<p>With prosecutors, if evidence shows up that doesn’t back up their case, they are supposed to turn it over to the defense. However, because of the “convict at all costs” mentality so prevalent in the profession, they sometimes just ignore it.</p>
<p>The system is skewed in the favor of the prosecution in this regard as the police reports to them. And not to the defense.</p>
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<p>I know a lot of people I wouldn’t trust to babysit my kids if I had any. And as far as I know, they’ve never been accused of hurting anybody!</p>
<p>kluge’s point is very well taken. There are miscarriages of justice every day, and many of them result in convicting and jailing innocent people. </p>
<p>Look at how many governors got their start as prosecutors. Our justice system is being used/abused as a stepping stone in personal political advancement. We would be better off as a country if we got rid of the practice of electing prosecutors. Even when a prosecutor wants to do the right thing, he/she must remember that their job depends on appearing tough on crime.</p>
<p>I have never heard of a prosecuting attorney elected because he/she made a decision NOT to try a case. These people owe their first duty to the justice system, not to electoral politics and personal ambition.</p>
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<p>Sometimes it is just a mistake…negligent detective work or lab testing, botched evidence handling, a wrong identification, circumstantial evidence points to the accused, etc.</p>
<p>Kluge, I find it extremely disconcerting when innocent people are convicted and are sent to prison and I am grateful for the Innocence Project. It so happens that the Anthony case is in the news wherever you turn lately, and so people are commenting about it. Just because someone feels disappointed that a person who may very well be guilty of wrongdoing in her child’s death is going free, doesn’t mean that they do not also care or feel outrage when innocent people are convicted. In my opinion, I’d rather see a guilty person go free than an innocent person be put in jail. But both instances are ones to frown upon. But the Anthony case is the one in the news and the topic of this thread and if people are interested in it or uncomfortable with her going free, doesn’t negate their disdain for innocent people who have been convicted wrongly.</p>
<p>Too bad some of those cases have not garnered the publicity of the Anthony case. For some reason, this case has been so public for a long time when so many cases of either injustice (guilty people going free or innocent people being sent to jail) or horrible crimes against children barely make the front page for even a day.</p>
<p>*kluge’s point is very well taken. There are miscarriages of justice every day, and many of them result in convicting and jailing innocent people. *</p>
<p>Which is why the general public doesn’t have to “respect the jury’s decision.”</p>
<p>And…defense attys are talking out of both sides of their mouths. When their client isn’t convicted, then we’re all supposed to “respect the jury’s decision”. BUT…when their client is convicted, oh no…no respect for that decision…my client is innocent! …appeal, appeal, appeal. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>*Police: Fla. teen killed parents, then had a party
The Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A 17-year-old boy is accused of bludgeoning his parents with a hammer, then hosting dozens of friends for a party while their bodies lay in the bedroom, police said Monday. *</p>
<p>Well, now…we’ve all learned that such behavior means nothing.</p>
<p>Maybe they really drowned and the son just wanted it to look like a murder.</p>
<p>mom2, I delivered this boy. This has sent chills through the community. Mom was a teacher. This couple was married 25+ years, lived in the same home for near 20 years. The paper reports that the family just returned from a family reunion where nothing seemed amiss. The neighbors did not think anything had been up, other than they rarely saw the boy that used walk home from the bus anymore. All-American family on the outside. It was so out of character that there was a party with kids at the house that two neighbors independently called 911 at 2 am due to the noise. Cops came and disbursed the crowd. Someone called later at 4am to suggest something bad happened in the home. Turns out the kid had bludgeoned his folks to death with a hammer in the afternoon, covered them up, and then advertised a party on facebook and via texts. 60+ kids in and out of the home, thinking the folks were just away. OMG.</p>
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The jury can only makes its decision based on the evidence they see. Prosecutors have all of the resources of the state at their disposal. The investigation of the crime is performed by the police, who have the authority to search premises, seize potential evidence, question witnesses, etc. If the prosecutor doesn’t disclose to the defense attorney all of the evidence in the prosecutor’s possession (as is often the case in the conviction of the innocent) the jury will never learn of that evidence. </p>
<p>But Nancy Grace won’t be shrieking on TV about that. Hundreds of innocent men and women convicted, and she doesn’t care one bit. She’ll never mention that awkward fact because manipulating the emotions of viewers over the death of a white toddler is much more lucrative. SoozieVT, I guess that’s my point. The Anthony case is only important to people (almost 2000 posts in this thread) because it has been chosen by media types - specifically Nancy Grace - to be hyped. She also chose to hype the Duke Lacrosse case and was repeatedly cited for professional misconduct while working as a prosecutor. She is exactly the kind of prosecutor who would withhold evidence to ensure the conviction of an innocent man just because she personally felt he was guilty. In one reported case she prosecuted the appellate court noted that:
and
Incidentally - the conviction was nonetheless upheld, which will give you an idea of how hard it is to reverse a criminal conviction once it’s been obtained. People follow the Nancy Grace version of the facts in a case - here, accepting uncritically that there was proof that Caylee had duck tape on her face, with a heart-shaped sticker on it, although there is no reliable evidence that either assertion is true, etc. </p>
