Consider me learned. Still, I'm not surprised by the outcome of the verdict for the first-degree murder, at least, which is what I think most people around the country were interested in. It's all I heard about on the news anyway.
Yeah, that charge certainly did dominate the headlines. Not having watched much of the trial I was a little surprised initially that she was acquitted on all the serious charges. Having read more about what evidence was presented, I'm less surprised. It's got to be tough to be a juror on a case like that. You're no longer watching a TV drama, and no matter how much I might dislike a defendant, I'd be really worried about convicting someone for something they didn't do. Has to be a lot of pressure associated with that. Even though I think it is more likely than not that she had something to do with it, I'm not sure I'd have reached a different verdict than the jury if I were sitting on it.
As someone who really doesn't know much about the case, but knows quite a lot about the law and justice systems in general, I'd point out what people have already said: the jury have largely been kept out of the media storm surrounding this trial. Therefore they have a different view of the facts. I'd suggest that they see it more clearly, because by all accounts the media coverage has been rather emotive. In their bubble, they could analyse the relative merits of the prosecution and defence cases, and make a decision based upon that.
The penalty phase is separate, and comes after the conviction. Whether the death penalty is on the table therefore should not affect the verdict, because even a single resolute juror can prevent the death penalty from being imposed. No, the failure to convict on the murder charge was apparently because the prosecution did not make its case sufficiently for conviction beyond reasonable doubt. I don't even think the defense argument was that musch of a factor. It was an absurd, unbelievable scenario in light of the facts. But there were major holes in the prosecution's argument as well, including no strong ties between the defendant and the alleged cause of death.
I think the biggest problem with the media attention this got was how quick they were to condemn based on nothing but a bit of suspicious behaviour. Well, that and overexposure. There was a long time when every tabloid had "Caylee's mom guilty" style headlines, including at least one or two that said that verbatim. Nancy Grace seems to have made her career about slamming Casey Anthony. I remember in September, 2009, I went down to the States with my dad and for some reason he tuned into her show every night. I caught sizable chunks of 5 episodes, and each one she harped on about partying after the death and failing some polygraph test. In fact, one of those episodes featured an interview with Casey, if I recall correctly, where it devolved into Nancy shouting about Casey failing that polygraph test. It was disgusting. All the while I kept wondering why this mattered, polygraph tests are notoriously unreliable...then I found out Nancy Grace was a prosecutor, so she would have known this. She invited this woman on her show to berate her with evidence that laypeople might find convincing but means nothing at all. The whole thing sickens me, and if she really is guilty, there should have been some hard evidence against her. The fact that so much attention was on this case and yet no hard evidence was found makes it doubly hard to believe she really did it.
Nancy Grace is a sick woman who couldn't even behave ethically when she was an attorney. You have to wonder about her audience.
I WAS NOT PLEASED with how the verdict ended up "NOT GUILTY" If someone doesnt report their child missing for that darn long and Was throwing a party after, instead of sitting in grief about her lost beautiful baby girl, should be sentenced to death, The first thing I would've done is contact the police that my child was missing, and I WOULD NOT throw a party. Not whilst my child was dead. That there alone tells me she either had something to do with the murder of her baby girl, or she did it herself. Makes me so sick to my stomach that a mother could do that to her child. So sick. so sick..
She berated one mother with a missing child so much that the mother later committed suicide. There was no real evidence as to what happened to the missing child. Nancy Grace, of course, felt that the suicide was further evidence that the mother felt guilty for being involved in the disappearance of her own child. Forget the name of the woman, but the family did try to sue. Unfortunately, all's fair in those crazy shows. People should know better than to sign their waivers and assume that questions will be fair and balanced.
No offense but that is just so wrong on way to many levels. First off we should NEVER sentence a person to death because of something like that. This makes her a bad mother and nothing more. Yet you want us to be able to condemn someone to an appointment with old sparky/Mr. Needle because of it? If such actions were implemented I fear for the future. Her going out to party isn't illegal. Whether the kid is dead, missing, or whatever. It's not proof of any criminal actions. Now not reporting her baby is missing should have some punishment. Fine. But death sentence? It's amazing. Simply amazing how many people just love the idea of taking another persons life. Especially when no concrete evidence was presented. It's actually really disturbing.
