This has been an interesting and yet disappointing exercise for me. <modsnip> Also, that I’ll likely not be much of a participant here now this Trial has concluded also influenced my decision not to bother with it.
Most here are disappointed with the decision, which to me, was always inevitable. Given the state of the evidence and the fundamental tenet that people are innocent until proven guilty (and that includes Tostee right now…..who is now an innocent man still) and any criminal guilt must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. I doubt even the Prosecutor thought he
would get a conviction. I doubt any Lawyer with experience in crime and Trials expected anything other than this outcome.
That’s the way of the Law, and Court Rooms.
Many here have pointed out that WS is not a Court Room, and that is obviously correct. However, even on the social media (especially a site which seeks to claim credibility in a criminology sense) there is little point in indulging in wild speculation and weird assertions which bear no relationship to the facts, or admissible evidence. It seems to work this way. A female dies of non-natural causes. Instead of looking at all the circumstances, people zero in on the conduct of any male involved in isolation, and just ignore or trivialise everything else which occurred. “That woman is dead, there was a male involved….let’s stretch our imaginations as far as we can, even beyond credibility, to find some way to isolate the death as something the male only contributed to."
That is what strikes me, a total stranger to WS only two weeks ago, right between the eyes. The explanation is that WS is a ‘victim friendly’ Forum. Yes it is, but the TOS are quite clear:
Websleuths is a victim friendly forum. Attacking or bashing a victim is not allowed. Discussing victim behavior, good or bad is fine, but do so in a civil and constructive way, and only when such behavior is relevant to the case.
It is absolutely appropriate for the conduct of the ‘victim’ to be discussed, respectfully, and I have always born that in mind. There is another very relevant WS Rule:
NAME CALLING and DEROGATORY NAME VARIATIONS
In an effort to keep case discussion constructive, name calling, general bashing and using derogatory name variations for any of the case players is not tolerated. Regardless of how we may feel about many of the people that are the focus of our discussion here,it is always best to elevate the conversation and avoid this type of posting behavior. Feel free to express your displeasure with individuals that are being discussed, just avoid petty nastiness,name calling, name changes and over the top rude posts directed at case players.
If they are honest (and I accept they are) there are many here who will readily admit that, on many occasions, they have breached the Rule, which is very appropriately there for balance.
So, to the ultimate point:
It is absolutely of no assistance to achieving a fair result to start out on the premise the male is guilty and then seek to justify that premature conclusion by imaginations. That will inevitably lead to the very disappointment and frustration many here are obviously now experiencing. The real World of Criminal Justice just does not work that way, and it never will.
Step 1: Every person is innocent until proven guilty.
Step 2. That proof must be beyond reasonable doubt and based on the admissible evidence given at the Trial.
Step 3. (a) If that evidence does not reach the level of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, there must be a verdict of “Not Guilty.” (b) If that evidence does reach the level of proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, there must be a verdict of “Guilty.”
If the verdict in this case had been “Guilty,” it would have been found untenable and perverse upon appeal.
To those who are claiming that the system is broken because Tostee was found not guilty, I ask for honest reconsideration, and if that is done, the conclusion is that it has in fact worked very well, but it did not produce the outcome many had invested considerable emotion in.
It is an absolute tragedy that her life was lost that night (and I extend my thoughts to her Family, and also his) but, it is what it is and there is no way of reversing history.
