:-/

[emmagrant01]

Am I the only person who kind of doesn't give a shit about this whole Casey Anthony thing? I mean, hell, how many children are murdered in this country every year? How many of their cases made the news?

I'm not sure why this case got chosen by "The Claw" to be the one this whole country decided to care about, but I have to say I'm glad it's over. The media got WAY too involved in this, IMO. :-P

No offense intended to people who do care. I just... I don't know, feel like the media was trying to manipulate me emotionally on this one. Ick.

Comments

[ahleeshaa.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way. Also ever notice how the only stories that ever get coverage like this are where the child was a little, cute, white child? There is never, ever, ever media coverage like this for missing or murdered black, asian, or hispanic children (or whatever other minority).

It's all just a ploy by the media to sell more. Yeah, it's sad. But I hate how they try to manipulate me!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely. I have definitely wondered on several occasions if this case would have gotten the attention it did if Caylee Anthony was black or Hispanic. :-/

[furiosity.livejournal.com]

IDK but they even streamed some of the final court proceedings on the all-news radio here in Toronto, and I was just like "...really? This is relevant to our city how..?"

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if it made the news outside our borders. :-P

[furiosity.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even heard about the case until the radio stream this morning, so I think we'd been spared the worst of the coverage. :D

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

You are very lucky.

[mania-regale.livejournal.com]

Nope. Not just you. Half my family is enthralled by it. The other half (who are all attorneys) are shaking their heads at the prosecution for thinking they even had a shot. Cue much debate between the two halves. UGH!

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

I keep running into people talking about it who are all pissed off and ending up getting into arguments about our legal system. Sigh.

(Some days, I think I want to go to law school. Other days, I think it would make me insane.)

[katieupsidedown.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know the case existed until 2 days ago when it was playing non-stop in the women's locker room at my gym. I'm fairly media blackout these days. The only vaguely news-ish website I check is Jezebel, I don't get TV service, my bosses don't watch TV either... basically either someone on Twitter or LJ has to tell me it happened or it has to bet mentioned during the 30 minutes of NPR I hear while driving home, which, considering that 10 of those minutes are usually Marketplace, isn't likely.

[madlori.livejournal.com]

I'm a tad embarrassed to admit it but I had not heard a damn thing about this trial until today.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

Not I. I hear about it via osmosis at work but have not been actively following it.

It's none of my business, is how I look at it. Public figure, like OJ? Sure. He's a public figure. This case did not involve public figures and we have far, far better and more positive things to with our time to improve our country and our lives than watch this gawking, rubber-necking stuff endlessly.

Was the child white? That's probably why it was 'news'.

[foxestacado.livejournal.com]

I've been addicted to this whole case, and yes, even though I know children are murdered every day, including the children of some of my clients, I just so badly want justice. It's as if this case is a representative of our judicial system at work. Sometimes I feel like there should be a massive media blitz over every single similar case. And the lack of that makes this one so much more important.

And the letdown...it does feel like OJ Simpson all over again.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

It should feel like the OJ trial, though - it has the same problems in that the prosecution and the investigative team did not do their jobs properly and build a solid case, and the jury actually did the job they were being asked to do, which was to evaluate the information presented in the courtroom and make a decision on the quality of the case.

Beyond a reasonable doubt is a pretty strong statement, and the jury finding in favor of the defendant when the prosecution's case is lacking is not an indicator of the justice system failing - it's an indicator that the justice system is doing EXACTLY what it was designed to do. The entire system is predicated on the notion that it should be damn difficult to lock someone up if they are innocent, and the flip side of that is sometimes you do end up with people who are in fact guilty (which I'm not saying is the situation here - I honestly haven't been following it that closely) who are found not guilty because a good case can't be made against them.

I get quite frustrated with all the people upset and blaming the jury, actually, because the jury did their job. If you want to be upset with someone, be upset with the prosecution for bringing it to trial when they didn't have a solid enough case, or the investigative team for mishandling the evidence (one of the big problems in the OJ trial, at least) or whomever else actually messed up and provided enough holes for the defense to say 'dude, have they seriously convinced you BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT?'

Also, keep in mind that the requirements for a guilty verdict in a civil trial are very different from those in a criminal trial - so if there's anyone with legal standing to bring a civil suit, if whatshername did actually do the deed, she may still end up in quite a lot of trouble. (As happened with OJ.)

[foxestacado.livejournal.com]

I totally understand what you are saying, though, which is why I was not one of those people to quickly blame the jury. I am frustrated that the prosecution was not able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony murdered her daughter in the first or second degree. The jury did what they were asked to do, which is to examine whether the prosecution answered the legal questions that lead to a guilty verdict of murder in the first or second degree. And the prosecution did not, even though the circumstantial evidence was quite telling.