I feel this case, along with the O.J. Simpson trial, is proof that the media should not be allowed to become involved with the judicial system. They shouldn't allow cameras into the courtrooms. The media sits there and gets the public so fired up because they try to dramaticize every little detail just to get more ratings. They can practically flat out lie, tarnish a person's reputation, and get away with it. If a person enraged by the media were to harm Casey Anthony they should hold the media responsible. On another note, Casey Anthony still has a civil lawsuit to go through with the woman she claimed babysat her daughter. The lady is suing her for defamation. I also heard on the news this morning that a company (forgot the name) that helped to search for Casey's daughter may sue her. They haven't decided yet, but it is an option they could take in the future. The company, which is run by volunteers, plans to sue her for the time and money spent searching for her daughter when Casey knowingly lied to them about her daughter being missing when in fact she knew her daughter was dead. No, that makes her a deranged person. Her behavior may not warrant the death penalty, but she shouldn't be allow to raise/have kids again. Ever. Seriously, if a person goes for that long without reporting their kid missing while partying, they have issues.
Barring the media from discussing matters is not the answer. And they don't have to be present in the court room to do all of the things mentioned above. A judge can keep the cameras out of the actual court room if she wants to.
That Being Said. One of the Wrongful information to Law Enforcement official was including the Not Calling 911 or what not. My View: Show me the Evidence and I will say guilty. No Evidence=Not guilty! And Believe me the Prosecution had very little evidence.
Anyone think there is another person in the entire state of Florida serving four years for lying to police? I doubt it. Sounds like the judge let emotion get the best of him.
Caylee was missing for a month before it was reported. Casey never reported her missing. Cindy (Casey's mother, Caylee's grandmother) tracked her down after Casey's car was found abandoned, towed, and given back to the family and demanded to know where Caylee was. Casey told her that "the babysitter stole her" and Cindy immediately called 911 and reported her missing.
Based on what she was actually convicted of, she should be out already. We may not like the jury verdict, but it is the verdict and that's what the sentence should reflect. Lying to investigators shouldn't even be a crime to begin with, but that's another thread
I agree, but the media should be limited on what they can do. The media has dramatized every little stupid detail and helped to blow things out of proportion. The media should be reporting things in a more neutral tone rather than the yellow journalism they employ. I mean, good grief, when a news caster starts talking about how Casey Anthony is wearing her hair they are failing at their job. But the circus this case has become isn't entirely the media's fault. Casey's defense attorney seemed more concerned with throwing slanderous remarks around at her parents and the prosecutor than he did about actually defending her.
I agree that the media should do these things, but I don't think they should be forced to do them by the government. That opens a dangerous door. Also, don't forget that the prosecution engaged in just as much character assassination and sensationalism as the defense. Maybe more.
And just who created the demand for the media frenzy? People love to blame the media for everything from crooked politicians to bad breath. They forget that "the media" exists for one purpose and one purpose, only - to sell soap. The more people buy, or access, or use, or view, or listen to "media", the more soap they are going to sell. So they print, broadcast or post what people will buy, and what they tend to buy is media frenzy. Today the dancing killer mom, yesterday the horny world banker. Bon appetite!
Not a couple of weeks. Six more days. The judge gave her the statutory maximum for the charges she was convicted on, but with time served taken into account, she will be released next Wednesday. I suspect she will be socially shummed, and may find it hard to get a job. But then I heard a rumor that she might get a reality show. I hope not. I sure as hell won't watch it if she does.
If anyone's interested, there is a big movement to enact something called "Caylee's Law," which would make it a federal offense for parents to not file a missing child report within a certain time frame. Regardless on your views on the case, it's hard to say that that wouldn't be a good idea. And maybe Caylee's death would bring about some sort of positive change, even if no one is being held responsible (legally, at least) for her death. The link I am posting takes you to the petition on change.org. Click here. I know that offsite links are discouraged, but seeing as people have offsite links to their blogs and personal websites all over the place in their signatures, I feel like it is okay to post the link.
The woman was accused (and many believe guilty) of murdering her daughter, and she might get a TV show or book deal. Absolutely horrifying.
