Counsel, The Jury has a verdict . . . .

Driving to my daughter Hillary's house near Richmond Virginia takes about eight hours in each direction. Spending that much time in the vehicle, alone, affords me the opportunity to think about a lot of subjects. It also permits a brain cleanse from time to time. I was a little stressed and wiped out when I left here a few days ago but am back and raring  to go. I thought of lots of things to write about in this blog, but upon my return, one news flash seems to have dominated the media, and the pages of Facebook. So, I think I'll weigh in.

Casey Anthony was found not guilty by a Florida jury of first-degree murder, manslaughter, and another serious charge but was found guilty of four counts of lying to the police. She faces up to four years in prison if she receives the maximum sentence on each count, class A misdemeanors. Most people do not get the maximum on their first offense and she's already spent about three years incarcerated, so there is a good chance that she will walk out of the jail a free person shortly. And some freedom she will have: her baby is dead, she is estranged from her parents, everybody on the face of the earth knows who she is and has an opinion about her, she has no place to live unless the parents take her back in, she has no job, etc. Sounds pretty bleak to me. Some think she deserves it, and many more think she deserves much worse. The only people whose thoughts matter are the jury, and by a unanimous verdict they did not find evidence to find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

In my little piece of the Facebook world, it seems that everybody has an opinion and most people believe that she killed her child. They are stunned at the Florida jury would let her get away with it. However, these opinionated folks were not in the courtroom, did not see, handle nor observe all of the evidence, were not required by the judge to take an oath to base their verdict only on the evidence, were not instructed by the judge on what Florida law is, and did not deliberate with the other jury members behind closed doors and away from media scrutiny. Only that jury experienced the full range of activities involved in a capital murder jury trial. How anyone can say that they were wrong amazes me. It also reveals a flaw in today'a American culture

In my younger days, I performed public defender work in Kenton County, and practiced criminal law in Kenton, Boone, Campbell, Grant, Gallatin and Pendleton counties. I gave up the criminal side of my practice several years ago and now, because I am the Mayor of the city that has a 50 person Police Department, may not practice criminal law. I remember several important points from those days, and from my law school training, and from my study for the bar exam. First, beyond a reasonable doubt means just that – beyond a reasonable doubt. Exactly what is a reasonable doubt is left to each jury on a case-by-case basis but the way I look at it there has to be proof such that a person of ordinary sensibilities is convinced of guilt by at least 95% of the evidence. I think that most criminal cases can result in a verdict in which there is some doubt as to the defendant's guilt, but if that doubt is such that an ordinarily prudent person has doubt as to the guilt, our Constitution requires the accused to be acquitted. Does this mean that the accused didn't do the act? No. It means that the prosecution could not prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and that is a standard that was agreed upon by the founders of this country to protect its citizens from the arbitrary use of power. It has been said that it is better for 10 guilty people to go free than for one innocent person to be convicted and sentenced. I agree with this. Many do not, but it is the system under which we live.

I have watched many trials from afar, especially in the days of increased media scrutiny, starting pretty much from the OJ Simpson trial. I became convinced, from my vantage point, that jurors often ignored the reasonable doubt standard and found people guilty because they think that the accused did it, ignoring the constitutional requirement and the judge's instruction. It appeared to me that these juries took things into their own hands and did what they wanted to do regardless of the law. The fallacy of juries conduct is illustrated by the OJ fiasco: the criminal jury found him not guilty because it was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crime. Remember, if the glove doesn't fit you must acquit? Another jury in the civil case found that OJ did kill his wife because the standard of proof there was the same standard used in all civil cases, a preponderance of the evidence – more likely than not. Same facts, same people, same actions, different juries, different legal requirements, different results.

For instance, based upon what I read in the paper and watched on television, I do not believe that Ryan Widmer is guilty of murder. He was tried three times, so the media has a lot of the proof in the public record. Many people were convinced that he did, or at least participated in his wife's death to some degree, and two of the three juries convicted him. But, I was not in the courtroom, did not see, hear and handle the evidence, was not instructed by the judge on the law, did not take the oath, and so my opinion is just an opinion. Opinions are like noses, everybody has one.

What about Casey Anthony? From my vantage point – and I did not pay real close attention to the case – I think she was a miserable mother had no business with the child, was narcissistic, is a benign liar, and pretty stupid. The one thing that I did look for in the media reports of the evidence was proof that the child died at the hands of another person – homicide. I am unaware of any convincing proof. I know that the precious little girl is dead, that she was buried in a swampy area, and that her mother lied about her whereabouts. Those three facts do not equal murder. Or manslaughter.

A college classmate of mine named Larry Sabato is a professor of government at the University of Virginia. He wrote a book several years ago that focused on the effect that media scrutiny has on current events, particularly elections. He titled the book "Feeding Frenzy." Well the media certainly had a feeding frenzy with Casey Anthony. While her baby was missing and probably already dead, Casey had pictures taken while she was out partying with most of her body parts exposed, adult averages consumed, and wild expressions on her face. This is perfect ammunition for people like Nancy Grace, people who have an opinion about everything that is based on nothing resembling substance. These talking heads are on TV because people like to watch this stuff for entertainment and it sells soap, beer, erectile dysfunction medications, and Fords.

My point is this: jurors must make their decision based upon the evidence that is presented in the court room in a legal manner. They must not base their verdict upon what loudmouth talking heads say on late night talk TV, nor upon media speculation, nor upon evidence not in the record. I wish all criminal juries took their job as seriously as this Florida jury did.

I have another point. If substantive opinions are based upon what we hear and see on television and read on line or in newspapers, we're in trouble. Way too much of today's social consciousness is based upon sound bites and blurbs on the Internet. I am making a gross generalization here and exceptions can be found by the Legion, but… Far too many people make far too many decisions based on far too little sound, verifiable information. It scares me. People who go out of the way to become informed on the subject and actually base their opinions on verifiable facts are drowned out by the mob. Many people thought that an educated America would be able to make solid decisions, but the problem is the education that Americans are getting is often based upon what the media can sell, and that is frightening.

I hope the jury got it right, and may God bless the little girl. At least she is in good hands now, back home with her maker.

TLR

7.5.2011