With regards to yesterday’s verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, I must admit two things:

I was somewhat surprised by the verdict and secondly, (although I am sure I am alone here) I had a new respect for our legal system. Not because I believed that Casey Anthony is innocent, but because we do have a system in which any defendant, no matter how horrific the crime has the presumption of innocence. Ask poor Amanda Knox what she thinks of our legal system after dealing with the Italy’s courts.

Last week, at the gym, a friend of mine, who was of the opinion that Casey “should fry” asked my opinion.  I asked him if he was asking me whether I thought she was guilty or whether she would be found guilty.

“What’s the difference?” he replied.

Well…. for one thing, I was not a juror in the case. My opinion about her guilt or innocence doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. For another, despite what nitwits like Nancy Grace might believe, shouting angrily over the airwaves about someone’s guilt doesn’t make that person guilty of a crime in a country where everyone is entitled by law to a presumption of innocence.

I made the point that, though I thought she was probably guilty of the crime, there was plenty of reasonable doubt to allow for the possibility of a not guilty verdict.

My friend was outraged by even the suggestion that she might get off. Think about it, I told him. Setting emotion aside, what has the prosecution actually proven in this case? They proved that Casey Anthony is a liar and a kook. They proved that Callie Anthony is dead. That is it, really. There was no cause of death. No time of death. No forensic evidence which directly connected Casey Anthony with the little girl’s death. Unfortunately, being a liar and a kook does not automatically make you guilty of murder. How does a rational person send a young woman to her death based on that?  The prosecution was asking the jury to do two things: assume that lying about a crime is the same thing as committing that crime and encouraging jurors to make up a narrative of guilt which allows the evidence to prove what it did not actually prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

So Casey Anthony, now that you’ve most likely gotten away with murdering your own child, what are you going to do now?  Can you handle being the most hated woman in America?