Casey Anthony acquitted of killing daughter

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Sorry but in most states the Grand Jury is a star chamber, with only the prosecutor presenting evidence, virtually no defense attorney would allow his client to even be present, a half decent attorney can convince a grand jury that the dog committed the crime
Wachtler, (Sol Wachtler former chief justice of the NY State court of appeals in a 1985 interview with the NY Daily News) who became the state's top judge earlier this month, said district attorneys now have so much influence on grand juries that "by and large" they could get them to "indict a ham sandwich."

And if we don't see that as a failure, then that is the problem.
 
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I believe we need more justice and less Law, Given the shoddy work of the prosecutor and the impassioned Mr Baez it's not much wonder we have jails and prisons filled to overflowing capacity with minor drug violations, yet with enough good press and stupid pet tricks in court, murderers get off. How ever I think it far better that 5 guilty walk rather than one wrongful conviction. particularly in a Capital murder case, even if it were scum like OJ and this last unspeakable woman, at the very least she should be shunned by civilization, perhaps put out in the desert, (at least she couldn't drown)
 
Roy: I think you are reading the judges mind. I fully expect her to walk. After 29 years in Law Enforcement, retiring as lead "street level" crime scene investigator for the Indianapolis police department in 1998, I could tell you some things about prosecution or THE LACK OF :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I live in the Orlando area and for 3 years this has been a media circus. It riled up every whacko and lunatic within 100 miles if not more. The State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt. And the childish 13 year old 8th grader actions of Jeff Ashton, lead prosecutor, in the courtroom doomed any hopes the state had of a conviction. Casey's mother will probably spend a good long time in prison for perjury. Ashton faces sanctions by the court for his actions. Now all parties can make millions on TV, books, movies, and all the Surermarket Rag papers. But life goes on for everyone but Caylee Marie Anthony.
She was only convicted of 4 counts of lying and each count has a max penalty of one year, she has served 3 years in jail awaiting trial, the judge can set her free for time served and it would not suprise me.
 
:foot-in-mouth: LOL!

Well seems that starting this thread the gods are trying to get me to understant the justics system better. In todays mail I got a notice to apperar on Monday the 11th for jury duty. Its been over 40 years the last time I servered on a jury.
 
I have to agree with you on this one. Not Guilty doesn't equal Innocent, though is a better way of putting it. At the start of sitting on a jury and again at the end, jurors are given specific instructions as to what is expected of them.
While MANY of us don't like the verdict - it was absolutely the correct verdict (which btw doesn't equal accurate.) Based on the laws of our great nation, regardless of whether or not Casey Anthony killed her daughter or not, the prosecution HAS to prove that as FACT beyond any REASONABLE DOUBT. The prosecutor did not do that, hell he wasn't even nice enough to get a sympathy vote in my book. Having doubt that someone committed a crime is not the same as believing they are innocent - Regardless of a dictionary definition (no offense Smitty - I've had this same conversation with others). INSANE is also a LEGAL definition - but if you go to a psychiatrist, therapist or other person allowed to diagnosis individuals with mental illness you would note that it is NOT a medical diagnosis. Still, many people are found not guilty of crimes due to a statement that they are insane.
HOWEVER, our justice system doesn't legally allow jurors to make a verdict based on emotion, "maybe's," reporter hype or pure gut instinct. I have to say Thank God for that! If jurist were allowed to make decisions based on those factors there would be a LOT of innocent people in jail and our FREEDOM would really be nothing more than spit on a sidewalk.
Having sat on a jury one time, I can tell you how HARD it is to come back with a not guilty verdict when someone is facing a life changing situation (even harder though to say guilty if the case isn't proven) . . .

Mrs.




Umm, don't agree with you on that one..

Not guilty is a verdict in a criminal trial by by a jury after finding that the prosecution has not proved the defendant guilty of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt or that it believes the accused person was insane at the time the crime was committed.

Key words here are 'proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

I could be wrong, but I believe OJ Simpson was also found 'not guilty', instead of innocent of his accused crime...and he was then taken to civil court.

JMHO...



Not guilty does not mean innocent...she has all the life to deal with that... God have mercy!!!

Under our system of justice...not guilty does in fact mean innocent.



2nd definition of the word innocent ---
  1. Not guilty of a specific crime or offense; legally blameless: [SIZE=+0]was innocent of all charges.[/SIZE]
Our system has only 2 possibilities that the jury can agree on - Guilty or Not Guilty. There is no "maybe" or "not proven" or anything else.

I didn't pay enough attention to the case to have formed an opinion, since she at minimum hid the body and covered up the death I would probably have leaned toward thinking she had something to hide. But evidently the prosecutors didn't satisfy the jury that she did.
 
The definition I gave for innocent - is a standard dictionary definition, not a legal one. A jury (in most jurisdictions) does not get a choice to vote "innocent" A jury can choose only between Guilty and Not Guilty.

A Jury can can choose between Guilty and Not Guilty by reason of insanity in some trials (I think only if the defense has pled that) usually where the fact of "who done it" are stipulated and the trial is really about "why" they did it.

Not being present during the jury's deliberations in this case I am not convinced that I can make any determination of what they believed. I (and society in general) can only go by what they said. Society (at least in the organized or legal sense) must treat her as being innocent. Regardless of personal opinion.

I personally think that if she were actually guilty of murder, with 3 years to prepare a case the police and prosecutor should have been able to get enough evidence for a conviction. That they did not present sufficient evidence to convince a jury might mean the prosecutor and/or the police did a poor job, that she is exceptionally clever or that the evidence wasn't collected because it didn't exist and she didn't do it.

I know I have seen cases on American Justice where it seemed there was much less to go on and still the police were able to get enough forensic evidence to get a conviction. But the evidence was really there.
 
You would think that there would at least be a child endangerment charge. Going 30 days without ever filing a report that she was missing!? (And partying like there's no tomorrow.) The parents actually had to report it. Isn't that a bit reckless deserving of some time behind bars?
 
I have to agree with you on this one. Not Guilty doesn't equal Innocent, though is a better way of putting it. At the start of sitting on a jury and again at the end, jurors are given specific instructions as to what is expected of them.
While MANY of us don't like the verdict - it was absolutely the correct verdict (which btw doesn't equal accurate.) Based on the laws of our great nation, regardless of whether or not Casey Anthony killed her daughter or not, the prosecution HAS to prove that as FACT beyond any REASONABLE DOUBT. The prosecutor did not do that, hell he wasn't even nice enough to get a sympathy vote in my book. Having doubt that someone committed a crime is not the same as believing they are innocent - Regardless of a dictionary definition (no offense Smitty - I've had this same conversation with others). INSANE is also a LEGAL definition - but if you go to a psychiatrist, therapist or other person allowed to diagnosis individuals with mental illness you would note that it is NOT a medical diagnosis. Still, many people are found not guilty of crimes due to a statement that they are insane.
HOWEVER, our justice system doesn't legally allow jurors to make a verdict based on emotion, "maybe's," reporter hype or pure gut instinct. I have to say Thank God for that! If jurist were allowed to make decisions based on those factors there would be a LOT of innocent people in jail and our FREEDOM would really be nothing more than spit on a sidewalk.
Having sat on a jury one time, I can tell you how HARD it is to come back with a not guilty verdict when someone is facing a life changing situation (even harder though to say guilty if the case isn't proven) . . .

Mrs.

I could not have said it better, Linda. My sentiments exactly.
 
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