Thursday, July 3, 2014

Casey Anthony

CASEY ANTHONY

I have to confess my true belief about this case. I believe Casey was innocent.

I can go back to when I was six years old. The "Trial of the Century", OJ Simpson, on trial for murder.

There was something that bothered me, even when I was a kid about that whole thing. Everyone around me was 100% sure that he was guilty. It was like they were in a frenzy, a whipped up mob. Most six year olds have never heard of a 'mob mentality' or know what it means, and neither did I, but I knew that's what was
happening. Even then, I felt the urge to break ranks with the mob.

Mobs are not led by logic. They lose all sense of logic and reasoning. Nevertheless, they sometimes come to correct conclusions. I came to learn years later, the reason people were so outraged about the Simpson case was he was absolutely guilty, 100% guilty. It made me relook at my belief about mobs and how at six, I could come to sympathize with the man. Inwardly, perhaps reflecting the truth of the ages, that the guilty are sentenced, but the innocent are dissected methodically and finally killed by a frenzied public, it seemed to me the mob no longer had reason at its disposal, and simply wanted blood.

As an adult, I had to become more rigorous in my implementation of logical precepts, I could no longer see  things so simply as I did at six, which perhaps was even wiser than the opinions of almost any of the adults at the time. But I couldn't see things so simply any more. I had to grow.

But my desire to break ranks with the herd and with my peers has grown too. I've come to conclusions in  many well-known cases that put me in the minority.

I defended George Zimmerman.

I defend Amanda Knox. While I will never be sure if she killed Meredith Kercher, I know the court did not  find against her and in America, she would be protected from double jeopardy. I think it would be a mistake to send her back.

Jon-Benet Ramsey... I believe her parents are responsible. I don't know that they killed their daughter, that doesn't make any sense. But it's obvious they know who did kill her and they helped to cover it up.

Casey Anthony. For a long time I can't say I had an opinion one way or the other. But her body language  gave it away for me. Especially at the end of the trial. She seemed not as one suffering at the thought of a guilty verdict, she seemed to be suffering more at the loss of her daughter. I didn't see anything that indicated that she was selfishly concerned about winning her case. Her body language said to me that even if she wins, she's still lost. I saw deep humanity in her. And I think she may know what happened. But I don't find her responsible and I agree with her acquittal. The idea that her partying after... None of us would have reacted in that way, it's hard to imagine a reasonable non-guilty suspect acting in that way. But that we can't imagine something or that it doesn't fit with our experience is no grounds to convict a person.

And that's why our legal system was so much to be praised over that of other society's. I know it was never perfect, but in light of the times in which it practiced, it was to be hailed over all others.

From what I gather, there was no evidence on which to convict Casey Anthony or George Zimmerman. There probably isn't much in the way of evidence to convict Amanda Knox. My belief on the Simpson verdict, it was motivated by race. The black jurors covered for him and he should have been convicted. Nevertheless, Simpson was a fine actor. But his acting didn't merely stop at Hollywood, it continued to murder, and then continued through court proceedings that eventually saw him acquitted.

This is all what some may see as contrary to my conservative values. I tend to vote Republican. Republicans tend to be big promoters of the prison industry. But I take the Constitution of the United States very seriously. It provides protections for those under criminal indictment.. That they are not savagely punished or fined, they are not coerced, that they have adequate representation, and are not unnecessarily delayed, in a fair proceeding tried by their peers.

Those are protections the same way speech, religious liberty, and gun rights are protections.

For a long time liberals seemed to be against the first half of the Bill of Rights but all about the second half.

The conservatives were about the first half but not the second.

It probably seems now that I've made my job to defend murderers and criminals. No, not at all. Edward  Kennedy should have been nailed when he killed Mary Jo Kopechne then tried to cover it up, of and  meanwhile, went home and fell asleep.

I just realized, my opponents call me a legalist.

I defend the

right to use drugs
the right to suicide
the right to gamble
the right to prostitution.

My system gives more rights than any other system I'm aware of. I know of no one who would give people more rights than what I would give.

I do believe murderers should be nailed. But there has to be evidence beyond all reasonable doubt, and nothing less. That means that we can't convict them all, some manage to go free. But it is better than the systems that other nations have that provide no protections for anyone. That's something we have to live with.

Personally, I think Casey Anthony has been put in a terrible position. She's probably at imminent risk of  being killed for the rest of her life, or at least for many years down the road. And I think it's tragic.

1 comment:

  1. The system of the USA works more than 50% to the correct; that is better than all other modern countries. However, it is not as good as the judgments that GOD gave to Moses: "At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death."

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