By Siri Karri

My title is exactly what it means. The jury returned with the correct verdict. But allow me to clarify.

I personally believe Casey Anthony killed her daughter to fuel her partying lifestyle and that a brilliant legal time with misplaced intentions managed to help her wiggle out of the guillotine. The verdict made me sick to my stomach, and in my mind I could only imagine this irresponsible woman murdering her child, stuffing her in the trunk of her car before going to a bar to sow her wild oats. A guilty verdict would have made me break dance in the middle of my kitchen. I did notice a problem, however.

Here I was, in Ohio, getting worked up by different people’s interpretation of a case in Florida. I have every right to be worked up . . . but I don’t have a right to judge.

There is a large flaw in the normally stellar “trial by jury” system. Even though the jurors are presented facts and evidence, they are ultimately formulating an opinion when they deliver the verdict; what they think is the correct verdict. In cases of robbery, assault, even rape…the opinion can be rectified should new evidence be present.

The death penalty is permanent. You can release a person from jail, reimburse them for their time, but no amount of money can raise the dead. So when debating a murder case, the jurors have a titanic decision to make considering the consequences.

Is it better to let a guilty woman go free or condemn an innocent woman to death? For many at home (myself included), we would have immediately yelled “She’s guilty!”. After all, what we as an audience see a lying, partying mother who lied to police constantly and reported the disappearance of her child…but the implications for the men and women of the jury are massive.

As much as we ALL hate to admit it, the defense made a few valid points. The inability to replicate the results of the trunk analysis, George Anthony’s bizarre behavior and molestation allegations, etc…there were a few key points that attempted to hold back the mountain of evidence against Casey. Even if a juror is 95% sure however . . . imagine what it takes to bridge that 5% that has no evidence.

What, because Casey Anthony was a partying bimbo whose pictures after Caylee’s disappearance resembled more that of a drunken college freshman? Because she took 30 days to even inform someone that her kid was missing? Because she lied to the police at every turn?

Do you know what it is when someone sentences someone else to death and they bridge the gap in logic with emotion? It’s not justice, it’s murder.

Imagine, if you were a jury who wasn’t completely sure about Casey’s guilt and condemned her to death anyway . . . imagine the guilt. Many of them are or will be parents, trying to set an example for their children. Could they, carrying the burden of possibly having a hand in murder, ever fulfill that role to the best of their ability? What are they supposed to tell their kids, should they ever read about the trial and ask how their mother/father found Casey guilty? That “she partied, lied and got a tattoo”? Isn’t obeying their duty by finding Casey innocent and allowing karma to do its work a far more responsible option in every sense of the word?

It’s easy for us to bridge reasonable doubt with pure fury, but we can’t ask that of the jury. I can sit here and rant about how I wish that cold hearted, lying pathetic sack of filth of a mother would get slit and thrown into the trunk of a car . . . but could I actually do it? If given a gun and Casey Anthony, would I be sure enough of myself to pull the trigger?

The answer, for everyone I hope, is no. We cannot ask the jury to give a verdict based on our own rage, potentially scarring their souls with the crime of murder. That’s just selfish. Hopefully, if there is a higher power that acts upon the people of this world, he will strike down upon Casey Anthony with fury reserved only for the most wicked of his subjects. That burden, however, cannot fall to the mortals in the jury.

So as much as it hurts me to say this, the jury made the right decision. Oh, and Casey?

You are now at the mercy of a far greater power, enjoy your partying while it lasts.