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Wednesday, July 6. 2011

Not Guilty By Reason of the Law

It’s always amazing to see the reaction of my fellow citizens when a jury returns a “Not Guilty” verdict. Tuesday Morning (July 5, 2011) the jury trying the case against Casey Anthony returned not guilty verdicts on all but the misdemeanor charges: giving false evidence to law enforcement.

This is a sad story; a two-year old girl, Caylee Anthony, died three years ago under mysterious circumstances. Casey Anthony is the mother. She didn’t report her daughter missing for over 30 days and there was an odd odor in the trunk of her car. Oh, and she went out dancing and partying after her daughter disappeared.

Here’s one thing that always bothers me about the prosecution’s case when they are trying someone for murder: they almost always bring up behavior not the least bit connected to the case, like Casey Anthony going out dancing while her daughter was still missing. Yeah, it doesn’t show the defendant in a good light, but really, how does that prove anything?

What it asks the jury to do, and by extension, the public, is convict someone on the idea — the feeling — that only a guilty person would act this way. Especially if the prosecution has only circumstantial evidence. And in the Anthony case that was really weak circumstantial evidence.

The prosecution couldn’t prove how the child died, didn’t have any evidence linking Casey Anthony to her daughter’s death, couldn’t even prove if the duct tape found with the body had even been used to kill the child. The prosecution really couldn’t prove anything, other than Casey Anthony lied to the police.

The reactions of people on the Internet, especially Facebook, are predictable. The jury was comprised of 12 stupid people. The dirty defense lawyers used dirty tricks to get Casey Anthony off the hook. Everyone was so sure the defendant was guilty the nation was waiting for the inevitable guilty verdict and then the sentence of death. Well, not everyone. The twelve jurors (and their alternates it turns out) felt differently.

If there is a flaw in our legal system, it’s that the media can and does start reporting on a case right from the beginning and the police and district attorneys will start leaking information to the media in an effort to sway public opinion against their chosen defendant.

The news organizations do what they do. They get a news sensation that captures the imagination of the public and boom — it explodes across every TV screen and captures the cover of every magazine looking to sell more issues. It’s news! Seriously, they have to cover it. Can you imagine the editorial staff that says, “We’re not going to cover this extremely popular story because everyone else is.”?

That’s professional suicide.

So, in the course of their coverage, the news organizations get “experts” who will confirm what the public wants to hear, in most cases, and certainly in the Anthony case. Like for instance: the “evidence” about Casey Anthony going out with her friends in that period between when her daughter went missing and the time little Caylee was reported missing. Read any blog, any message board any social media outlet like Facebook, and every reference and every snide comment is about or based on Casey Anthony going out while her child was missing.

For just about everyone who followed this case, that was reason enough to give Casey Anthony the death penalty. It was all the “proof” anyone needed to convict Anthony. And the prosecution knew that which is why they made a big deal out of it.

In a case like the Anthony trial, swaying public opinion is very important. The prosecution knows it cannot depend on facts to win their case, but if they can whip up condemnation in the public, thereby tainting the prospective jury pool, that makes a trial almost a moot point.

Then, after the jury selection and the trial is under way, the “experts” come out on TV. Trial lawyers, prosecuting attorneys, retired and otherwise, some who are prosecutors-turned-defense attorneys, famous defense attorneys from other high profile cases, former F.B.I. profilers, DNA experts, forensics experts, coroners, you name it, if someone has some kind of background even remotely related to whatever case has captured the public, they will get ink and air time. And let’s not forget, they get paid to give us their opinions.

We’ll get forensic psychologists who will tell us the mindset of someone who goes out dancing while their child is missing. We’ll listen to forensic experts tell us what a certain bug means in relation to dead flesh, we’ll get another expert to tell us how a piece of duct tape could be used to suffocate a two-year old child; and then we get the attorneys, prosecutors and defense alike, who rate the day’s evidence and testimony — and in this case the defense attorney’s skill and judgment.

