In a court of law, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. In the media world, it’s just the other way around, guilty until proven innocent. Today in a court of law, a jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of all felony crimes related to killing her 2 year old daughter, Caylee. The media world and Nancy Grace who dubbed her “Tot Mom” and branded her a killer before, during and after the verdict is
neither the judge nor the jury. Did the jury reach a fair verdict based on the evidence in this case?
There were enough holes for the jury to see through the prosecution’s case. There was more than enough reasonable doubt to go around. The jury only needed one reasonable doubt and the defense gave them many more doubts based on reason. I, too like Casey Anthony, the prosecutor and the defense attorneys and probably the judge was shocked at the verdict. I thought at best, her lawyers had done a good enough job for a hung jury. That would have meant that at least one juror would find reasonable doubt and vote not guilty.
As a former felony prosecutor, trying a murder case with only circumstantial evidence and no DNA and no witnesses was always problematic. They were almost always not guilty verdicts. And I also ended up playing up to the jury’s emotions in asking “who
will speak for the victim.” But, when the defense pokes as many holes in a prosecutor’s case as attorney Jose Baez did, emotions will not save the day in
a murder case. The jury saw through the holes in the case. And they had the courage to render a fair and just verdict.
When I prosecuted, I always asked that the verdict be fair and just. And if it was fair and just based solely on the evidence and nothing else, I was satisfied, even with a not guilty verdict. Yes, the prosecution is disappointed as I would be in prosecuting and losing a murder case. But, you take your case and the victim as you find them. The prosecution had a good victim in Caylee but a poor or weak circumstantial case. Hence, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder of her daughter, Caylee.
In the words of the late attorney Johnnie Cochran, if the evidence doesn’t fit, you must acquit. And in the Casey Anthony case, the evidence didn’t match up to a murder conviction. It was a just and fair verdict.
Washington, DC based Debbie Hines is a lawyer, blogger, former prosecutor and legal and political commentator who frequently is seen in the media speaking on issues affecting women. She also writes for the Huffington Post, Politic 365 and the Women’s Media Center. She holds a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University Law School and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
DAVID OWENS says
With all due respect-you have failed to acknowledge or answer the fundamental question: why would a mother not report a missing child? After one month, the grandmother called police. The felonious child killer than lied to everyone about babysitters and boyfriends that do not exist.
Guilty as hell.
I wonder how many more juries will be as stupid as OJ’s?
Tom Walker says
Please enlighten us as to the holes that you saw in the prosecution’s case. If you think circumstantial evidence cases are difficult to win, you must not have tried many cases.
Debbie Hines says
Juror no 3 spoke out on ABC News and outlined the holes in the case. It’s a quantum leap to go from not reporting a missing child (which Anthony says was not missing but dead due to an accidental death) to convicting her of a murder with no motive, no witnesses, no cause of death, no forensics, just bad behavior; No who, what, why, when, where and how was answered by the proseuction. I was a felony prosecutor for 5 years and these types of murder cases are notoriously difficult cases with “holes like swiss chesse” in the words of juror no 3
Terry says
I am truly depressed and scared for our country. That the mob wanted blood. That they were, and are, on the verge of violence over being denied their blood lust. That one cannot even have a rational discussion with them about facts and evidence.
The mob, which appears to be at minimum a very substantial minority of the American public, wanted vengeance now and to let the historians and legal scholars sort out guilt later.
Likely Cassey Anthony was guilty of some wrongdoing. But her freedom is the price we pay for a fact based judicial system and the result of our lack of omniscience. But I ask you: who is more evil the woman who was released because we could prove no wrongdoing, or the people who want her dead, and not just dead but gruesomely dead, just to satisfy their own blood lust.
Holocaust deniers need look no further than the sidewalk of Orlando to see that this evil is within mankind.
Allisha says
Ms. Hines,
I too felt like I was in the minority who thought the case was fairly decided. There are two divides in the legal community regarding this case. I said from the beginning of the trial that I just didn’t see the evidence to prove MURDER. I am a paralegal with over 20 years experience and worked on criminal cases for the defense. As you stated, there was nothing presented from the prosecution to make the charges stick. I feel that the system finally worked – and what I mean by that is that the jury did what they were suppose to do with what was presented. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.