If your child accidentally drowned... you don't duct tape the kids mouth and throw her in a trunk... you don't lie about it over and over and over, you don't party and act like it didn't happen... and you don't search for ways to incapacitate and kill and break necks on the Internet. The defense claimed it was botched cover up... cover up of what? An accident? No need to cover up an accident. You call 911... you do CPR... you hope and pray the paramedics can do something.
You are absolutely right in thinking that EL PRESIDENTE. The definition of beyond reasonable doubt is open for interpretation. To some it means there is no way anyone else on the planet could have done it. To others it means it is unreasonable to think anyone else did it. Regardless... it definitely seems that the death penalty seemed to increased the jurors definition of beyond a reasonable doubt... because some admitted they wouldn't have had a problem with manslaughter... even though reasonable doubt would have had the same regardless. =) I know for the murder trial I was a juror for, they asked extensive questions about my definition of beyond a reasonable doubt... and also my opinions on the death penalty... and about whether I could convict someone if I knew they might get the death penalty. In Oregon I believe the conviction and the penalty are separate... (person may or may not get the death penalty) but it sounded like in Florida, it was convicted = death penalty. Not sure though.
I don't know if "reasonable doubt" would have been the same either way. As I understand it, manslaughter has a much wider definition, including being criminally negligent/careless. They may have had zero doubt that she was negligent/careless, but some doubt that she purposefully murdered her daughter.
I think when you release pictures of her being drunk and irresponsible, getting wasted while child is missing, etc....it kind of paints the picture that she is just irresponsible and non-rational thinking. So, the storyline of her just being fucking crazy vs. premeditated murder? ..... the more the prosecution assassinates her character, the more believable that she did something non-rational versus a purposeful murder.
I don't understand how so many people draw the conclusion that her being drunk or partying is an indicator she is guilty of murder. In college when we watched football games we’d do tons of drinking if our team won to celebrate, and do tons of drinking if our boys lost to drown our sorrows. Obviously a football game is trivial compared to the life of your child, but lots of people would have a natural reaction to party if any life changing event happened to their life. Heavy drinking is just a way many people deal with stress and grim realities. Yes personally I think it’s bad taste but I bet many low life red neck inbreed hillbillies would party it up if their young loved one died just because that is the default mechanism to deal with stress and sorrow.
I believe her "loved one" was considered missing at that point, and not considered dead. Not sure how many people would be partying instead of looking.....Unless of course they already knew where their "loved one" was
Or if they were a crappy, negligent parent. Some people are criminally irresponsible, which is different from being a cold-blooded murderer.
The most troubling thing I've heard about this case is how the jurors can now get so much money because of the verdict. I never considered this before, but if you knew that situation as a juror I think most people would at the subconsious level be at the least a tiny bit influenced to give a verdict one way if it was a very close case.