Now, the news anchor I was listening to actually pointed out something interesting: he said that because of the media attention, the jury would more likely stick to the question of proof, rather than put more weight on the circumstantial evidence.

It is just so compelling that despite the efforts of the prosecution, combined with the absolutely piss poor efforts by defense, that she was still found to be not-guilty. That absolutely meant that the jury was just doing what they were told. I bet it was an unsettling decision they had to make. I would not want to be in their place for a second. But based on what I know about the case, and what the judge would be asking of me, I would probably have come to the same decision, in spite of my emotional stance on things.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

I think it's quite reasonable for people to question the decision of the prosecution to go forward with the case when they did, or to demand that issues be addressed (if evidence was mishandled or something, like with the OJ trial) that compromised the case. It's just so frustrating that so many people are going around blaming the jury. I got on a roll with my rant. :)

I would not, honestly, have wanted to be on that jury either. Even without the media attention, I imagine it would have been a very difficult case for many people to decide, you know?

(That said, I am getting quite annoyed at everyone saying that Casey partying and not telling her friends about things is proof that she's guilty. There may be other circumstantial evidence that leads to interpreting her behavior overall in a certain way, but - everyone deals with stress and grief differently. I would personally not be at all surprised if a young mother with a history of being a party girl reverted to that behavior after her child was killed as a form of escapism. If that's what you're doing, you're of course not going to mention the issue to the people you're partying with - the whole POINT is to get away and Not Think About It, which would be utterly defeated by talking about it so people ask questions. I'm sure many people would NOT respond in that way, also, but I think it's potentially quite a damaging message to send to people in general to say that she must be a horrible baby-killer because she wasn't showing grief in a 'proper' manner.) (Like I said, in this particular instance there are other things going on also, obviously, but I have caught a couple of news stories trotting out 'experts' who are basically saying "she was out partying, she must have done it!" and it's getting on my last nerve.)

(I admit, however, that the issue of grief and stress response is a pretty touchy personal thing for me - my husband died suddenly and young, and I have never been the type to be particularly emotionally open in public, so some of the expectations of how I was SUPPOSED to mourn really grated on me. I mean, I do everything I possibly can in every other situation to avoid crying in public, why would I change that behavior for a funeral?)

[littleroo27.livejournal.com]

I saw articles about it on CNN.com once in a while, but I didn't watch one second of the trial on TV, and I think I'm allergic to Nancy Grace, lol. While I think it's horrible what happened to that poor child, and I think it's highly unlikely that it wasn't the mom who was involved in her death (from, admittedly, the very little I've read about the case), I don't really get how this is important to the entire country/world. I guess if we tried to focus on every child who was killed in this country every day we'd just become completely desensitized to the whole thing, so they need one adorable poster child at a time. And a fairly middle-class, white, average next-door neighbor type of family makes for a huge following. Similar to the sweet young freckle-faced Australian girl who vanished months before her dad & step-mom reported her missing. And she just vanished out of the news one day - I have no idea if the trial has even started or is already over!

[allika.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I know.

God, can you imagine how much money and attention they could have drawn to a good cause if they'd devoted that air time to something meaningful? It makes me sick how well the media has played its audience in this case.

[libel.livejournal.com]

Sadly, a good worthwhile cause wouldn't have gotten nearly the viewers that this train wreck got :(

[djin7.livejournal.com]

I do hate it when the media attempts to manipulate me. I hate it even more when it works. >:/

In our province in the last 24 hours, someone left their puppy to die in their f$%^ng car when they went shopping because of the heat, and less than 12 hours later, a woman was charged with (almost) doing the same to her goddamn baby. I often wonder if the stupid people are meant to repopulate the earth. wtaf.

In other words, iawtp.

[mockingbirdq.livejournal.com]

All you have to do is spend 5 minutes on dreamindemon or bad breeders.net to find many sweet children whose parents saw no value in their living, which is so sad. There are plenty more children than Caylee who were just as lovely and bright and who died much more horrifically recently - so why does her case get so much attention?

but I still wish her obviously selfish and guilty mother to have all manner of horrible things happen to her :(

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I didn't care about the case, either. I did end up watching about 90 minutes of testimony, but not by choice; it was on when I was getting my nails done and there was nothing else to do but watch. I had no idea about the verdict until I got to my aqua aerobics class tonight. Someone mentioned the verdict, I asked whether it was guilty or not guilty, and they all looked at me like I had two heads.

[sorion.livejournal.com]

I find it interesting how cases like this one that get splattered all over the news suddenly make everyone act like they have a lawyer's degree...
How can people expect that someone be locked away for life or sentenced to death, even, when there is no solid proof that they're guilty?

