Lack Of Justice

I've followed the Caylee Anthony case from the very beginning. I have a terrible memory but I still remember seeing the story for the first time; an adorable little girl in Orlando who had gone missing. Then the case exploded when the world found out she'd been "missing" for over a month and her mother had not reported it. "What kind of mother doesn't tell the cops her kid is missing?" was the first question everyone asked. We would learn that this baby's mother was dysfunctional and narcissistic and entered hot body contests and got a tattoo during the time she was supposedly conducting her own investigation into her child's abduction by what would turn out to be a fictional nanny. Enter the grandparents of the baby and the baby's uncle, equally dysfunctional, and the story gets amped up even more. The mother of the child was lying about everything and everybody knew it. Once the baby was found, tossed away like trash in a swamp, everyone was sure this mother had killed her daughter. She was charged, we waited through years of motions and judicial red tape and the trial finally began six weeks ago.

I watched nearly every minute of this trial and I tried my best to watch it as if I were a juror, disregarding everything I already knew about the case. I know a lot of what the public knew was not allowed into the trial proceedings (though I don't understand why some some major stuff was thrown out). Even going just on what was shown in court, the same evidence that those 12 jurors heard, I could find more than enough to convict this woman of manslaughter. From the start I thought the prosecution made a mistake in charging her with first degree murder and seeking the death penalty. I don't believe in the death penalty to begin with but I felt like this whole thing was an accident (and was on the mother alone, not her family) and that's not first degree murder. Yes, the case was circumstantial but 75% of criminal trials are circumstantial and murderers have been convicted on less evidence than what was presented here. After the prosecution rested, my first thought was that they had proved manslaughter but would never get first degree murder. I still felt that way after closing arguments. I felt sick when they let her walk on every charge having to do with the murder. I was pissed off and I still am to some extent. But I've cooled down a bit since.

The one thing that continues to make me fume is hearing the jurors try to defend their decision (and that they're profiting off of all this, which I think is disgusting). If you make a decision and you believe in it, then you shouldn't feel the need to defend it. Apparently 10 of these 12 jurors first vote was guilty. I'd like to know what was so convincing that it swayed them to the other side in only 11 hours. Everybody I've talked to about this - regular old citizen or legally inclined - has said the prosecution proved manslaughter. EV-RY-BODY (yes i know I'm missing a letter there, it's for effect). One juror said that the cause of death was never proven and that was a big factor. Who the fuck cares?! They told you from the beginning that they couldn't prove that from the very beginning. And why couldn't they? Because the killer dumped the body in an area where animals fed on it and a combination of time and weather conditions washed away most of the forensic evidence. There is no plausible reason to put duct tape on a baby's mouth other than to kill them. There is no reason to put duct tape on any person's mouth post-death. But the jury disregarded all that, let a baby killer go free and now have the balls to say, 'the evidence just wasn't there'? I can't even articulate how pissed off that makes me. At least own up to your decision, don't try to justify it. It sounds like they put the entire family on trial, rather than just the defendant. Yes, this family is fucked up but show me a family that isn't in some way. These people were looking for a smoking gun, even though the state told them there wouldn't be one, and when they didn't get it, they voted for acquittal. If I were one of these idiot jurors I would never want my name or my face out there in public. But had I been a juror on this case, she'd either be in jail or prepping for another trial cuz I woulda hung that jury.

And so a baby killer goes free next weekend. Obviously she can't stay in Florida, but where can she go that nobody knows who she is? Europe? I believe she's on probation for awhile so she can't leave just yet. I've actually heard some people say they feel sorry for her because she'll never get to live a normal life. I in no way endorse vigilante justice and would hope no one's stupid enough to try that. But in terms of her being recognized and having trouble getting a job - GOOD! She shouldn't be able to kill her child and just continue with her life. There won't be any punishment legally, it may as well come from somewhere. I wish you could get her fixed so she can never have anymore kids. I have no idea how that family moves on from this. Even her parents believe she had a hand in the kid's death and she threw them both under the bus to save herself by accusing her father of molesting her. How do you have a relationship of any kind with someone who knows exactly what the last moments and days of your granddaughter's life were like but will never tell you that information? You can't. But I think blame for this case rests with quite a few people so I'm not really all torn up about what happens to her or her parents. Little Caylee got lost in this case, in the innuendos of abuse, in the problems of her narcissistic mother. And then she was further victimized by a jury apparently as stupid and narcissistic and self-serving as the mother who killed her. I'll never understand it. Poor girl.