For those of you who haven't been following the Casey Anthony trial, take a moment to catch up on it (NYTimes, Wikipedia, and the Associated Press).According to Nancy Grace, "The devil is dancing tonight."
Long story short, the judge was only able to sentence Ms. Anthony to the 4-year maximum and fine her $4,000. Due to time already served, she'll be out on the street in less than a week.
What do you think? Has the CSI effect decimated our chances at convicting those who are clearly guilty? Has the burden of proof to convince a jury become too high? What role does a defendant's race play in media coverage and jury convictions/acquittals?
What should be done? What, if anything, can even be done?
Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Photo by myeye
Marcia Clark (prosecutor in the OJ Simpson case) wrote a great article in response to the trial. She noted a fascinating difference between reasonable doubt and reason to doubt. "A reason does not equal reasonable."
ReplyDeleteLogically speaking, the prosecution had no solid evidence thus making those unwarranted assumption that she's guilty is #logicfail
ReplyDeleteJust as a disclaimer, yes I do think she did it. However, there is not enough evidence to prove it...
"Well she obviously did it but there isnt enough evidence to prove it" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? If you think she did it, then there must have been some evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, right? Even if for one minute you believe her that she didn't kill her child, why would she not report her death if it was her so-called sexually abusive father who she apparently hated so much? Or the other ridiculous story - who sees their own child dead in a pool and says to their parents, "Hey don't call 911 or try CPR, I'll put duct tape on her mouth and dump her in the swamp. And if the police find her, I'll tell several insane stories about a babysitter but I will eventually get to this pool moment in court somewhere half way through the trial so be prepared for me to throw in sexual molestation too. But until then I will cover for you father, my molester, so please go get some duct tape, actually wait I bought some around the time that I googled - "ways to break someones neck or kill someone." Bye, I'm off now to go dump the body, tattoo my arm with "bella vita" and party like a rock star. I will get off no matter what because people have watched so much Law and Order that tons of circumstantial evidence means nothing to them." They really need an actual eye witness or a videotape of a crime in order to charge someone nowadays and even then it's questionable because people are so damn stupid or sympathetic to the defendant.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I gather, guilty verdicts have been reached on the basis of circumstantial evidence. One such case is the trial of Scott Peterson, murderer of Laci and their unborn son. He's now on death row.
ReplyDeleteI wonder of there was more evidence presented in that case than in this one...but even then, in the absence of a "smoking gun", you'll never come up with 100% certainty, no matter how much indirect evidence you have.
I guess I'm baffled as to why in some cases, the indirect evidence is sufficient to reach a guilty verdict.
Jason
there never is 100% certainty and all thats required is" beyond reasonable doubt."
ReplyDeleteThis case was doomed from the start of Jury Selection. Just the fact of all the media attention given leading up to the trial.
ReplyDeleteThe jury that was finally selected, did an excellent job of NOT believing what the talking heads were saying and just evaluating what the State attempted to prove. It shows that the system works (in some cases); Reasonable Doubt does not equal conviction.
Do I think she did it? Based on what was presented, no. I would have sided with the jury as well.
After you cancel out all of the experts, the grandmother's testimony about conducting the chloroform searches, all that seems to be left is (a) Casey Anthony's actions and(b) the father's (George Anthony)actions, suicide attempt/note and his confesssion to mistress regarding an "accident" that went out of control. Given this, both scenarios presented by the prosecution and defense are plausible...therefore reasonable doubt.
ReplyDeleteDo I think she did it? I don't know. I don't think she's blameless given her actions, but what I don't understand is the father's suicide attempt and its something that shouldn't be ignored. Part of me believes that she did it, but the other part nags at me b/c this family seems so screwed up that anything is possible -- even molestation, the child drowning in a pool and a father threatening his daughter to cover it up.
From the beginning this case reminded me of the OJ Simpson trial. Yesterday I was just telling my daughter about what I saw on the internet, I saw a picture of Ms Casey Anthony, omg! she looked guilty as sin like she was saying I got by with this murder and there is nothing u can do about it! I could see it in her eyes in the picture it almost sent shivers up my spine. But, anyway the jury found her not guilty of killing her daughter.
ReplyDeletewhy should we care? there are MUCH more important things going on in this world than a guilty bitch being aquitted. this is happening multiple times a day in the system, in addition to people being wrongly convicted all the time. I'm certain that the latter is much worse.
ReplyDeletethe media tells you what to be concerned about, don't fall for it.
This bastard woman killed that baby and no one will ever be able to convince me otherwise. The prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was guilty and had little physical evidence to tie her to the murder. The child goes missing for a month and she makes no attempt to find her. In addition, cadaver dogs pick up the scent of human decay in the trunk of her car. I don't know how the jury can sleep at night and had I been there it would have been hung because there is no way I could participate in this woman's acquittal. I know most of the evidence is circumstantial but whatever happened to common sense?
ReplyDelete"Not guilty" doesn't mean innocent. I don't think the jurors were convinced of Ms. Anthony's innocence. However, based on the evidence - or their understanding of the evidence- they weren't convinced of her guilt. Perhaps we should adopt a verdict available to courts in Scotland; "not proven." On the other hand, perhaps they didn't understand the role of circumstantial evidence.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/judge-h-lee-sarokin/casey-anthony-jury_b_898550.html
There was always something about her father that bugged me. He definitely helped the prosecution in trying to convict his daughter and punishment could've been death penalty, all the while to media and to Casey proclaiming her innocence and that it was an accident. Doesn't sit well with me. When he attempted suicide, that was something I felt was out of fear, and wanting attention. This family definitely had issues. People want to say that's not how a mother or normal person would act. Even though I agree, waking up and your father blames you for the death of your daughter and he is am excop telling you everything is okay? I would have called emergency services right away but than again I was not repeatedly raped by my own father. And even though I believe she acted out of her own selfish reasons to not call police I can see why she operates the way she does. And it was neglectful, on her part but if what she says is true and there is a connection and proof to what she is saying, I think we should atleast find out if her father, who has manipulated and carried an affair while looking for caylee with one of the volunteers? Are we making excuses for his behavior? He stole money from his own wife, lied all the time, and was caught several times cheating
ReplyDelete