t forget about the duct tape. Someone put it there for a reason. No matter what it was, it was wrong. I have a four-year-old granddaughter and perhaps that’s why I’ve been following this damn case…hoping little Caylee’s murderer is brought to justice so I can believe our system works.
The idea that Casey Anthony is now going to forever be a celebrity – and probably will make a lot of money because of this terrible case sickens me. I think about her “happy tattoo” that she had done while Casey was missing and my common sense tells me she could care less about that baby. How could any mother react like she has? And how can Casey Anthony get away with murder? I blame the state in this case, but I also have to question our justice system. Who is it really slanted for? The victim? Or the murderer? You tell me.
Finally, who believes justice was done? I certainly don’t.