Eta: That doesn't mean the case isn't tragic. It is. But it's no different than all the others that get no media attention.

[vichan.livejournal.com]

I've been wondering why this trial got so much national attention while the only coverage about the freaking serial killer in Cleveland has been on Cleveland.com.

I've been telling myself that it's because the serial killer case seems fairly cut and dry (if you choose to call 11 bodies being found in the dude's house and countless assault charges "cut and dry"), while the Anthony case would never get the true story no matter what verdict came down. But then my cousin makes a joke about wanting to bang Casey Anthony and my "optimism" goes out the window. :-/

[worn-words.livejournal.com]

ugh, I go to school in Cleveland and when I talked to my friends/parents about all the bodies being found they were just like "...what are you talking about?"
I was so shocked that it hadn't gotten any kind of media coverage outside the state!

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

I had never actually heard of her until Facebook started all going WTF NO. I had to look it up then. I mean, it's always terrible when somebody gets murdered, I don't like having the cases broadcast all over. The viewing public won't ever have all the information, and I am not part of the jury, so.

[ariannagray.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard that name until now, but well, it's not as if we didn't have our own cases like that over here.
It's not that those cases shouldn't be on the news, but they way they are portrayed too often turns into cheap voyeurism (because it's what makes people watch/read). That it's usually the cases with the cute, white children that get coverage, is just wrong on it's own. :|

[tipgardner.livejournal.com]

I'd not even heard of it until this morning.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I for one was pretty disgusted with the verdict.

[ias.livejournal.com]

If you are going to have state-sanctioned killing then it is up to the Prosecution to have a water-tight case and not rely on circumstantial evidence and hearsay. Without a solid prosecution case there is no other just verdict a jury could make other than not guilty, unless you want to throw out the whole basis of the US justice system: innocent until proven guilty.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I have a degree in Criminal Justice, I know how the system works. Still, it doesn't make me any less disgusted. That poor little girl will never get justice.

[kerryblaze.livejournal.com]

Nope. Not just you. It disgust me that justice will probably never be served for that little girl, but it disgusts me more that this happens everyday and no one bothers to care about it because our media hasn't told them to.

[lu-no-sekai.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about that particular incident, but I, of course, know this phenomenom. It's always the same... Just wait 3 weeks and the media leaves the subject alone. Even about Japan you don't hear that much anymore, even if the problem's still not solved...

Anyways, hope you have a great day! :)

ShuShu
Lu
^^..^^..^^..^^..^^

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

I agree. I'm really surprised she got off, but I could have done without all the Nancy Grace-ing.

[ias.livejournal.com]

Although we've not seen much of the trial reporting, the verdict has made the international sections of the print media here in the UK.

We have more than enough of our owm child neglect/child murder cases to be going on with.

[karaz.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even heard of it before two days ago, and only then because a few people on twitter were getting feisty about the closing arguments. The media was ridiculous on this one there were live feeds and twitter accounts and the regular media coverage. Though I guess we should just be relieved it's all a flutter over actual news than some new celeb scandal. :/

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Nah, you're not the only one. I'm of the exact same mind as you here.

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

I just... I don't know, feel like the media was trying to manipulate me emotionally on this one.

They were. Because that's what drives their profits.

I don't care about the case, managed pretty much to avoid it, and think that the jury probably made the correct decision. I mean, if they convicted her for lying, you'd figure they'd have convicted her for murder if there was sufficient proof. That they didn't suggests there was, in fact, reasonable doubt - and if there's reasonable doubt, a jury is supposed to acquit.

*shrugs* But yeah. You know that if the family were Hispanic or African-American, the story would totally have sunk w/o a trace; been local or state-wide news at most. Instead it was the freaking headline story around the country yesterday.

Ick indeed.

[liesbyomission.livejournal.com]

I don't really care. In fact I hadn't heard about it until it came up on twitter/facebook. I get my news from NPR and they spent about 30 seconds on it during the news update segment after the verdict, and that was it. I'm so glad they avoided the media circus.

[worn-words.livejournal.com]

what really disgusts me is how people would literally run and FIGHT to get a seat in the courtroom.

[spinfrog.livejournal.com]

I am glad it's over, and I am glad she "got away with it", after "only" having been put through hell for three years, just because the police, the prosecutor's office, the media, and everyone else "knew in their gut" that she was a murderer (even though obviously there wasn't enough actual evidence or proof, since she got off).. like you said, there are many many children who are killed in our country in any given period of time, so you gotta wonder why this case got all the media attention...(my theory is that this girl is so representative of pwt that FL (and the rest of the country) is filled with) ...I hear she'll be out in time to see Deathly Hallows 2.