capps said:
You are probably right BC.
You say in your opinion, the case has been solved ... can they do that? If the case is solved (involving children) can they just pretend to the public,after all this nationwide attention,that it is not solved? They would just let us believe it was never solved,and hope it would just go away? That doesn't seem right.
Wouldn't we get at least a "The case has been solved,but for legal reasons the outcome cannot be opened to the public." Or some thing to that effect?
It doesn't seem right as you say, and I don't think that this would ever go down this way, but the truth is, we don't really know, and never really will. It is virtually impossible to look up a similar case because it would have the same coverup. There is just no precedent. Or if there is, we wouldn't know about it.
Courts may go to extremes to protect children, but I would think that with a case with such massive national media attention, a coverup this large would just be too difficult to accomplish. Every libel case that is/was brought would get dragged down into this as well. It just seems too large for the legal system to be able to accomplish, therefore, I doubt they would even attempt it...
Perhaps a more plausible idea for me, is that the grand jury concluded either that evidence existed to CHARGE a minor, but you can't prosecute children under 10, or that John or Patsy was probably guilty but there was not enough evidence to prosecute. Don't forget a grand jury doesn't determine guilt, but whether charges can be brought. They may have concluded that the only charges which could have POTENTIALLY have resulted in conviction were "unchargeable", if you will. All grand jury's are secret if they result in no charges. If noone can be charged, for WHATEVER reason, this must be kept secret to protect people from being tried in the public's eye.
Don't forget, what if the grand jury concluded that they thought Patsy did it, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge? Shouldn't they keep this under a gag order? Would we want the whole country saying "Patsy did it, but there isn't enough evidence to charge her?" The burden in criminal trials is high for good reason. We must deal with it, for better or worse...