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Community Corner

Struggling to Understand Casey Anthony's 'Not Guilty' Verdict

Our Moms Council discusses the high-profile trial in Caylee's death.

In the court of public opinion, Casey Anthony is guilty.

She’s guilty of not reacting the way a panicked parent would have immediately after realizing their child had drowned, was missing or near any kind of danger.

She’s guilty of odd and confounding behavior. Instead of being distraught and mounting an all-out search for her little girl, Caylee, three years ago, she went out partying.

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Anthony is guilty based on the evidence we were fed by the intense media coverage, and by the way our minds processed the images of her dancing and swaying away all night long in the days after her daughter went missing.

But in reality, she was acquitted by a jury of her own peers of the most heinous charges known to man: First-degree murder of her own child, something most of us cannot even begin to fathom as caring parents.

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However, as we learned over the course of this emotional trial, Anthony didn’t live in a traditional family setting either. As Casey’s former fiancé noted during an interview on the TODAY show, “That family was a carnival of dysfunctionality.”


We may never find out what really happened to Caylee, and it feels as if we are the ones left hanging without justice being served on behalf of this innocent two-year-old child. Just like in the O.J. Simpson case, we might never know the truth.

To be a juror in this controversial case must have been difficult, and evidently there was more information than what we, as easy-chair jurors, had at our disposal during Anthony's trial.

Anthony, who remained in jail during her two-month trial in Orlando, Fla., and was convicted of lesser charges of lying to police, will be released from jail July 13.

Our Moms Council reacts to the Anthony verdict handed down Tuesday.

Tonia Accetta: I cannot believe this outcome! Not since the O.J. Simpson trial have we been transfixed by a courtroom drama like this, I watched with a strong opinion about Casey Anthony and the kind of parent I concluded she must have been.

In my mind she is guilty! We just can't prove it, as one of the jurors finally said to the press. “Where, when, how and why?” were all questions that went unanswered. Do we even know who the baby’s father was? If the babysitter was made up, then where did she leave her child while she worked? Does (her attorney) Jose Baez really think she drowned in the pool? There were so many lies within this case it became hard to find the truth. There are no winners here, just another sad story.

Morgan Benzian: Without knowing all the details of the case, all I can say is that my heart goes out to Caylee and her loved ones. I was very surprised by the jury's verdict and I can't help but feel that Caylee has not seen the justice she deserves. The circumstances surrounding her death sadden me deeply and it just leaves me wondering, “How could this have happened?”

Suzette Valle: In a hyper-publicized murder case such as Caylee’s, it’s difficult to understand how a mother could have any of the reactions Casey Anthony flaunted after her baby was allegedly missing.  Nothing about this case points to a normal parent's reaction to a child in distress. However, a jury had the last word and there’s nothing we can do about this now – except perhaps boycott any books or films based on the ordeal from which Anthony can draw royalties. At the end of the day, it is just too difficult to grasp the complexity of this tragedy.

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