OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony... two verdicts, two eras’, same outcome. These two trials captured our attention for obvious reasons. OJ was a sports icon who transcended race, an actor with a brilliant smile and an engaging personality. I was going to say movie star, but his most notable roles were Nordberg the accident prone cop in the Naked Gun movies and Kunta Kinte's father in Root's. Not exactly Oscar material. Casey Anthony is an attractive young white woman, who liked tattoos and partying. Two very different personalities, from different walks of life both charged with heinous crimes. OJ was tried on two counts of murder following the June, 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Casey Anthony was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of her daughter Caylee. Both trials resulted in the acquittal of the defendants on murder charges, while also having most of America believing they got away with murder.
"If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit.” Johnnie Cochran a legendary lawyer, whom if you don't do your home work would assume the OJ trial made him. You have to look deeper; Johnnie had been on the frontlines for a long time. He was one of Geronimo Pratt’s lawyers http://opinionated-dennis.blogspot.com/2011/06/revolution-will-not-be-televised.html he was known as a fiery orator and skilled attorney. On the other side of the spectrum is Jose Baez. He took eight years to convince the Florida Supreme Court to let him practice law, and he'd been trying cases for only three years when the Anthony case came along. People thought he was in over his head during the trial and even called him Bozo the clown. Now they are calling him "Juani Cochran." What happens now for Baez is anybody’s guess, book deals, TV appearances and a definite up tick in clients. It will definitely bring a lot of hate and criticism, from many outraged citizens. That's fine; people can be mad and disgusted. They can call the jury names. They can say with conviction what they would have done, but its conjecture. Johnnie Cochran and Jose Baez did what they were paid to do...WIN bottom line. The jury was entrusted with a job to do ,and they did it. They did it to the best of their abilities.
I am not going to sit here and say that I believe either of them was innocent. The justice system we have is not perfect, but it worked the way it was designed. The Prosecution was not able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that OJ and Casey Anthony were guilty. Think about this, the defense does not have to prove innocence, just reasonable doubt. You know, innocent until proven guilty. Don't get mad that Casey Anthony got acquitted, (I'm talking to my people now) you damn sure were not mad when OJ was found not guilty. People can try and rationalize all they want, murder is murder. You were not mad that two people were savagely killed in Brentwood . Nicole Brown was basically decapitated, and Ron Goldman was gutted like a fish. After that Not Guilty verdict, you were dancing and singing "we won, we won". Now Casey Anthony is acquitted and everybody is grumbling “man she was white, of course she got off". Stop the hypocrisy, her daughter is dead. Nobody knows what happened on both occasions. They will have to live with their actions for the rest of their lives. Can you live with your reactions?
1 comment:
Thanks Dennis, yes we may not like the verdict that was just read in regards to Casey Anthony, but the fact remains that those that sat on the jury felt that she was found not guilty. We have to move on, and keep it moving..Now she has to live with what has happened to poor Caylee and the haunting that follows her.
Following your analogy of O.J, those that do not agree with the decision, may soon find solace that her behavior will ultimately land her in prison as the decisions and behavior of Mr. Simpson or perhaps find herself murdered.
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