Even as the 12-member jury that acquitted Casey Anthony of all charges in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, hunkers down and remains silent, disbelief and shock continue across not only Orlando but the rest of the country. Some are theorizing that jurors were unable to figure out the evidence, particularly the forensics, given there was no smoking gun; others suggest that jurors looked at Casey and thought because she is cute, they couldn’t give her the death penalty.
Few thought the justice really worked well in this case.
According to businessinsider.com:
More common was the reaction of veteran New York Supreme Court judge and writer Edwin Torres, whose popular crime novels such as Carlito’s Way have been adapted into feature films starring Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, and Al Pacino.
“Holy s**t! I’m in shock—I can’t believe this!” Torres exclaimed when I informed him of the Anthony verdict. He added that while the direct evidence was slim (especially a lack of forensic material such as DNA and fingerprints), the circumstantial case against Caylee’s mom was strong: her constant lies and evasions; her hard-partying weeks after the little girl’s disappearance; the suspicious provenance of duct tape discovered on the mouth and nose of Caylee’s decomposing skull; the “death smell” of the defendant’s car trunk; and the disposal of the body, wrapped in a garbage bag, in a swamp near the Anthony home.
“Juries usually prefer circumstantial evidence to direct evidence,” the judge said. “This should have been a slam-dunk.”
Former Westchester County judge and district attorney Jeanine Pirro was equally appalled.
“I have two words to describe my reaction: ‘shocked’ and ‘speechless,’” said Pirro, who sat in the Orlando courtroom as a Fox News host and commentator through most of the six-week trial. “When a jury returns such a curious verdict, it points up the national obsession we have with CSI and DNA, and I think it has destroyed our ability to employ common sense. The use of circumstantial evidence in this age of technology is becoming more and more questionable. But what happened to Caylee? Did she get justice? I almost feel like I’m living in the twilight zone. The bottom line is that the mother was not held accountable in any way, shape, or form.”