<p>There’s something to be learned by thinking about why this case was made into a cause celebre when the cases I mentioned have been ignored. As usual, the analysis should start with* cui bono?*</p>
<p>I don’t watch Nancy Grace, or barely any TV for that matter. But it is quite something how this case took on epic proportions in coverage by media, when there are many horrific cases, including many where parents kill their own kids. This case did have some unusual facets to it. But still, it has garnered incredible attention around the country. </p>
<p>But I do understand why it is being talked about HERE on CC because many major news stories are discussed here and like it or not, this story has been in the headlines (and the trial was televised) and so it is a big reason it is under discussion whereas lesser known news stories are not as CC members are from around the country (and world) and not all criminal cases get widespread coverage nationally (or internationally).</p>
<p>sunnyflorida…I just read about that story…wow…incredible. Horrific. Unbelievable.</p>
<p>Interesting case, as it seems to continue to create strange bedfellows. It is interesting that comments made by Ann Coulter, the columnist and author of Guilty: Liberal Victims and Their Assault On America could represent a rallying call for the lynch mob in the making.</p>
<p>That sweetheart called for a nomination of Casey Anthony as the Single Mom of the Year!</p>
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<p>Nice CC Moms, get your lassos ready and look for the next virtual tree!</p>
<p>Eighty-five percent of mothers who kill their children through neglect are single mothers.</p>
<p>I don’t know if that’s true or not…it may be.</p>
<p>However, I do know that the boyfriends of single moms are often the ones who abuse, sexually-abuse, or kill these these kids who aren’t related to them.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s true or not either, but before people like Ann Coulter start making sweeping judgmental statements she should consider all of the factors that go into the statistics that she quotes. Single parenting is very stressful and many woman are single, not by choice but because of the choice made by the father of their children.</p>
<p>Most murders are crimes of passion, committed in a moment of overwhelming rage or jealousy or frustration. Living a stressful lifestyle can lead people more readily to the brink. Men and women, both. This is not an excuse but demographics are complicated factors when they are figured in to the probability of events.</p>
<p>I read about a study the other day that linked second hand smoke to children with ADD. The study suggested that the second hand smoke causes it. I wonder if other factors that are associated with smokers could be in the mix and if these factors were taken into consideration when evaluating the outcomes.</p>
<p><a href=“Software Designer Reports Error in Casey Anthony Trial - The New York Times”>Software Designer Reports Error in Casey Anthony Trial - The New York Times;
<p>"Assertions by the prosecution that Casey Anthony conducted extensive computer searches on the word “chloroform” were based on inaccurate data, a software designer who testified at the trial said Monday.</p>
<p>The designer, John Bradley, said Ms. Anthony had visited what the prosecution said was a crucial Web site only once, not 84 times, as prosecutors had asserted. He came to that conclusion after redesigning his software, and immediately alerted prosecutors and the police about the mistake, he said."</p>
<p>Had she been convicted, the verdict would have been overturned in any case, as the prosecutor withheld substantial exculpatory evidence. The jury got it right.</p>
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<p>This sounds like a pretty non-scientific study to begin with. “. . . through neglect” ? What qualified for “neglect”? I think I’d want to look at that study before I paid too much attention to it. Anne Coulter’s mileage may vary.</p>
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<p>If that proves to be true, it changes a lot, IMO. One of the things, the main thing, that I couldn’t get past was that internet history. I don’t think it will change my opinion about her involvement and responsibility in the death but it would make me less inclined to think there was premeditation.</p>
<p>As far as the jury getting it “right”, the two things are unrelated. The jury based it’s decision on the evidence presented. They didn’t know that the internet stuff was exaggerated (if in fact, that is true). In essence, the jury declared that, yes, Casey visited a website about making chloroform 87 times and, yet, didn’t kill her daughter. They may of gotten it “right” in the sense that they felt there wasn’t enough evidence to convict her but the software designer’s revelation about the searches had no part in that.</p>
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<p>Why are you surprised? Look at the vehemence being espoused here. You really think the majority of people here railing against Casey don’t feel that way??? </p>
<p>The hatred we see here is the precursor to violence. So many people here disgusted that someone had something to do with someone else’s death yet they would be more than willing to do the same or laugh about it…</p>
<p>LOL. If I had to point out just one person here that could reasonably be expected to do violence against her it would be easy…</p>
<p>What do you think the majority of the people here are doing? Virtual lynch mob…</p>
<p>EPTR… the defense brought that up in the closing and also asked the judge to tell the jury in instructions of the error…there were 84 searches for myspace after 1 search for chloroform… casey’s story was that her boyfriend mentioned chloroform on his myspace and she then searched it.</p>
<p>and i sure didnt hear nancy grace mention that lol</p>
<p>Wow xslacker – just because someone vehemently disapproves with the verdict or Casey Anthony in no way signifies that they would cause harm or want harm to come to Casey Anthony. I know for myself and a lot of others here that have stated that they believe that Casey had something to do with Caylee’s death that they also would not want any harm to come to Casey because of the verdict. I also, however, do not wish her a charmed, wealthy, care-free life either. I don’t like her and I wish her a long, hard road and that’s it.</p>