Which side won the day in court? Defense or prosecution? The experts would analyze all the days’ proceedings, take note of the judge’s demeanor, note once again Casey Anthony’s stoic posture … and then we would be confused as to what it all meant. I mean, she’s guilty, right?

There was the constant mention of Casey Anthony’s demeanor in the courtroom, dubbed by many as emotionless. But twice I saw video of her turning away from evidence and crying during testimony.

As part of their instructions to their clients, defense attorneys tell them better to look stoic than have an emotional outburst that makes you look bad to the jury.

All this went into the day-by-day coverage of the Anthony trial, “experts” telling us who won the day’s proceedings. And always, always, what did it mean for Anthony’s guilt or innocence. The conclusions from these “experts” ranged from “most likely” to a “slam-dunk” guilty verdict.

But the jury didn’t hear and see all this from the “experts,” or hear the opinions of radio talk show hosts, all of whom were so certain Casey Anthony is guilty. Hell, the rest of the American public was convinced!

The jury didn’t hear any of that, didn’t see any of that. The seven women and five men just went by the evidence and testimony and in less than 12 hours their verdict was clear: not guilty.

This is the funny part. After the verdict was read all those experts, who admitted to being surprised by the jury’s decision, started poking holes in the prosecution’s case, including the very important fact that the prosecution had no evidence whatsoever connecting Casey Anthony to Caylee’s death. The prosecution couldn’t even prove how the little girl died. In other words, the state couldn’t prove a crime was committed.

So the jury decided they couldn’t send a woman to prison, let alone death row, without evidence of a crime, let alone evidence connecting the defendant to the unproven crime.

Maybe we’ll never know what happened to Caylee Anthony, although now the public is making predictions about TV movies and books concerning the case, with Casey Anthony reaping huge pay checks. I expect everyone connected to the case, even slightly, will cash in on this case and the verdict somehow.

That kook from CNN’s Headline News, Nancy Grace, has been cashing in on this case for three years. Her verdict of the verdict? “… As the defense sits by and has their champagne toast after the not-guilty verdict, somewhere out there the devil is dancing tonight.” Oh please! She just flat out said, on the air, that at the moment she, Nancy Grace, was speaking, the defense team was celebrating their victory with champagne. Talk about hubris!

But watching video of the crowd gathered outside of the courtroom, after the verdict was read, was really disturbing. No one could really say why Casey Anthony is guilty, all they knew was a little girl is dead. “What about the little girl,” one woman asked as she wept.

And that’s the center of everyone’s interest and maybe even concern. This little girl, who would be five today, is gone. Is Casey Anthony responsible? Hard to say, she is the mother and let’s face it, she let the disappearance of her daughter go unreported for 31 days. But that isn’t evidence a crime was committed.

That’s what’s so disturbing. People are so willing — eager even — to have someone put to death for something so tragic as this little girl’s death, but the mob doesn’t care whether the defendant is actually guilty, or if the prosecution proves their case. The mob wants blood.

In 2000 former Illinois Governor George Ryan put a moratorium on death penalties and eventually commuted the sentences of all those on death row. His reason being that the death penalty couldn’t be applied with equal justice and too many innocent people were being put to death for crimes they didn’t commit.

Since then state and federal studies have shown that as many as 13% of the people on death row are innocent of the charges that put them there. Hundreds of people convicted of capital crimes have had their convictions and sentences overturned on appeal due to new evidence, most especially DNA evidence.

That’s what makes the mob mentality so scary. It sends innocent people to death along with the guilty. So, it’s sad a little girl is dead, especially after watching the home videos. But I’m glad the jury returned the verdicts of not guilty. As Thomas Jefferson said of our legal system: “I rather let 10 guilty men go free than put one innocent man in jail.” Or one innocent woman.

Posted by Tim Forkes in Media Madness at 12:01 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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