Everyone else seems to have weighed in on the Casey Anthony trial so it is about time that I put my thoughts out there. While I didn’t see a lot of the coverage of the case, I did record some of defense attorney Boaz’s closing argument. He did an excellent job at least with the beginning part of his closing and I am not surprised by the jury’s verdict.
I know many people are upset that Casey Anthony was not convicted of at least some form of homicide. Some commentators have suggested that because of television programs such as CSI, people now expect too much from the prosecution in these types of cases. It may be true that people expect more, but it seems to me that we would want a jury to be close to certain before convicting someone of homicide and perhaps sending her to prison for life. Remember, twelve people agreed after a six week trial that there was not proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony committed a homicide. It also didn’t take them very long to reach this conclusion. Ms. Anthony may well have had a hand in her daughter’s death but she has been acquitted and cannot be tried on these charges again. That is how our system works.
The question that no one seems to be asking is whether the State of Florida brought charges against Casey Anthony too soon. If Ms. Anthony did cause her child’s death perhaps more evidence would have surfaced in time. Perhaps over time she would have made statements that would have tipped the scales in favor of the prosecution. When there is no conclusive evidence as to how a person died and the prosecution relies on the circumstances surrounding the death to prove a case, it is difficult to know when there is enough evidence to convict. We will never know what would have happened had the State of Florida waited to bring charges.
