The jury was chosen, and according to HHBP, and the state of Florida, as law requires, this jury was death qualified. For the most part, these jurors were not avid followers of the KC story. Aside from one or two jurors, both sides were satisfied with jury selection. HHBP was legally satisfied with jury selection, and the trial began. After jury selection, most felt this was a fairly well educated, death qualified jury.
The one huge difference between what this jury observed during the trial, as compared to what the general public observed for 3 years, is that for 3 years, we did not hear cross examination by the defense. Yes, there were some statements made by the defense, but these were trivialized by the media and the public. KC lied, therefore, the DT was comprised of liars, and their statements were lies. JB was an inexperienced lawyer, that learned the hard way, that the media is not necessarily your friend.
The media basically tried and convicted KC in the court of public opinion from the moment the 31 days was first uttered. From that moment on, everything reported by the media was reported in a way, as to support the assumption of guilt. With the release of docs, etc., via the Sunshine Law, the media highlighted to the high heavens anything and everything that even remotely suggested guilt, and either trivialized or ignored anything even the slightest bit exculpatory. With this type of coverage, it is not surprising in the least, that over 70% of the general public believes KC is guilty.
The fairly well educated jury did not enter day 1 of the trial with the same mindset of the general public. They were instructed to presume innocence until the prosecution proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They heard the states OS, immediately followed by the DT's OS. The state detailed 31 days of abhorrent behavior by KC. The public was pleased, the TH's were proclaiming the trial was all but over. LDB and JA were Caylee's champions, and KC was going to get the needle. Then, the unthinkable happened. JB gave his OS, and stunned everyone. The judge informed the jury that OS's were not evidence. For a couple of hours, the TH's were almost rendered speechless. There was going to be a defense presented, and they were shocked. By days end, the TH's had recovered, and let the spin begin. The TH's had the state winning, because, well, they have said for 3 years the state would win, so it was way to late to change now. The jury however, may not have been on the same page as the TH's at this point. They listened to hours of KC is evil, and in a few minutes, JB had offered an alternative theory that, if true, would negate the states OS. The trial had started, and it was evident from OS's that this DT was far more prepared than they had been given credit for in the media. The state would have to prove their case to 12 jurors, who were not already certain beyond a reasonable doubt that KC murdered Caylee. This is a high standard of proof, where even a strong belief of guilt does not meet the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
The state called GA to the stand, and asked if he had ever molested KC. His response was no, but as we found out after trial, the jury did not find GA to be a credible witness, which seemed to be a major factor in the verdict. The state then placed a number of witnesses on the stand that confirmed KC's lies and abhorrent behavior, but surprisingly made her look like a good, caring, loving mother. The TH's poohpoohed the amazing mother testimony, and ballyhooed the abhorrent behavior, much to the delight of the general public. Yes, the state is going to win this case hands down. The state followed with the forensics, and the DT attempted to poke holes in everything the state presented. Here, JB's inexperience again came shining through, as his questions were frequently objected to, and when he failed to give a legal reason why he can ask the question, the judge sustained the objection. The TH's loved it, and gave the prosecution kudos daily, during the prosecutions CIC. The TH's basically ignored or minimized the DT's cross examinations. The jury however, was not listening to the TH's, they were listening to the witnesses, the prosecutors, and the defense lawyers. The TH's were saying the jury was riveted when the prosecutors were speaking, but were yawning and seemingly bored when the DT was speaking. The public had no reason to question what the TH's were saying, and could not observe the jury on television. This holds true for the note taking as well, on one hand the jurors had over 400 pages of notes in the deliberation room, on the other hand the jurors were rarely taking notes.
The DT stated to HHBP that they did not have to present a defense, to which HHBP replied, "then ya'll lied to me." WHOA stop the presses, the judge said the DT were liars. The best soundbyte to come from the trial since OS. The media had a wonderful time with that statement, and the TH's felt that the states case was pretty much now just a formality, with the only question being how long the jury will take in deliberations to convict KC of all charges. According to them, the DT had no defense to present or they would not have said that to HHBP. Case closed.
The DT then presented their CIC. When they attempted to bring into evidence the proof of molestation by GA, they were legally thwarted at every turn. Which led the public to believe that one of the two jaw dropping statements made by JB in OS was an outright lie, since he did not show one iota of proof. JB did manage to get enough evidence in about the other shocker in OS, that Caylee drowned in the pool, that HHBP ruled JB legally could argue the theory Caylee drowned, but could NOT argue the theory GA molested KC.
The TH's, after each day of testimony throughout the trial, gave the prosecution the win for the day, thus confirming daily what the media had been saying all along, that KC was guilty. The general public was very accepting of this analysis, because this confirmed what they also believed, and it was nice to have the TH's verify what they believed.
