Anthony verdict

[veronica_rich]

OK, Florida fen (and others, I suppose) - I kept up almost not at all with the whole Casey Anthony thing, aside from having heard her and her daughter's name once in a while in the news the past few years. (Yeah, you might think this hard to do, but I assure you, there's plenty else in the news to occupy me, since watching certain other topics is sort of part of my job.)

What do you think about today's acquittal?

Comments

[bonnie-halfelvn.livejournal.com]

I had not followed the case. As a casual observer, I'd expected a guilty verdict. When that didn't happen, I looked at the analysis of why. A lot of circumstantial evidence, one "truth" against another, and an inconclusive autopsy report.

What really disturbed me was a video I watched that happened before the verdict. It was an analysis of the closing arguments and the "strategies" the prosecustion should have used. It was basically, "find three major points and get those across succinctly, and go for the emotion. A child died, and someone must be blamed. Someone must pay." That was the gist of it.

And while I don't doubt that this sort of thing takes place in trials everywhere, to hear it spelled out like it was nothing more than a football game made me sick. Forget facts, go for the emotion. That's how you WIN.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I was a paralegal for over five years for a defense attorney, and he represented the gamut of accusations over those years in front of me (all except rape; he wouldn't take those). So this surprises me not at all. Although, the general consensus is, if you have strong evidence, you don't have to go for emotion (case in point - a defense attorney will NEVER put their client on the stand in a criminal trial unless they're pretty sure they're going to lose otherwise; any lawyer you see do this as a matter of course or in the face of weak evidence isn't very competent. The only reason to put the accused on the stand is to sway the jury with emotion in the face of strong evidence of guilt).

Possibly the prosecution thought it had plenty of strong evidence? Or, perhaps more likely, they figured the media coverage had done their "emotional" job for them with weak evidence?

Court is theater - pure and simple. It doesn't matter if you're trying to get out of a traffic ticket or a murder rap. Some judges and juries don't respond to bullshitting, but some do.