The Casey Anthony verdict was a travesty of justice. The jury were after the fact accomplices to the murder of Caylee Anthony.
The scenario that you set out is known as felony murder, a crime that is eligible for the death penalty. Alternatively, with a tweak of the facts, if what you have in mind is involuntary manslaughter, the jury could have found Casey Anthony guilty on that because it was a lesser included charge.
Attorneys and judges in Orlando who followed the case closely thought Casey Anthony was guilty and that she would be convicted of at least manslaughter. What happened then? Why the bad result?
In high profile cases, jurors with knowledge of the case due to news media coverage are weeded out. As in the OJ case, this tends to result in a jury of disengaged dummies who pay little attention to news and public events. Those kind of people tend to make bad jurors.
More generally, in addition to the dumbing down of America, over the last several decades, Americans have been taught to be “nonjudgmental” and “tolerant” and to ignore politically and culturally sensitive facts and issues. This has diminished the capacity of the general public to make reasonable judgments and to face unpleasant facts.
The jurors seem to have thought that Casey Anthony was a good mother because some said that she was — when they were watching. Of course, to think that Casey was a good mother ignores the hours she spent partying instead of being with her toddler.
I am hard put to imagine a “good mother” not calling 911 immediately after an accidental death of her child, then hiding and dumping the body, and casting elaborate lies for weeks about the child’s whereabouts.
Those internet searches for chloroform and neck breaking are especially ominous as they show premeditation. There is simply no sensible explanation for the duct tape except as a way to smother little Caylee.
I am also struck by comments by Anthony jurors that misunderstand what reasonable doubt means and how inferences can and must be drawn from facts. The jurors put a burden on the state that could not be met by requiring that all possible doubt be excluded, not just reasonable doubt. The jurors also seemed to expect forensic evidence that was simply unavailable.
The best hope for justice is if time and events eventually catch up to Casey Anthony.
BUMP to your insightful analysis!