The battle of the forensic experts, for the most part was downplayed by the media. When the forensics seemingly became too boring, the media opted to replay the jailhouse tapes, over and over, with little tidbits about the forensics sandwiched in. No need for boring the public with the boring forensics, when she already obviously has a fork in her, she's done. The TH's were happy to let the public know, that JA's skill had turned each defense witness into a witness for the state, confirming everything the states witnesses had already stated in regards to the forensics. Here again, the jury was not listening to what the TH's had to say, and it seems the jury may not have come to the same conclusion that the TH's had. The state introduced an expert with a sniffer machine, that was corroberated with several witnesses stating they smelled human decomp, as well as two cadaver dogs alerting in the A's backyard, and one alerting to the trunk of the Pontiac. The state also introduced a single hair with apparent decomp, bug testimony, and a hard to see stain. The DT countered this evidence very well, unless you were only listening to the TH's analysis of this part of the trial. The TH's were giving daily doses of JA is the master of forensics in the courtroom. The burden of the state is to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and as impressive as JA seemed to be in the courtroom, the forensic testimony of the experts was often confusing, and contradictory depending on which expert you were listening to. It is up to the state to make this evidence crystal clear. Confusion equals doubt. JA needed to eliminate any questions about the forensics, but he failed. The state did not do the further testing on the adipocere like substance that would have eliminated the doubt there. The state did not explain how the shockingly high levels of chloroform found in the trunk related to the murder of Caylee. The states expert could not say the hair with apparent decomp could not have come from a living person. The state did not explain how it could be possible that there was no dna or blood found in the stain in the carpet, or why that stain was barely visible instead of being a big black stain. Fairly well educated jurors could easily find reasonable doubt with the trunk evidence. The state failed here. The TH's however, trumpeted their champion JA, and made certain the world knew he had made every DT witness a witness for the state, which of course, reinforced what the media has believed all along.
Area A. The TH's had this part of the trial pegged as all PT. No doubts about this area, and again, the state was racking up daily wins, and the final straw that would break the DT's back was the case winning testimony of Dr. G. No doubt could possibly remain after it was stated that 100% of all drownings in Dr. Gs area called 911, and that there is no explanation for duct tape being on a childs face other than homicide. The DT's Dr. Spitz was ridiculed by the media and the general public. As was the plant lady, and the grief expert. This case, in the eyes of the TH's was a slam dunk now, and the general public wholeheartedly agreed.
In the states closing argument, JA said, something along the lines of "we can only hope that chloroform had been used on Caylee before the tape was applied. JB ripped into that statement very convincingly. JB gave an impassioned closing statement about fantasy forensics, etc. Then CM finished the DT's closing statement with a very impressive hardcore presentation about reasonable doubt in the eyes of the law, to which neither the prosecution nor HHBP objected to in any way.
Was this fairly well educated, death qualified jury in reality a bunch of mindless mice, that followed the pied piper of a juryforeman to a not guilty verdict on the charges that mattered? The TH's think so. This verdict contradicted everything they had been saying for the past three years. A few jurors spoke out, and the edited interviews shined a rather negative light on the jury as a whole, but it certainly made the TH's and the media look better. The media would never edit an interview to put themselves in the most positive light possible would they? It seems to be forgotten that the initial vote in regards to the 1st premeditated DP charge was 10 - 2 not guilty. According to the jurors, this was quickly changed to a unanimous not guilty after only a couple hours. This was the only charge where a verdict of guilty would keep the jurors sequestered throughout the penalty phase. So, those who believe the jury voted not guilty on charges 2 and 3 because they wanted to go home asap and didn't want to stay sequestered for the penalty phase are mistaken, as that was not the case. Immediately after closing arguments had been completed, and deliberations had begun 10, thats right 10 of these 12 jurors, did not believe the state had proven KC committed premeditated murder beyond a reasonable doubt. 10 of 12. In the court of public opinion that is mind boggling. The jury very quickly unanimously found guilty verdicts on counts 4 - 7. Now, they were left with counts 2 and 3, roughly 2 hours in to deliberation. The initial vote found 6 guilty 6 not guilty. At this point, does this mean there were 6 fairly well educated jurors who found her guilty, and 6 not so bright jurors who could not follow the dots? The simple fact that the vote was 6 to 6 points out that the states case was not anywhere near the slam dunk that the TH's had been calling it. If the 6 guilty voters were fairly well educated (which they must have been or why would they have voted for guilty), then how did the not so bright 6 persuade the intellectually superior 6 to change their vote. The initial 6 to 6 vote does not make it sound like one person strong armed the other 11 into changing their votes to not guilty. The intial 6 to 6 vote should be shocking to the general public, and the TH's as well, since pre deliberation the popular opinion was more like 11 to 1 no where close to 6 to 6. At the end of closing statements, half of these jurors (who had listened to all the cross examination and dt witnesses without the benefit of media spin) were convinced that KC was not guilty on the first 3 counts, 10 of 12 on count 1. A few more hours and counts 2 and 3 were unanimously voted as not guilty. As with the OJ verdict, this one will be debated for years to come.
Was the public misled by the media. Did the media overhype the evidence, overrate the prosecution, underrate the defense, and simply not give any attention to the exculpatory evidence? Was this jury, that had been deemed fairly well educated and death qualified, and almost certain to find KC guilty on all charges, right up until the verdict was read, suddenly mindless sheep, unable to assess evidence, unable to connect the dots, and strong armed by one into a not guilty verdict on the first 3 counts? Although I am in agreement with the jury on this verdict, I have no doubt whatsoever, that the debate over whether this verdict was right or wrong will go on for a long, long time.
As always, my entire post is my opinion only.
