I watched the closing arguments today. I thought the prosecution's final argument was very effective. I thought Baez was horrible. It's obvious that he was throwing anything and everything against the wall to try to create reasonable doubt. I'm guessing the jury tuned out to most of his presentation.
It's important to remember that "beyond a reasonable doubt" doesn't mean absolute certainty. If one were to express it as a percentage, 80% would probably be a good number. So based on the totality of the evidence, the jury should be about 80% sure that Casey did it in order to convict. I think the prosecution met that burden based on what I've seen. Casey was the only person with a motive. If it was an accident everyone would have behaved quite differently. As the prosecution said, one would have to suspend all common sense in order to conclude that Casey wasn't involved. It's not necessary that every single question be answered in order for a jury to convict.
TX for the reply. I am not a lawyer. But it really looked to me like Baez had the jury. But we could not see them. 80% does not work for me. 80% leaves some wiggle room. Are you going to watch tomorrow? Have you been in trials and won with 80%? I looked to me from his demeanor that they did not tune him out. In fact the media that was there was almost speechless when Judge Kangaroo stopped him....just my take.
Exactly...and when you give thought to that you see clearly that this was not an accident. Loving mothers don't put three strips of duck tape over their child's mouth unless they're abusive. BTW Interesting Attorney remark tonight on the news....child porno pimps use cloroform on kids to get them to co-operate and film them. Maybe that's how Casey found out about it....she hung with some shaddy caharacters on occasion,....or was she pimping her child for money?
Kevin, I had a prof in grad school - PhDs in both math and law. Taught the most interesting course I ever took - decision science applied to law.
He quoted a judge with an 80% criterion with horror. You should think about that - one in five people you hang is innocent?
Is that your standard for success?