As a former law professor specializing in teaching trial practice, I watched hours and hours of the Casey Anthony murder trial with a keen professional eye.
I thought Ms. Anthony’s lead attorney Jose Baez made some terrible decisions, including an opening statement proposing a totally unbelievable theory designed to excuse his client’s mountain of lies and explain how her two-year-old’s dead body was dumped in a swamp.
I was distressed by his mediocre lawyering skills and appalled by his failure to offer any evidence supporting theories he boldly advanced in his opening statement.
I know it’s tough to prove a murder on circumstantial evidence, but it happens all the time and the prosecutors convinced me beyond a reasonable doubt.
I got on a plane yesterday morning confident justice would be done, but on landing I found a slew of text messages telling me otherwise – Casey Anthony was acquitted.
I suppose I should defend the justice system, admit my fallibility in discerning the truth, and express respect and gratitude to the jurors for doing their duty. I guess I’m just a bad sport, but I can’t let go of the feeling of outrage.
Even now I’m aghast, amazed, and deeply disturbed. I can’t fathom how not one single juror believed what seemed so obvious to me after listening to the evidence and arguments – Casey Anthony killed her child, packaged her in a garbage bag, dumped her body, and invented a long string of blatant lies to explain her absence.
Perhaps I’ll feel more philosophical tomorrow, but for now my outrage is softened only slightly by the fantasy that Casey will meet and marry O.J. Simpson – they deserve each other.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
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Beyond the injustice of the trial itself and the failure to hold anyone accountable for the child’s death is the reality that Casey and her lawyer are likely to get very rich from this case. She will be paid huge sums for her story and probably be offered acting, modeling and other jobs. She not only got away with murder she will profit from it.