Casey Anthony

The Casey Anthony trial is over, and the Monday morning quarterbacking will be ongoing for the next few months as the principals of the case move from the courtroom to the court of public opinion, and money, in the media. Not since OJ Simpson has a trial generated so much interest. And why not? A missing baby; a mother who is a pathological liar; a whacked out extended family…it was hard to find someone you liked in this mess, including the prosecutors and defense attorneys.

A wise man once said that the law is not about justice. It is about ending disputes. This is a perfect example. Do I think this was a just verdict? No. Do I think it was a proper verdict? Absolutely.

While I despise murderers and rapists and the like, I cherish our legal system more. It is there to protect you and me from the authority of the state. It is what stands between us and the Nazis…the rule of law. It isn’t perfect, but we must cling to it to protect our freedoms.

Like the OJ Simpson case, in the Casey Anthony matter it was pretty obvious what happened and who did what to whom. But there was a fundamental flaw in both cases. The prosecutors had to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. That is the prosecutor’s burden. If it can’t be done, there is no statute of limitations on murder. And most of all…don’t pimp up the case to make it appear there is something there when there is not. Juries are much more sophisticated these days. All of those CSI and Law and Order programs have taught us how the system works.

In both the OJ Simpson case and Casey Anthony case, it was a lie that brought the prosecutors’ case down. When Mark Fuhrman, one of the lead detectives in the OJ Simpson case, got caught red handed in a lie, then it became plausible that he tossed the glove over the wall and pilfered a few drops of blood from the trunk of his fellow officer’s car to plant blood evidence on a pair of socks and on a door handle. That spells reasonable doubt, and it took the jury less than two hours to arrive at the not guilty verdict.

The case built around Caylee Anthony's death was ripe with lies. Casey appeared to be a walking sociopath, and the prosecutor did a good job of showing she was a liar of the worst kind. But he could NOT connect the dots as to how Caylee actually died. The forensic evidence was non-existent in any way, shape or form. The prosecution claimed Casey smothered her daughter with duct tape. Wouldn’t a pillow have been easier? Add to that all of the pictures and testimony that Casey was a loving and good mother…what the prosecutor was selling was bound to run into trouble.

And that trouble was George Anthony. The prosecutor presented one theory of death, and attempted to prove it with Casey’s lies. The defense offered another theory of death, also surrounded by the lies of George and Cindy Anthony. The defense claimed that Caylee drowned in the family swimming pool, and George took over the disposal of the body. Ugly allegations of abuse and incest filled the courtroom, which George vehemently denied. But it was clear that something was seriously askew in the Anthony household. None of these folks would recognize the truth if fell in front of them.

While the press was singing the praises of George Anthony, the defense team destroyed his credibility. He lied about phone calls and contacts with the man who found the body the first time and the second time. His wife called 911 and said there was an odor of death in her daughter’s car…what an odd thing to say in a panic 911 call. George reiterated the smell of death, over and over and over again. Hey…just in case you forgot...there was the smell of death in the car. Being a cop from Warren, he knew about those things.  By the way, did I tell you there was the smell of death? 

Then there was his “suicide” attempt. Puhleez. He was a cop. If he wanted to kill himself, he would have succeeded. Instead, we get a self serving suicide note with a trumped up sympathy factor.

Then there was testimony from Casey’s brother refuting testimony of the father relating to phone calls and comments made about the death of Caylee.  And the brother lived in the same house and didn't know Casey was pregnant, and George didn't acknowledge the pregnancy until the 8th month?  Really?

Then there were Cindy’s lies that she searched “chloroform” on the family computer when her punch clock showed she was at work.  Can you spell P-E-R-J-U-R-Y?

But most compelling, and I believe the coup de grace to the prosecution’s case, was the testimony of River Cruise, aka Krystal Holloway, who stated she had an affair with George, and had the phone records and text messages to prove it, and further testified that George told her this was an accident that snowballed out of control. Midst the continual lies from all of the parties to this mess, I believed this woman. She had nothing to gain. And George denied it. Dude, you were caught with your pants down…literally.

So…which scenario do you believe? If you think that Casey Anthony’s bizarre behavior after her daughter went missing is enough to prove that she chloroformed her daughter, put duct tape around her mouth to smother her, put her in her trunk for a few days then threw the body into the woods to rot…then you would have voted to convict.

But if you believe that the little girl drowned in the family pool, and the abusive grandfather told his daughter he would dispose of the body and to disappear for awhile…and don’t tell your mother….and he would find a way to cast suspicion onto someone else…and would wrap the body in tape and plastic bags and dispose of it in the nearby woods calling on some of his questionable contacts to take care of the matter and make it look like a kidnapping and murder…with the police training to know how to do it…. And then  lie on the witness stand over and over again. Well, what do you think?

With absolutely no forensics whatsoever (and I believe time will tell the cops really blew it) is enough to spell reasonable doubt. And that means not guilty on all of the serious charges.

Here is the lesson to be learned. Prosecutors should not overcharge. In my opinion, they probably could have gotten a conviction on a simple, clean manslaughter charge. Prosecutors must not use junk science ( a sniffing machine?) to prove a case. Prosecutors must rely on more than pure circumstantial evidence when there is a plausible explanation contra to the case they are presenting.

At the end of the day, a little girl is dead and we don’t know who, what, where, when and how…and nobody will be held responsible. If you paused a bit, you must acquit.