I don’t think it is a death of common sense.
I look at it this way: The entire, randomly selected group of 12 people on that jury could not ALL be idiots. And they came to the conclusion pretty damned quickly.
That tells me that if you filter out all of the crap that you and I heard on the TV, radio and newspapers, then the prosecution did not present enough evidence to tie her directly to the crime.
I’ve sat on a couple of juries (criminal not civil) I was really surprised at the amount of stuff that we did not hear. And, I was kind of surprised at the deliberations: The people on the jury were smart and did not buy into a lot of garbage that was thrown at us.
I had done a lot of work in organizational behavior and I was looking at the process with a “professional” interest as well. I did not see “groupthink”, nor did anyone try to bully anyone else.
In fact, we had one woman that was not “sure” at the start. In the end, several of us stopped the process to really make sure she was OK with the guilty verdict. We all said, at different times, that we had all the time in the world, and WE wanted to make sure she did not feel like she was pushed into the verdict.
Using that as a background, I feel pretty comfortable that the jury did their job as they saw it.
Do I think she killed the kid? Yeah, probably. BUT I think it was probably more akin to manslaughter and not first degree murder. And I think she freaked. And I think her Dad helped with the disposal.
Is she a weirdo? Yes. Is her family dysfunctional? Yes.
The search teams screwed up when they did not want to get their feet wet when that guy called in August and said he thought he saw the body. If you want to think about devine providence, that was it. And it moment passed without the police seeing it for what it was. Because no one wanted to get their feet wet.
But I think if there was a lesser charge, below aggravated manslaughter, they would have gotten a conviction. My guess is eventually, after the jury signs the book deal, that they will say just that.
And yes, I think the jury was together so long as a group, they developed the same camaraderie that you would get in any closed group: Military, Fraternity, etc. They will act as a group for a while. And I bet they will sign a book deal.
Finally, I think we will see Casey on the cover of some magazines. I think she will be on Oprah’s new channel sometime this fall. I predict she will pose naked. She will be a celebrity of the sorts of Loraina Bobbit (sic), Tanya Harding, and the Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher. And even in the sense of Lizzie Borden.
In the end here are the lessons I think we should all learn: When the notice for jury duty comes in the mail, embrace it. Be involved, and use YOUR common sense (not yours specifically-—but the generic, third person YOUR). And, attention to detail and being willing to get your feet wet are essential to solving problems.
Casey Anthony, or Tot Mom, is now part of American Pop/Crime Culture. And she will be richer than you and I for making a horrible mistake in her life. I hope she has gotten some smarts and keeps herself clean and quiet for the next fifty years.
And for employers: don't be too quick to provide an excuse for one of your employees to get them off of jury duty. I was asked to do that recently and I complied with great misgivings. I'll never do that again.
“I don’t think it is a death of common sense.”
Nor do I. I agree completely with the rest of your analysis as well. Given the limited amount and value of evidence put forth by the prosecution to the jury there just wasnt enough to show beyond a reasonable doubt that she killed her daughter. It’s really as simple as that. The defense didn’t need to show anything about her purported innocence or anything else people have been alleging lately. The question is- and only is- did the prosecution show beyond a reasonable doubt to the jury given only the evidence presented that she killed her daughter. No, it did not.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only person viewing the case this way though. Some have been going as far as to call me a wannabe accomplice to infanticide because I keep pulling up the standards that must be met in criminal courts.... special
“The search teams screwed up when they did not want to get their feet wet when that guy called in August and said he thought he saw the body. If you want to think about devine providence, that was it. And it moment passed without the police seeing it for what it was. Because no one wanted to get their feet wet.”
What’s interesting is that there was a rumor at the time that Anthony’s chief counsel Baez called law enforcement and told them to not report the body but to call him in first. It wouldn’t surprise me- he has been disciplined twice before by the florida bar. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Baez_(lawyer) granted wikipedia is an awful source but it has useful links). I think the real tragedy in all this is that maybe if he was held to the professional rules of responsibility we would have a conviction today of someone who is likely guilty.
“Finally, I think we will see Casey on the cover of some magazines. I think she will be on Oprah’s new channel sometime this fall. I predict she will pose naked. She will be a celebrity of the sorts of Loraina Bobbit (sic), Tanya Harding, and the Long Island Lolita Amy Fisher. And even in the sense of Lizzie Borden.”
How correct it looks like you will be:
“In the end here are the lessons I think we should all learn: When the notice for jury duty comes in the mail, embrace it. Be involved, and use YOUR common sense (not yours specifically-—but the generic, third person YOUR). And, attention to detail and being willing to get your feet wet are essential to solving problems.”
Wonderful point.