I have absolutely no idea whatsoever if Casey Anthony murdered her daughter Caylee, or if she knew who did. If folks want to come down from their Nancy Grace HLN stupor long enough to look at what the prosecution proved, maybe they'd realize that if a jury could convict Anthony on that alone, we'd all be in trouble.
The prosecution's theory was that Casey chloroformed the child, duct taped her mouth and suffocated her, then drove the body around for a while long enough for the car to smell and dumped the body in a wooded area near the home. The body had animal damage from being there for so long.
This is what they proved:
1. there was duct tape near the body;
2. one of Caylee's hairs was found in her mother's car;
3. black plastic trash bags and a canvas laundry bag found near the body and at one point Anthony owned black plastic trash bags and a canvas laundry bag;
4. the child was found near her Winnie-the-Pooh blanket;
5. the car had a rotting smell, chloroform was found in the car, and a computer in the Anthony home had a search on chloroform;
6. Anthony got a tattoo when all good civilized people who watch Nancy Grace feel she should have been mourning her daughter;
7. Anthony was probably not a candidate for Mother of the Year, and the kicker;
8. the prosecution had enough money to hire someone to make a video of Caylee's face morphing into a skull wrapped in duct tape--a whole lot like the Republican party had enough money to hire someone to make a video of multiple amputee and war hero Max Cleland and morph his face into Osama bin Laden and what did that prove given that it was done to promote the failed, needless and expensive Iraq War?
What the prosecution did not prove:
1. any chloroform in Caylee's system or on or near her body;
2. who made the computer search and/or why;
3. that Caylee's face was in fact duct taped;
4. the actual cause of death;
5. that people who get tattoos after a death are statistically more likely to have caused such death; and
6. that videos made by someone who was not a witness to the crime, with no evidence to back up the video's plot, are at all accurate.
Our criminal justice system was set up under the theory that it's probably better to let a criminal go here and there than permanently incarcerate or execute an innocent person. If you've ever been or know an innocent person who's been accused of a crime, or if you note the sheer number of political prisoners taken these days, then you're probably grateful for that theory.
Video, like television, is a strong tool. It can spread a story or create and spread a false story. Remember those funny Chinese-made videos supposedly reenacting the Tiger Woods/wife/gold club scene? Do you think those were accurate? Police believed Elin Nordegren's story that she did not in fact chase his car with a golf club, but found him after the crash despite what a Chinese television station and TMZ cooked up. Anyone can come up with a theory and have a video made to support the theory. The key is what facts are behind the video.
Television shows such as the Chinese new show depicting the Tiger Woods incident, TMZ and the one with Nancy Grace broadcasted by CNN's Headline News are designed to cause a stir and get ratings. They are designed to be emotional, to tell a story and the more outrageous the story the better. Grace is paid to gin people up, tell a riveting story and keep people in their armchairs tuned in to the network all day.
If we exchange the theory of our criminal justice system with the theory of getting good ratings for a television show, a heck of a lot of innocent people will be convicted whether they deserve it or not. One of those people could be you or someone you love. Do you have black garbage bags in your house? Hmmm, how suspicious. You did a Google search on what? You should be ashamed of yourself. Oh, you say your boyfriend did that search? How did he get near your computer? What did you say you did 10 days after your Grandma's funeral? Hmmmm. Really? Why weren't you at home crying?
Those mad about the Anthony verdict should ask themselves if they'd like to be tried in the court of television ratings or the court of law.
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