Just US:The Casey Anthony Trial and Respect for the Jury by Eddie Perkovic

Along with the rest of America I had watched the Casey Anthony trial from start to finish. I hadn't really followed what was going on before all the mass media coverage right before the trial and understand that it was well publicized since Caylee Marie Anthony went missing and Nancy Grace brought it to the nations attention. It wasn't until three years later when the trial had all but gone underway until the rest of the nation's attention was gripped, including myself, glued to the television set for almost two whole months of trial!


One thing I kept saying to myself during the whole trial was "This girl is going to walk and the nation will be in an uproar!". Nobody believed me. Everyone had the "know it all" response of "This girl is going to jail of the rest of her life!". There was no way in hell I thought that that would happen for a couple of different reasons. One, like it or not, Casey Anthony is an extremely beautiful specimen, that is a fact and the people who act as though they don't agree are just mad. Two, it was clear from the very beginning that the prosecution was not going to be able to meet their burden of proof, which at times seemed an almost insurmountable burden to meet. Also, they spent time in their case, and in their rebuttal  case focusing on things that took the jury's attention away from where
it should have been. For example, they spent their entire rebuttal case trying to prove Casey's mother Cindy to be a liar because she claimed to be the one who made the infamous "Chloroform" searches on the computer. Also, an example of being off the ball during their case, lead prosecutor and Pittsburgh native Linda Drane Burdich STRESSED the fact that chloroform had been searched for 84 times when in fact it had only been searched for one time. You see, there was an error with the computer software that had been used on the anthony's home computer. The prosecution knew so and tried to keep it hush hush, but not until the defenses closing argument did we find out that the computer program used to probe the Anthony home computer was erroneous. "EIGHTY FOUR TIMES?" Burdich stressed to Cindy Anthony on the stand under cross examination. She said this about five or six times, all the while knowing that it had only been searched once and the 84 was a result of a myspace picture that read "win her over with chloroform". You see, myspace was visited 84 times, and chloroform was only searched for one time. Also, prosecutor Jeff Ashton's conduct was obvious from the get go that it was unpopular with the jury. He at times seemed to bully witnesses, and when lead defense attorney Jose Baez was on a  roll every single time throughout the trial Ashton was constantly smirking, laughing and such until in closing argument's for the defense when Baez called him out and referred to him as "This Laughing Guy Right Here."

Was I surprised at all when the verdict came back? Not at all. America was purely outraged! The prosecution never one time throughout the entire trial actually answered the key questions Why Where and When! They never even addressed motive until their closing arguments and their case was VERY VERY WEAK! One week Chloroform was the murder weapon, and another week duct tape was the murder weapon, and while the Jury obviously was not buying the defenses drowning theory, they simply could not and would not convict a beautiful 25 year old woman of murder with no "smoking gun"

The thing that upsets me the most is the outrage the country took. One thing everyone should respect is that THIS IS OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKING THE WAY IT SHOULD WORK! We should NEVER CRUCIFY A JURY FOR DOING THEIR DUTY! A juror actually had to retire and move out of the state of Florida due to death threats. Is that justice? I BEG TO DIFFER! You can not hate a jury for doing their due diligence and following instructions of the law to a T. We all deserve a fair trial and Casey Anthony got one. If anyone should be mad at anyone, be mad at the prosecutors for not having a strong enough case to convince 12 people beyond and to the exclusion of EVERY reasonable doubt that this girl committed murder, how she committed murder, and if going for the death penalty,  never addressing motive! The truth is, beauty also played a factor and putting a pretty young woman to death is what made it harder for the jury. Had they gone for a life in prison instead of the death penalty maybe it would have been easier for the jury to convict? Who knows. One thing is for certain, the jury did their job, and they did it well. If it were YOUR ASS on trial you would like to know that you had a shot at a fair trial. Especially when the media creates a firestorm of character assassination so widespread throughout the country that sequestering a jury almost has no effect ANYWAY!

I am proud of our justice system, and I am proud of the jury in the Casey Anthony trial. They did their jobs and followed the letter of the law to a T. They all said the prosecution had failed in meeting their burden and at the end of the day I believe if you should be mad at anyone, once again, be mad at the prosecution for not having a strong enough case. Respect the jury, for they are the reason that our justice system works. They did what they were called to do, and followed instructions and even though most admitted it made them sick to acquit her, they simply took their jobs seriously and did as they were called to do, and THAT is justice. I am very proud of our justice system, I am very proud of jury's across the nation. This is Justice at its finest.

Author: Edward R. Perkovic