Casey Anthony

The Anthony acquittal opens up a can of worms regarding our American justice system.  This is not meant to say that Casey should have been convicted of the murder of her daughter.  Casey may have murdered her daughter by her own hands, or with help, or she may have accidentally killed her, or others may have been complicit in killing her.  On the other hand, she may not have killed or murdered her daughter.

There are at least two major problems with the handling of this case.  The circus atmosphere surrounding the case had too much of an influence in the formation of any realistic understanding of what may have transpired.  The other and companion problem was the inability of the prosecution, the defense, all the pundits in the media and experts of all kinds, to put together what pieces of the puzzle they had, to arrive at plausible scenarios without jumping to emotionally driven conclusions not supported by adequate evidence.

According to the Jurors who have spoken out, they were left with no option but acquittal, since the prosecution had offered no charge against the defendant not involving Casey bringing about the death of her daughter in some direct or indirect way, for which the jurors could find no evidence.

However,
considering the lying, for which Casey was convicted and the period of one month elapsing before a missing child report was given the police, these two considerations alone screamed out for a Justice System to require some accountability of the Anthony family, if not Casey alone.  A bit late, but certainly necessary, is the Florida State Legislature considering passage of a law criminalizing non-reporting of a missing child within a reasonable time.

It would seem that at least one juror might have considered the depravities of the case so overwhelming in their not having been properly adjudicated, that thought be given to the possibility of answering neither a verdict of guilty nor a verdict of not guilty to every charge, including the charges of lying which should not have been treated as separate from some charge of accountability.  Yes, a hung jury and a new trial without the circus.  Impossible, no; improbable, probably.

A very bad show indeed in more ways than one, but now that the 12 jurors have acquitted Casey we are obligated to accept that decision without any hatred and rancor towards the Casey family or the lawyers involved.  One thing that is comforting to me is, believing in a just, good, and merciful God, that Casey and everyone of us, being guilty of many misdeeds, will be justly and mercifully handled in His court of Perfect Justice; on this side of the grave there is no such thing as true and perfect justice.