Casey Anthony’s not guilty verdict
As the entire world is buzzing (and raging) about, Casey Anthony was acquitted today of first-degree murder, manslaughter, and child abuse in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. (She was convicted of four counts of giving false statements to police.)
People all over Twitter and the blogosphere have been heaping all sorts of profanity and abuse on Casey, her defense team, and the jury in the midst of today’s verdict. I’m not going to name any names, but various people have said that the jury reached their verdict merely to get out as soon as possible, that people no longer consider murder a serious problem anymore, and that Casey will be free to live the “bella vita” (as the tattoo that she got after Caylee’s disappearance says). There has also been endless criticism of the fact that Casey smiled and embraced her lawyers after the verdict and that Baez went to a bar to celebrate.
These people fail to realize that perhaps the jury acquitted Anthony because they truly weren’t convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that she committed murder.
When Casey is released from jail, which could be as early as Thursday, depending on what sentence the judge chooses for the false statement charges, she won’t be living the “bella vita.” She will no doubt find it extremely difficult to find a job, even her parents aren’t particularly supportive of her, and she’ll remain perhaps the most hated woman in the world.
As for Baez and the defense team, there is nothing wrong with them being happy. For three years, the media has reveled in every lie Casey told, every photo of her “partying,” and every piece of evidence seeming to show her guilt. Baez has been ridiculed as stupid and inexperienced, and the judge even banned him from mentioning his theory that Casey had covered up Caylee’s accidental death partly because of childhood sexual abuse. Someone who triumphed over such immense adversity, and against so many people’s expectations and wishes, is the ultimate underdog and has every right to celebrate. If prosecutors can go drinking to celebrate sending someone to jail, a defense attorney can do the same to celebrate winning a client’s freedom.
Given that the jury came back in less than 11 hours, I was surprised at the verdict. But the trial of Casey Anthony has demonstrated the American legal system working as it should.
ETA: Here are some of my favorite editorials I’ve read about the Anthony verdict:
- Jeffrey Shapiro: Casey Anthony Verdict a Victory for the Constitution
- Debbie Hines: Casey Anthony Verdict: A Fair and Just Verdict?
- Mario Salazar: Casey Anthony not guilty. Why?
- Alan Dershowitz: Casey Anthony – The System Worked
- Paul LaRosa: DSK and Casey Anthony: Is This Justice? Actually, Yes
- Lowering the Bar: Number of Americans Demanding Unconstitutional “Caylee’s Law” Increasing All the Time
- Elie Mystal: Casey Anthony: The Sentence
- Paul Campos: DSK, Casey Anthony and the price of justice
- Dan Small: Judicial system acquitted in Casey Anthony case
- Jeffrey Toobin: Prosecutors’ rash moves backfire in Anthony, Strauss-Kahn cases
- Clarence Page: Sometimes justice is hard to take