SAN DIEGO, Ca., July 11, 2011 – America has been getting a full dose of its obsession: courtroom drama. This is criminal justice voyeurism at its finest!
First, it was the Casey Anthony murder trial. Then, the Roger Clemens perjury trial threw out its first pitch. At the same time, we’re told that the Dominique Strauss-Kahn (a.k.a. “DSK”) trial may never even happen because there are apparently times when a rape is not a rape.
We seem preoccupied with high-profile trials while our Nation is spiraling towards bankruptcy. Perhaps it’s the allure of distraction that commands our attention. Then again, it may just be the sensationalism that surrounds the alleged horrific crimes of average people, inconsequential crimes of celebrities, and salacious crimes of the powerful.
The media is quick to capitalize upon these opportunities. After all, scandalous storylines command attention, which in turn drives advertising dollars.
“Experts” are brought in to tell us what’s going to happen and why. Then, when their speculation fails to match the reality of the courtroom, they return to reshape their original theories to conform to the results.
Do juries always “get it right?” No. Does it matter? No. Why? Because there is a presumption of innocence that mandates that it is better to allow a guilty party to go free than to wrongfully imprison an innocent person. That is the premise upon which our criminal justice system is predicated.
Let’s look at the Casey Anthony trial as an example. We have a dead child … thrown into a swamp … in a garbage bag. Due to an investigative error, the body isn’t recovered in time to provide sufficient forensic evidence to establish a clear cause of death. Apparently, the jury reached the conclusion that this, coupled with the lack of DNA or other direct evidence connecting Casey Anthony to the purported crime, created reasonable doubt as to her guilt.
The circumstantial evidence in the case is quite interesting. Caylee Anthony goes missing and her mother parties for 31 days, gets a tattoo, and repeatedly lies to family members and law enforcement officers about her daughter’s whereabouts, which further impedes the ability to successfully investigate Caylee’s disappearance. DNA evidence linked to Caylee (the single decomposing hair) is found in her mother’s abandoned car. The disposal of the body appears to parallel a family ritual for burying pets. An unusual type of duct tape that the Anthony family is known to possess mysteriously seems to have been used to cover the mouth and nose area of Caylee’s decomposed body. Then, there are the Internet searches for neck-breaking techniques and how to make chloroform.
Of course, Casey’s mother readily explained the “how to make chloroform” search stating that she had made it while looking up chlorophyll … even though she seems to have been at work at the time. Thank goodness she didn’t research “nuclear family.” Who knows what weapon of mass destruction might have arisen as a result.
While circumstantial evidence used to be sufficient to lead to a conviction, in this case the jury apparently believed that Casey’s death could have been “an accident that snowballed out of control.” The Defense proffered that Caylee accidentally drowned in her grandparent’s pool and that a decision was made by one or more family members to dispose of her body in an Orlando swamp. We were somehow spared an alien abduction scenario or a theory that Caylee committed suicide, but it didn’t matter; the jury found there to be reasonable doubt that Caylee was murdered.
“Reasonable doubt” is an interesting phrase. It is not the equivalent of “absolutely no possible doubt.” It is meant to allow common sense to enter into the equation.
However, in today’s word of CSI Name-the-City-of-Your-Choice, perhaps we have become jaded. It is possible that we now subliminally need to be absolutely sure. How many times have we seen an innocent person released from prison after serving a long-term because exculpatory evidence has recently become available through DNA, etc.?
As lead Defense counsel Jose Baez stated after the case, “We need to stop killing our own people.” Maybe that is the issue that the jury in the Casey Anthony murder trial was really adjudicating.
Of course, this ignores the fact that lesser charges associated with Caylee Anthony’s death were also available for consideration and summarily dismissed by the jury. Instead, Casey Anthony was only found guilty of four counts of lying to law enforcement officers.
Interestingly enough, no one in the general media seems to have challenged the logic of that conclusion. Specifically: if Casey Anthony was lying to law enforcement officials about Caylee’s disappearance for months, why was she doing it? If the death was accidental, why wait to disclose it? Why make up stories, invent non-existent people, or blame family members; all with far less circumstantial evidence to support her claims.
Luckily, the Defense doesn’t have a burden of proof in our criminal justice system. What we did observe is a dramatic application of the Fifth Amendment.
No one shall be “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Casey Anthony wasn’t.
No one shall be “subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” Casey Anthony won’t be.
No one shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Again, Casey Anthony wasn’t. It’s just unfortunate that Caylee didn’t enjoy the benefit of this same protection.
In any event, the jury has spoken and Casey Anthony shall forever remain “not guilty.” Of course, this is not to suggest that life will be easy for her. Dating could become problematic and finding a job might be difficult. Still, bottom-feeders are almost sure to surface with book deals and movie offers.
In the Casey Anthony case, the only issue that remained was whether Judge Belvin Perry would sentence her to additional prison time that would exceed the six days he gave to waiter from Friday’s who made an inappropriate hand gesture in court. Judge Perry did impose a greater sentence upon Ms. Anthony, but time off for “good behavior” almost netted her the same amount of jail time.
Defense co-counsel, Cheney Mason, made the legal profession proud by demonstrating his propensity for communicating with reporters in a non-verbal display similar to the waiter’s. To date, counsel has avoided a reprimand, but Friday’s is on record of having said it won’t hire him.
At least temporarily, Casey Anthony’s 15 minutes of fame will pass, and society will move on the next big case.
Will it be Roger Clemens’ perjury charge? After all, it doesn’t get much more serious that lying about using steroids in baseball!
Or perhaps it will be DSK’s brush with the law. That one has it all: money, power and sex!
The only thing lacking in any of these cases is a Defendant with common sense. Don’t hold your breadth waiting for that to happen. In the interim, Casey Anthony will soon be available for baby-sitting if you think the jury got it right.
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T.J. O’Hara is a political satirist, media personality and author of three best selling books: The Left isn’t Right, The Right is Wrong, and The National Platform of Common Sense. To Order Books, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2a9rztg
T.J. will be the Guest Host of The Rick Amato Show on Thursday, July 22nd on 1170 AM, KCBQ, San Diego, from 7:00-8:00 PM (PDT) and KTIE 590 AM 8:00-9:00 PM (PDT). Listen and watch live via the Internet at http://AmatoTalk.com.
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Copyright © 2011 T.J. O’Hara. To support viral distribution, this article may be copied, reprinted, forwarded, linked, or published in any form as long as proper attribution is given to the author and no changes are made.
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