The fact is that the jury convicted her on the only charges that they could prove, lying to the police. It is that lying that probably gave the effects of exposure of the body enough time to eliminate any evidence that may have been on the body. Had she actually buried the child in the swamp, she may have not even been charged.
I have been a juror on murder case that was thrown out after the prosecution rested. My wife was on a murder case that they acquitted the defendant on, even though EVERY juror on the case believed that the defendant did the crime, but the prosecution had NO evidence at all. They had to acquit, the judge, talking to them after wards, agreed that even though he probably did it they could not have convicted with the evidence that they had.
The had no way to convict, that is why they all felt sick about the verdict.
Don't buy it for a minute.
Not even close.
Having also served on juries, I can tell you from my own experience that this is simply a case of twelve extremely stupid people who believed that "beyond a reasonable doubt" meant "to a certainty." They aren't the same thing. A reasonable doubt is no more and no less than that: the reasoned doubt of a reasonable person. These jurors are clearly not reasonable human beings.
Jurors are not automatons; they are allowed (and expected) to bring judicial discretion, common sense, and common knowledge to a jury room. This jury brought none of these things.
People are convicted of murder every day on less evidence than this, sometimes without even a body. A number of jurors or alternates have now made the statement that the prosecution never said what she died of. Again, this betrays an incredible ignorance and gullibility. Simply because the defense said in summation that no actual cause of death was ever established, that doesn't make it part of the the prosecution's burden of proof. As a matter of fact, the prosecution did not, and in general does not need to establish the actual cause of death as long as there is a reasonable inference of homicide. There was such an inference. A little girl was not simply alive one day, and suddenly dead without intervening cause on another. She was alive, last seen in the company of a mother who had a clear motive to murder her, and who lied with specificity when questioned concerning her disappearance. Her lies were not harmless but in fact impinged directly on the question of her guilt and the ability of investigators to produce the evidence needed to solve the crime. To sensible people, exercising common sense, this is not the way an innocent person behaves; especially in the disappearance of her child.
In order to believe the defense's theory of the crime, one must accept actions which defy all common sense: When someone murders another human being, they may try to make it look like an accident, but NO ONE takes an accidental death and tries to make it look like a murder. Yet that is what an absolutely incompetent defense expected us the believe, and what twelve abysmally dimwitted jurors accepted as possible.
These are twelve complete morons. No one should make excuses for them. They deserve the complete disapprobation of their countrymen, and all sensible human beings.
If juries KNOW the defendant committed a crime they must have reasons (some sorty of proof in their minds) to KNOW and then CONVICT.
Aggravated Child Abuse in Florida
“
Aggravated Child Abuse can be committed in one of three ways
”— Richard Hornsby
If accused of Aggravated Child Abuse in Florida, you need to know the:
•Definition of Aggravated Child Abuse
•Penalties for Aggravated Child Abuse
•Defenses to Aggravated Child Abuse
Definition of Aggravated Child Abuse
The crime of Aggravated Child Abuse can be committed in one of three ways by either:
1.Committing an aggravated battery on a child;
2.Willfully torturing, maliciously punishing, or willfully and unlawfully caging a child; or
3.Knowingly or willfully abusing a child and in so doing causing great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to the child.
A child is defined as any person under the age of 18.
Importantly, there is no requirement that the Aggravated Child Abuse must be committed by a person in a parental or custodial relationship to the victim, thus what might be charged as a Felony Battery if the child was an adult, can instead be charged as Aggravated Child Abuse at the prosecutor’s discretion.1
Penalties for Aggravated Child Abuse
The crime of Aggravated Child Abuse is classified as a Second Degree Felony and is assigned a Level 8 offense severity ranking under Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code.
If convicted of Aggravated Child Abuse, a judge is required to impose a minimum prison sentence of 34½ months in prison and can additionally impose any combination of the following penalties:
•Up to fifteen (15) years in prison.
•Up to fifteen (15) years of probation.
•Up to $10,000 in fines.