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    Casey Anthony Not Guilty of Murder; Biggest Travesty Since O.J. Simpson Verdict

    This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.
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    COMMENTARY | When the verdict was read in the Florida courtroom Tuesday afternoon, I let out a gasp of surprise, like I'm sure many others did. I'm not a person who follows court cases day in and out, but this one took me back in time: when O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in an announcement of a verdict that shocked the world.

    There were comparisons made early on in the Casey Anthony case to that of Simpson. Now we can add jury and prosecutorial missteps to the list of similarities. Some things that stand out in the case and verdict to me are impossible to overlook.

    The closing argument

    While some legal pundits called it brilliant, I think playing the drawn-out taped conversation of Casey's jailhouse call to her parents was a mistake. They wanted to paint her as lacking emotion but kind of framed Anthony as a person under the gun who is being toyed with. Both parents, especially her mother, came off as cagey and questioning instead of supporting, as they claimed.

    The reliance on Casey's profanity in the phone call by lead prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick might have upset some of the puritan sensibilities of observers, but they have little bearing on the guilt or innocence of Anthony. Listening to her parents, one could understand her being drawn to colorful language.

    Short deliberations

    Beginning just at noon Monday and ending just after 2 p.m. the next day, the jury either wanted to get home or couldn't wait to get in front of the cameras. They couldn't have responsibly gone over everything that had been presented in such a short time. Even if they rejected pieces of evidence, there was so much to consider that it's hard to imagine anything but an improper deliberation.

    Once again, a jury has dropped the ball, at least on first look. It will be interesting to hear them explain themselves over the next few days.

    Entire reliance on Casey Anthony's party life wrong

    The prosecution chose to rely on tattoos, Casey's party life, and her lack of what they perceived the proper emotions to be. By doing so, they repeated the history from the O.J. Simpson case. By that I mean they allowed enough doubt to be put in the mind of overly impressionable jurors to cause the case to fail.

    Now it's unlikely there will ever be justice for Caylee Anthony, and that's the biggest travesty of all.

     

    8 comments

    • jb  •  10 mths ago
      So Casey’s declared “Not Guilty.”

      Not guilty of what? Killing her child? But we know she did that. And Mr. Baez and Mr. Mason, you know it, too. But you gotta find some other suspects if you’re going to DEFEND her. How about the FAMILY, that’s easy. Mess with their heads. Pit them against one another; rough ‘em up. Jury won’t know what to make of it. Everyone lying. Suspects in every corner of the house. The perfect plan. (Hey, what else you got? She’s GUILTY.)

      So what about the trunk? You have to admit she’s guilty of that. She was the only one driving the car, right? It smelled like a dead body! Even two years later. NOT guilty, you say? That nauseating cloud of stench was from that bag of FOOD WRAPPERS?? REALLY? Gentlemen, have you by any chance “smelled the can?” Just wondered.

      Okay but you CAN’T get around that SWAMP thing. I mean, tossing an innocent child, all doubled up in a laundry bag with her Pooh blanket and her little shorts–and her little face all covered in DUCT TAPE–into a SWAMP, to ROT???!!! You went so far as to call her a “loving mother” who “adored Caylee.” Honestly–REALLLY????

      You put on a pretty good show, Boys. Played quite the game. It wasn’t my taste, but I know that’s your style. You blubbered and fumed; cocked your heads and blew smokescreens and objected with attitude. You had that Self-righteous Anger at the Law thing down pretty well; Along with sneering at the prosecutors and crying foul with each new piece of EVIDENCE. Doing the indignant bobblehead at the sidebar, huffing back to your seat. Rolling your eyes and asking for a mistrial–again.

      It was pretty entertaining–along with your parade of “Doctors” who answered “Yes, that’s right” to every question you asked–meaningless blather to clutter the air. Of course the REAL professionals–the ones looking at EVIDENCE and coming up with FACT-BASED CONCLUSIONS–well you poked at them and smirked at them and called them fools. You probably had the jury in stitches.

      You seemed to ENJOY yourselves–especially ripping the heart out of George Anthony, spitting it at his feet and calling him heartless. Hahaha that was funny. And goading Cindy Anthony to lie down in the road so you could drive Casey over her? LOL. Nice move. So what if they both got mutilated in the process. All in the game. right?? Buy ‘em a pizza and throw ‘em in the trunk. The jury will never miss them.

      You were pretty slick in the wardrobe department, too. Those tops you had her wear–the soft pinks and yellows and the occasional frill? Nice touch. Very Girl Next Door. But tight–you know. And no blind jurors, we noticed.

      So you put all that together and–you won! You pulled it off!! The gallery of twelve jurors declared her “Not Guilty!” HAHAHAHAHAHA LMAO!!!! Pop the cork and pass the bottle!!

      But gentlemen, there’s still all that rubble you left on stage after your performance. All that EVIDENCE. You know, the laundry bag and the duct tape–stuck to her hair for some odd reason–and the Pooh blanket, and those little shorts Baez SWORE didn’t FIT…”. And the can.”And all the hundreds of pieces of what really happened to Caylee Anthony. And little Caylee herself.

      Mr. Mason…Mr. Baez…what verdict do you think a jury of Caylee and all that STUFF would render? “Not Guilty”..?

      Really?
      • Gary Engle 10 mths ago
        "But you gotta find some other suspects if you’re going to DEFEND her"

        Absolutely wrong. The defense does not have to prove anything at all. All burden of proof is only on the prosecution. And if they fail to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, in a court of law, using only legally allowable evidence, the jury MUST find for the defendant.
      • jb 10 mths ago
        I was being facetious. Apparently you missed my whole point. No, they did not have to prove what DID happen or who did it, but they CHOSE to--and to concoct a story of their own. As to reasonable doubt, sometimes even juries cannot distinguish between reasonable and preposterous.
    • Carol  •  10 mths ago
      You make good points but I disagree about the party girl evidence. A woman who's child is either missing or known by her to have just died does not behave that way. The abnormal behavior means something.
    • SAMEER  •  10 mths ago
      Both trials were a complete joke. Both got away with murder. But the price will be paid eventually. No crime goes unpunished. Ultimately the maker will make you pay.
    • Fast Eddie  •  10 mths ago
      In a related interview OJ Simpson called the legal system in this country a joke
    • Pin in your Red Balloon  •  10 mths ago
      Travesty? No evidence, period. Justice was served. None of you are judges, nor in that Jury Box. The media tried the case, and convicted her. They was praying for a witch to burn. The next one might be you.
    • Pin in your Red Balloon  •  10 mths ago
      They were praying for a witch to burn (correction to my previous entry). The media has went to far this time.
    • D  •  10 mths ago
      This isn't the same as the OJ trial. Still, I find her suspicious but am disgusted the death penalty was even considered. Such a savage thing should be outlawed. Also, what about some pretty shabby evidence by prosecution? No DNA found. No witnesses saw Casey carry out a body bag. No blood on her, or in the car. Duct tape DOES not stick to a decomposed body. Etc, etc. My ruling would be child abuse or neglect, but there just wasn't enough murder evidence against her in particular. Face it. And like they say about an election you don't like, get over it. The people have spoken.
    • walked the beat and the h ...  •  10 mths ago
      now where is the outrage now people? i know you people cannot be that shocked.
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