Casey Anthony Verdict: Why the Jury Did the Right Thing

Our justice system is based on the idea that it is better for ten guilty to go free than for one innocent to suffer. That's why it isn't easy to convict someone even if it seems "obvious" they are guilty-or rather, it should not be.  Once convicted, even proof of actual innocence can't always free the innocent. And despite all the checks on our system, there are tens of thousands of innocent people in prison.  The looser the requirements to convict, the more innocent people go to prison (or are executed).  That's why it's GOOD that our system demands a certain level of proof before convicting people of serious crimes.

As to the Casey Anthony verdict, the jury did not find her "innocent."  They found her Not Guilty (by law). And they did so because there was a) no cause of death presented by the medical examiner, meaning, the state medical examiner could NOT rule out accidental death; b) no evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, that linked Casey to a murder weapon (i.e., evidence she bought ingredients to make chloroform, evidence she made chloroform); c) no connection between Casey and the body (the state perhaps effectively proved the odor of decomp was in the car; they did not prove beyond doubt it was Caylee); and d) in lieu of all the missing pieces, they didn't present evidence that Casey would like to be rid of Caylee or had any motive (as horrific as Casey's behavior, it does not prove she wanted Caylee dead prior to her death).

Many people compare this case with the O.J. case.  Except for the large viewing audience, I see no comparison. O.J. was a popular celebrity, an African-American man on trial in an atmosphere of racial tensions and recent rioting. In the O.J. case, there was PLENTY of evidence.  An embarrassment of riches, as they say.  His DNA (blood) was at the crime scene, a bloody glove with his Nicole's blood (and Ron Goldman's blood) was found at his
house, he had a cut on his hand. He fled from the police with his passport and a large sum of cash in his car. He had a history of beating up Nicole, and she had a history of calling 9-1-1 and reporting it.  He had a clear motive.  She left him and he wanted her back. When she made it clear she wasn't going back that time, he, like many other abusive controlling spouses before him, made sure no one else was going to have her.
It's unheard of to have that much evidence in a murder case. And that was a clear case of jury nullification. The jury members were charmed by O.J. and did not want to send him to prison.  In the Casey Anthony case, people are likely to want to punish someone for the death of a child. I think jurors no doubt WANTED to be able to convict her but couldn't.

 Did she do something, whether murder her daughter or cause her death by neglect or cover up an accident? One of those scenarios seems probable. But I still couldn't say which one I thought it was. While the most casual observer can see that Casey Anthony is cold, narcissistic and perhaps truly evil, the exact nature of the crime she committed unfortunately was not proven.

When you have no official cause of death, no murder weapon, no timeline, no evidence circumstantial or otherwise as to how she did it, no motive beyond conjecture, I'm not sure a jury can say guilty AMD follow the law and keep their sworn oath.

There are cases where people are convicted without a body having been found.  There are cases like this one where the corpse has decomposed to the point that no cause of death can be known, and the killer is convicted.  But those cases are the exception.  They tend
to have a lot more evidence than this case does. With no cause of death and no evidence (physical or circumstantial) linking Casey to the actual body, this case was a long shot.  If it hadn't been covered to such an extent in the media, the verdict would have been no surprise.

People are upset because they believe they "know" Casey Anthony is guilty of murder--and I'm not saying she isn't.  What I am saying is, the evidence in this case was lousy. And it turns out that the prosecution was aware before the trial began that there were NOT 86
searches for chloroform, but only one, and never turned that info over the defense. The prosecution is required to turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defense and not doing so is a serious violation.  IF Casey Anthony had been convicted, she would have been granted a new trial.  Judge Perry might even have done so immediately.  This would have been equally devastating for all, if not worse.

When you follow as many wrongfully convicted criminal cases as I do, it's a relief to see a jury make a ruling not on emotion but on evidence. This verdict actually gave me hope there will be less wrongful convictions in the future. The fact that jurors are having to quit their jobs and go into hiding due to death threats is a whole new tragedy. I think it must have been truly hard and painful to do the right thing here. I do believe however that that's what these 12 did.