Review

So, it is my understanding that the highest rated television program for the last 2 weeks has been the Casey Anthony trial. Let me come clean straight-away… I did not follow the antics of this trial because OJ was enough for me… followed by Jean-Benet Ramsay, then the Menedez brothers, then Susan Smith, then Scott Peterson, blah, blah, blah. Stay tuned for the next one…

BUT, having worked in the court system for a few long years, I can’t help but make some observations about this go-round. Now, having only experienced the most obviously available information about this case and avoiding too much detail, my guess is that I still understand more about how this case unfolded than the average person who watched it everyday. Why? Because justice is not blind – rather – justice turns a blind eye to reality. I learned that my first day in court as an intern with Judge Restivo.

Justice in the U-S of A is not about the reality of a situation, its about the facts that fall inside the confines of the law. Notice I said, CONFINES. Though it is now being revealed that most of the jurors thought she was guilty, they were not presented with conclusive – if any – evidence that she killed her daughter. And the law is very narrow. Innocent until proven guilty? NO! FYI – Most of the law enforcement community thinks the opposite; A person is guilty until proven innocent. That’s just the thinking. So, this is a REAL shocker for the law enforcement community. How could she go from guilty to innocent?

No perceptions about what happened… No appearances of what happened… No gut feelings about what happened… just the documented details of what happened. The average person, who has no exposure to the justice/court system in this country won’t be able to make sense of this. Therein lies the problem – what makes sense to you as a human being, won’t be allowed in a trial. It is a disheartening way of doing business, but, the law is very clear about how the process must unfold.

And for the mothers out there – no part of this can make sense. No verdict like this can ever make sense, even given the above explanation of how the system works. A child is a part of you and to lose a part of you doesn’t put you in the mood to hit the clubs. Ever. A part of you dies and I think most mothers look at Casey Anthony and don’t get that. I look at Casey Anthony and don’t get that and I don’t have kids or a womb. THAT makes her guilty to them…

I’m going to forego the explanation of common law and precedent and just say – nothing ever changes about the law. Hundreds of years later, we’re still using the same standards and falling back on what someone else had to say about a similar situation. There is no original thinking in the law and no room for independent interpretation. This is one for a higher being. If you don’t believe in a higher being of some sort – you will just have to suck it up that the bad guy/girl won this round…

SO, what’s the real verdict? Trials are bad television. Stop watching them – you’ll find out what happened at the end. That’s all you really need to know…




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