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The Constitution worked.


 

 

Yesterday, a little after two in the afternoon, eastern time, millions of people tuned in to see what they expected.  They got a surprise. Instead of seeing a woman convicted of murdering her child, they saw the Constitution working. 

 

Why isn’t this shocking?

 

It is shocking that someone is found not guilty of murder.  Acquittals on First Degree Murder charges are pretty rare.   It is even more rare when the state is seeking the death penalty. 

 

Many were outraged that the jury acquitted Casey Anthony.  There is nothing to be outraged about.  It was a great example of the Constitution at work.

 

Thanks to the 6th Amendment of the Constitution, Casey Anthony had the right to a fast, speedy and public trial by a jury of her peers.  It did take the case three years to get to trial, but that was as much the fault of the defense as the State. 

 

Casey Anthony was given the right to confront her accusers.  She was present in court at every occasion and during every minute of her trial.  She was given the right to subpoena witnesses. 

 

Thanks to the 5th Amendment, Casey Anthony was indicted by a grand jury.    She had the right not to testify and exercised that right. The prosecutor in the case was not allowed to comment on the fact she did not testify

 

Thanks to the 5th Amendment, she will not be tried for this case again.  The government may not retry a case over and over again until it gets the verdict it wanted. 

 

The Casey Anthony trial was problematic to begin with.  The State had some huge problems to overcome.  In order to secure a murder conviction, the State must not only prove that someone was murdered, but they were murdered by the accused.   This was the huge problem this case had.  No one saw the death of the child.  By the time the child’s body was discovered, it was almost impossible to determine the cause of death.

 

Casey Anthony never confessed to killing her child.  She did lie to the police and that is suspicious in itself, but without a witness to the murder or a confession, securing a conviction is all but impossible. 

 

Trying a murder case is tough.  I know.  I have tried them.  I spent 23 years practicing law, including ten years as a prosecutor.  I just tried what is likely my last jury trial two weeks ago. 

 

Most of the time, the jury gets it right.

 

Trial by jury may be an imperfect system, but it is better than all of the alternatives.  The trial by jury was specifically added to our constitution in criminal cases as a check against the overwhelming power of the state. 

 

Bad facts make bad cases and the Anthony case had a lot of bad facts.  Casey Anthony may well have killed her child and may well have gotten away with murder.  But the Constitution that protected her and allowed this verdict protects each and every one of us against political prosecutions.   

 

What we saw with the verdict yesterday was the Constitution working, just like it is supposed to. 

 

As horrifying as this case was, I can live with that verdict.

Tags: anthony, casey, constitution, verdict

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ken B on July 6, 2011 at 8:00am
I predict she will be appointed "The Safe Toddler Czar" by the Obama administration.  That would be in perfect line with the "Safe Schools Czar."
Permalink Reply by Helen Tansey on July 6, 2011 at 8:49am
LOL...very astute observation and suggestion. I look forward to reading the headlines.
Permalink Reply by Carolyn Hamilton on July 6, 2011 at 11:01pm

Ken,

Reading these a day late, but your comment is so good, just had to let you know....

Thanks

Permalink Reply by Walter Hudson on July 6, 2011 at 8:01am
I thought I was the only person who felt the same way about it. These were my thoughts exactly. Anthony was charged with murder, but tried for being a lying slut and crappy mother. I'm glad to see a verdict which focused on the charge, and not the character assessment.
Permalink Reply by Bruce Hahn on July 6, 2011 at 12:04pm
Amen,Walter, amen.
Permalink Reply by Sunny on July 6, 2011 at 4:21pm
I agree Walter.
Permalink Reply by American Infidel on July 6, 2011 at 8:03am
The jury had the option of convicting her of manslaughter, and I am amazed that they did not do that. No to first degree murder, and no to manslaughter. Unbelievable. It's O. J. all over again. I did not follow the trial closely, but yesterday on talk radio, people were talking about the "Cloroform Babysitter" in which skanks like Casey drug their children with things like Benadryl, a bit of whiskey, or cloroform, so that they can go out and party and be skanks without worrying about their kids waking up and crying in the middle of the night while they are out whoring. They said Casey could have given Caylee a bit too much cloroform, come home and found her dead, panicked, then tried to hide her death in various ways, finally dumping her in the woods after making it look like a kidnap/murder. Either way, a guilty woman now goes free. I guess it is going to be open season now against little children in Florida, for skanks who are sick of being mothers. I fear for all the innocent little children with bad mothers in Florida, and all over our country. I sincerely beg God's forgiveness for my beloved home state of Florida, and for all our nation. This is all an outgrowth of the total lack of respect for innocent, vulnerable human life. The innocent die, while the guilty go free. We can only hope for a little jailhouse justice, as Casey faces an additional year in jail for the last of the four counts of lying to the police (she has served three years in jail already). There are plenty of females in jail who sorely miss their own little children, and would love to take Casey out.  I hope her brother or her parents sue for wrongful death, and of course there is always the option of federal charges, like the Feds had to do back in the 60's to convict KIansmen of murder. I hope the Feds charge Casey with violating little Caylee's civil rights. I hope little Caylee gets justice. That sweet little baby deserves way better than what she got. Her innocent blood cries out for justice. God forgive us. Please, God, forgive us and have mercy on us.
Permalink Reply by Bruce Edward Gordon on July 6, 2011 at 8:25am
Let me see if I have correctly understood you. You say that you didn't follow this case very closely, admitting that you really aren't familiar with the facts of the case. You say, though, that you did listen to some "people" on "talk radio" who were talking about "skanks" drugging their babies so that they can "go out and party." And that's the "evidence" that convinced you that Casey Anthony was guilty? Wow! So now you hope that she gets killed in prison, or that the federal government ignores the Constitution and violates Casey Anthony's God-given liberty to "get little Caylee justice?" Again--Wow! Casey Anthony may or may not be guilty of killing her child--I don't know. I do know that the State didn't present anything even remotely resembling real evidence proving that Casey was guilty. I also know enough about the media to be suspicious if the media unanimously decides on the guilt or innocence of an individual. Finally, I know that talk radio chatter about baby-drugging "skanks" does not constitute evidence of a crime. Thank God for our Constitution!
Permalink Reply by M. V. Griffin on July 6, 2011 at 9:03am
Nice reply, Bruce.  Thanks.
Permalink Reply by Lawrence Brown on July 6, 2011 at 12:52pm
Bruce: The constitution did not fail,it was the dumb jury who failed constitution. You have forgotten some of facts. Why duct tape,why wait over 30 days to report her missing,having grandmother call cops. If you listen to media and decided her innocent or guilt you are mindless like jury. Why dont you ask some killers if they covered their victims mouth with tape after they were killed? I bet you would be surprised by answer.
Permalink Reply by Chris Tocko on July 6, 2011 at 1:09pm
Again, prove that Casey actually did it. Could she have done it? Sure. So could someone else. Was it murder? Don't know that either. Was there a speck of DNA on the tape. Nope. Even the state prosecutor said, "this was a dry-bones case" which is extremely difficult to prove. No one saw the child be murdered. Jurors followed the law. It doesn't sound like you watched the evidence (witness testimony and physical evidence) that was given to the jury for 36 days. I did. Pray that if you ever need to appeal to a jury of your peers that they will be as concise and unemotional as this jury was, and stick to the law.
Permalink Reply by Lawrence Brown on July 6, 2011 at 1:14pm
Chris: If not murder what than. duct tape across mouth of dead child.

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