'Not Guilty' - WCI

Tuesday, August 16, 2011
'Not Guilty'

by Katherine Scardino

Excerpt:

I have read about all I care to read about Casey Anthony. But, it appears that the news media and every other American citizen have opinions about this woman.

The bottom line is this: Twelve members of a jury listened to every single word of the testimony and examined every single piece of evidence presented by the state of Florida in an attempt to convince each of them to render a verdict of guilty to capital murder. Each of those 12 people, plus the alternates, sat in the courtroom and listened to every single word each lawyer said to them during voir dire (jury selection).

More: http://womenincrimeink.blogspot.com/2011/08/not-guilty.html

Katherine Scardino is clearly ignorant about the mentality of sequestered jurors, and must be one of only a few people who think the jury did a great job and the system worked perfectly. The jury made errors and they did not take the time to go over the mountain of evidence they had spent weeks listening to. I expect the jurors who took notes(whether they were right or wrong in fact or notation) convinced the other jurors that they did not need to go over any evidence or ask for any information because 'we have it here'. It is against the law for the jury to have discussed the trial amongst themselves before deliberation, and a juror is not allowed to present their notes to other jurors as facts. Both things happened IMO. Some were keen to get off to start a holiday and get back home making it very easy for the jury foreman to sway them into a quick verdict. This article touting that justice worked perfectly is a crock. If you presented the same case as it happened to another jury, they would prpbably have found her guilty. How can that be deemed a perfect system when it just depends on the personal agenda and personalitiy traits of 12 people? The system is broken and juries are fallible and it's time we moved to a system of using professional jurors who are trained in the basics of law and what is the job of a jury person.