The Verdict: Casey Anthony...

Earlier this afternoon, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of the 1st degree murder of her child. She was also found not guilty of manslaughter. She was found guilty of lying to a law enforcement officer. Immediately, people started giving their opinions. Many of which felt she got away with murder. That may be true. Heck, I thought she was guilty. I'm a fan of Law and Order, Cold Case, Cold Case Files, etc. I've watched many trials on Court TV, or what is now TruTV. I've also served on two grand juries, so suffices it to say, that I am not an expert.

What some people fail to understand is that there is a difference between innocent and not guilty. No one thinks that Casey Anthony didn't have something to do with what happened to her daughter. What it is that she did exactly, we will probably never know. The only thing the prosecutor proved was that she lied about her employment, lied about the "kidnapping by Zanny the Nanny," drove a funky car that she abandoned, and possibly looked up some pretty suspicious things on the internet. Her lawyer basically threw out a lot of "what if's" and "what abouts," found enough suspicious witnesses, and razzle dazzled his way to an acquittal, which was his job.

There was reasonable doubt. Period. If there is one "what if" in the mind of the juror, one plausible reason why she didn't commit the crime, you must find the person not guilty. This is why Robert Blake, O. J. Simpson, and Casey Anthony were found not guilty. Reasonable doubt. Their lawyers created enough reasonable doubt. "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit," as Johnnie Cochran once infamously stated. (There were jurors who thought O.J. was guilty, but could not find him guilty because of the doubt created by his lawyers.) The fact is that the only thing the prosecution proved was that Casey Anthony was a horrible, horrible mother. Yes, she has been convicted by the Nancy Graces (and her goon crew), the tabloids, and mainstream media, but the fact is they were not in that jury room. Jurors have to follow the jury instructions that Judge Belvin Perry read to the them. If they cannot answer yes beyond a shadow of a doubt, they must rule not guilty on the charge.

Those people comparing the Donte Stallworth, Plaxico Burress, and Michael Vick cases to Casey Anthony are using faulty logic. One, they were all three dramatically different cases. Two, with the exception of Stallworth, they were in different states and courts (Vick was federal). Three, they all took pleas. That was their choice. They could have gone to trial. They weighed their options and took the plea. This is why they all served some time. Casey Anthony will probably not serve any time, because she's been in jail since 2008, she may get anywhere from time served to 4 years for the 4 counts of which she was found guilty.

That's the American Justice system boys and girls. Innocent until proven guilty. The fact remains that none of us knows what happened to Caylee Anthony after she left her grandparents' home on June 16, 2008. No one knows except Casey, Caylee and God. If Casey killed her daughter, I believe in Karma. You do bad things, truly bad things, the universe has a way of bringing it back to you. O. J. is in jail with a 33 year sentence, and Robert Blake is a sad, pathetic, old shell of the man he used to be. If Casey is the sociopath people believe her to be, it will more than likely reveal itself again. Hopefully, a child won't have to die.

Until next time, "[a person ought not] to be condemned on suspicion; for it was preferable that the crime of a guilty man should go unpunished than an innocent man be condemned."~Roman Emperor Trajan