Quick to judge, quick to anger

Slow to Understand

Ignorance and prejudice

And Fear walk hand in hand..

-Rush – Witch Hunt

The Casey Anthony trial and subsequent verdict sparked quite a bit of emotional outrage as is evidenced by many of the posts I’ve seen both in my Twitter and Facebook feeds. “How on earth could a woman that even her own family suspected of murdering her innocent child be set free?” “Is our justice system truly that messed up? ” “How blind IS lady justice after all??” ” And the jury?? How dumb are they? They should be shunned, nay, FLAYED. Hell kill them all!”

This may be difficult for some folks to stomach, but the cold hard fact is, the verdict was exactly what it should have been based on the evidence, or lack there of, as was presented by the prosecution.

Speculation, circumstantial evidence and hearsay are not enough to convict anyone in this country, and unfortunately, that is all that prosecutors had to work with.  The fact is, they didn’t have any proof whatsoever that Caylee was murdered, let alone who did it. All they had was a whole lot of speculation, circumstantial evidence, public outrage and a media looking for a bloody headline to deliver to their insatiable audience.

Anyone who sits on a jury cannot be swayed by public demand or even their own personal emotional reactions to the evidence and testimony. Jurors have to be objective. The only thing the prosecution could prove, beyond a reasonable  doubt, was that Caylee Anthony was dead and  that Casey Anthony lied to the police.

Anyone remember elementary school history class – specifically, The Salem Witch trials?? Anyone?? Back in those days you didn’t need proof to have someone burned at the stake. All you need was an accuser. And if you think something like that can’t happen in modern times… try the McCarthy era. Anyone even remotely suspected of being a communist back then was put on trial and more often than not, considered guilty before they could plead their case.

The law specifically states that a person charged with a capital crime, such as murder, must be proven guilty – BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.  It is the burden of the prosecution to provide the proof. In the case of Casey Anthony, they didn’t. The only proof they had was that a child was dead, and the victim’s mother didn’t seem to care.

The fact that Casey Anthony was out partying and getting tattooed may stand to prove her to be a heartless bitch. What it doesn’t prove is that she had any hand in her daughter’s death.  And while everyone who knows Casey Anthony was all but screaming from the rooftops that she was a pathological liar who didn’t give a shit about her child, not a one of them could claim to witness her abusing her child, let alone murdering her.

The fact that Casey Anthony’s brother, mother and father all seemed to think she did it doesn’t matter. The fact that the whole damned country seems to think she did it, doesn’t matter. What matters is that there was no proof a murder was committed, no time of death and not one witness to corroborate any of the prosecution’s theories.  What matters is, that in the eyes of the jury, there were two, if not three, other people with access to that child who could have committed the crime, if indeed it was a crime and not an accident as was presented by the defense.

Now,  you may ask, what kind of a shitty system do we have that would allow an accused child killer go free? Well, actually, we all should be grateful for the system we have. The system was created to protect those falsely accused. And while it isn’t perfect, and does allow for genuine criminals to occasionally walk free, it is certainly preferable to a system where there is no burden placed on the prosecution to prove the accused guilty at all.

Take for example the case of Amanda Knox, a 24 year old American girl, studying in Italy, accused, and despite any evidence, in fact despite proof that she wasn’t involved at all, convicted of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher.  The facts of the case are dizzying. There was no proof that Ms. Knox was anywhere near the scene of the crime when it took place. As a matter of fact, she had an alibi. She was at her boyfriend’s apartment – (computer activity proved that at least one of them was definitely at his apartement any case, and yet they were both convicted).  Additionally, the actual perpetrator of the murder, a petty thief named Rudy Guede, whose footprints, fingerprints and DNA were all over the crime scene,  was also convicted of the crime.

The only proof of Ms. Knox’s involvement was a coerced confession, and a statement by  Mr. Guede claiming Ms. Knox was present at the scene. A statement, mind you, retrieved during his appeal process where upon, thanks to his implication of Ms. Knox, his original sentence of 30 years was knocked down to 16.  Add to that the fact that the prosecutor in the case is a headline grabbing attention whore who sees ‘Satan’s influence’ as a valid means of  prosecutorial evidence and a system that would permit all kinds of speculation and circumstantial evidence be presented at trial where the jury is permitted to talk among themselves throughout the proceedings and pay no attention to what is going on in front of them (a system, which, at present is being itself investigated) , and you have to thank your lucky stars you don’t live in a country with a justice system that throws out any means of sane reflection and inspection and gives way to public outcry and speculation.

Did Casey Anthony kill her daughter? We may never know for sure. I know, I know, everyone thinks she did it. Hell, folks who’ve never met anyone involved think they know the answer. But the truth is, it’s all speculation fueled by a media that loves to sensationalize everything for ratings.

Regardless, you cannot blame the jury for doing its job just because you don’t agree with the verdict. You can’t even blame the prosecution. They did the best with the evidence they had. The verdict cannot be over turned, and Casey  Anthony can never be tried for this murder again should new evidence be found to prove that Caylee was indeed murdered (Double Jeopardy).

The best we can do is pray for the soul of a little girl who was taken too soon and for justice for her to come from a higher place. Believe me, no matter how big a bitch anyone thinks Casey Anthony is, Karma is way worse. If she did indeed have any part in the death of her daughter, she’ll pay one way or another. (Put it this way, OJ, the poster child for getting away with murder,  is in jail for committing a separate crime, and anyone who was involved in his defense during his murder trial, is now dead).

Ultimately, blaming the judicial system or the jurors will not serve anyone. As a matter of fact, the justice system actually worked in this case and the jurors were not wrong in their final verdict. Our justice system may have some flaws, but it does work more often than not. I personally am grateful to live in a country where, at least in the courtroom, a person is still considered ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ rather than the other way around and where a person cannot be convicted of a crime, whether they are or aren’t guilty, based soley on conjecture and without solid proof.

More about the Amanda Knox case: http://bit.ly/mPRsYX