The Hand That Rocks On As the Cradle Falls

The jury in the Casey Anthony trial handed in its verdict yesterday.  They found Casey not guilty of first degree murder in the death of her daughter, two year-old Caylee Marie.  This frankly disgusting trial and concomitant media circus seems to have dragged on for weeks or months.

A strange tale from the very beginning, when mother Casey phoned 911 a full month after her daughter’s disappearance to report her missing.  The child’s body was found by a meter reader in a wooded area a short distance from the house, in a location with no meters around to read.

What was the driver doing there?  Did he play a role in her disappearance?  Probably not.  One might speculate that he needed to relieve himself and stumbled upon the body, or stopped to make a call and noticed a throng of those huge black flies whose presence means only one thing.

Then there was the ensuing investigation, which revealed that the grandmother had reported a terrible odor emanating from the car, a Google search by Casey for the word “chloroform”, and charges that her father raped her as a child.  The baby’s father and a cast of boyfriends came forward to charge that Casey was a party girl, not a future PTA mom, who was dancing the night away as the hunt went on for her still-missing toddler.  Hairs matching the child were found in the trunk of the car, as well as pieces of duct tape.

After Casey accused her father of molestation, Casey and her parents stopped speaking to one another.  Her father and the baby’s father claimed the child drowned in the family swimming pool and knowing Casey’s history with Family Services, helped to cover up the death.  Casey claimed the toddler died from a drugging by Casey’s father.

The manner in which the child was found and the mother’s attitude towards her death led police to suspect that Casey murdered her child.  They charged her accordingly.  But in the end, all the prosecution had was circumstantial evidence.  No evidence pointed directly to a homicide, only a dead little girl, whose death will likely remain unsolved.

The jury didn’t take long to deliberate.  There was no conclusive evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey had committed first-degree murder, so she got a pass.  Some say it was parental sympathy, others say it was all about the lack of evidence.  Now reports are coming out that Casey will be the beneficiary of salacious book and talk show deals.  It’s not implausible that the child could have fallen into the pool.  If it had been that simple, though, why cover up her death in this way?

Was Casey trying to beat the charge of depraved indifference, figuring lying to the police would bring fewer recriminations than manslaughter?  Or was Caylee’s grandfather the culprit, an abusive browbeating and threatening his victimized (and mighty strange) daughter?

Casey will hardly find any sympathetic viewers or readers amongst the mothers of America.  American Moms can understand many things – a kid falling into an unprotected pool, even covering up the death for fear of punishment for what was essentially an accident, or even a jury finding her not guilty of first degree murder.  Every Mom knows how two year olds are.  There aren’t enough eyes to keep on them, legs to keep up with them, or arms long enough to grab hold of them before they get into trouble.  But to party away while your child is missing – that’s not a thing your average mother can understand, sympathize with, condone, or forgive.  Not all the psychological analysis in the world can explain away being a callous mother.

Casey got away with either murder or negligence (the latter is more likely).  But she’s not going to get away with being a bad mother in the public’s eye.  Little Caylee is in heaven now, with the angels, and millions of mothers' hearts are aching for her, with one notable exception.