The 'Not Guilty' Verdict in the Casey Anthony Trial

After Tuesday's 'Not Guilty' of first degree murder verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, no doubt many people will be writing to vent their frustration, express their shock and anger, or just give their general opinion on what went wrong with the 'best judicial system in the world.'

Remarkably, for anyone unaware of the case, the Casey Anthony trial was that of a young Florida, USA mother accused of murdering her small child so that she could 'live the kind of life she desired,' 'The Good Life'. The trial attained world wide coverage and prompted Orlando Florida visitors from as far away as Germany! Visitors came to hear the verdict and to visit the area where little Caylee's remains were found months after her disapearance.

After over 10 hours of deliberation the jury returned a verdict of 'Not Guilty of first degree murder' and all but the most menial of charges. The verdict left viewers stunned, ourtraged, and in disbelief over the four counts of lying to investigator chargess that the young Orlando mother WAS convicted of.

Murmerings comparing the trial to the infamous OJ Simpson murder trial could be heard as people posed the question, 'What about justice for Caylee?'

Now, a full day later, talk of the trial still runs heavy in the news as people are interviewed, expressing their dismay along with the reporters that interview them as they all speculate on what it all means.

I too am befuddled, and astounded by this all. I've had questions during the entire trial. More questions now that the trial is over than I had before.

I began following the trial at its inseption roughly 6 weeks ago. I followed it every day and wondered with surprise if it was okay, or even legal for the Newscasters on Headline News to plainly state that Casey Anthony is a liar and a sociopath. How do they know, I wondered as I awaited follow-up to the comments. Everyone lies. I've tried hard to disprove this fact whenever those words were thrown at me, but never have I been able to. In the subtlist of ways, even the best of us lies. The issue of the mysterious nanny, named Zenaida having the baby Caylee came up as an example of her 'insanity.' This, followed by the episode of Casey's leading the police on a wild goose chase at her 'job' at Disney World, where she hadn't worked in quite some time, came up as further evidence of her dishonesty. Just looking at the videos of her phone conversations held early on in her initial incarceration, I had to ask myself, 'If I didn't know her, didn't 'know' anything about her, had just run into her on the street and she were telling me these things, yes, I'd believe her. I'd believe her because I Don't KNOW Her. I stil don't know her. I only know what the media has chosen to let me know. I only know what they have chosen to leave unedited. The segments they've chosen to put in the public eye.

I'm not trying to defend Casey Anthony. A person that would harm a child in such a way should definitely be punished for it. But,we don't know who did that to the child.Some speculate, but we don't know why it was done to her. The media showed me that Casey Anthony liked to have fun, as all young people do. Casey Anthony got a tattoo that expressed the kind of life she enjoyed. Casey Anthony was given a reputation as 'a party girl.' When I think of 'a party girl', the kind of self-centered party girl they'd have me believe she was. I find it hard to invision that person taking the time, thought, and effort to plot, plan ahead,and run internet searches...The Party Girl image I see is one where the girl is somewhat lazy and too self-centered to make the time and effort to put into doing research. That Party Girl would be all too happy to turn her child over to her parents as a way of gaining her freedom. That would be much easier and give her a quicker start!

Photographs told me that Casey Anthony was a young mother who appeared to enjoy her child. I saw that young Caylee was loved. Loved by SOMEONE. Caylee Anthony's grandparents appeared to love her very much. Having built a fabulous playhouse in their yard for their granddaughter, who at some time had been living with them told me that they very much thought of Caylee's well-being. Their expressions of love and their despair at not having her around told me they'd have happily taken over custody of Caylee. Home videos of Cindy Anthony interacting with her granddaughter told me she very much adored her grandchild. Why were there no home videos of Casey interacting with her daughter Caylee? There were plenty of still photos of the two together where they appeared happy. But where were the videos of those 2? Much more can be gleened from an animated piece of intel, particularly if sound was added. If there were such videos, why hadn't the media showed those?

What else do I know of this trial and this 'disfunctional' family. What family is not dysfunctional in some way, by the way? Still, I saw, and I felt the agony of the Anthony grandparents as they took the stand and testified. Like most people, I had the feeling that so much was being left out, so much unsaid. The Anthonys carefully choosing their words and responses, but still not revealing enough. The evidence was all there, yet not enough information was there. How could the jurors not have doubts? One has to 'make the leap' to say without a doubt that Casey Anthony killed her child. Her car smelled like death. She had the same ducttape on her gas can that was found on Caylee's remains. Casey mislead the police. Casey lied, Casey partied during a time when she should have been grieving, etc, etc, etc. Does this mean she killed her daughter? Hardly.