I even saw a legal analyst complain that the defense failed to prove Anthony’s innocence. Now I’m even hearing talk of testing jurors and certifying jurors.
I’m sorry, I understand a defendant’s right not to incriminate themselves and their lack of burden to present a defense, but when the defense makes an opening statement that says the child died a certain way and the grandfather had some culpability in the way the body was disposed of, the defense should be required to offer proof of those claims. The defense in this case did not, which is why the judge did not allow those claims to be repeated in the closing statement. That should have been a mistrial, because no amount of jury instructions can remove the taint of those wild accusations from their minds.