Right now, it looks like everywhere you turn there is talk about someone’s murder conviction being overturned or at least of a jury being unable to reach a conviction on a murder charge.
I can’t really blame anybody about that as these types of stories sell.
Now convicting someone of murder is really a hard thing to do. Really, it is difficult to say 100% that somebody is definitely guilty of such a grievous crime.
And just imagine yourself being party to punishing another human being with death or to live out their life and then to die locked up in a prison cell.
But the public can’t seem to get enough of this. And the reception has been varied and is in fact polarizing. People are very much animated, fascinated even, about such cases and follow their development as they unfold from day-to-day.
Many even watch trial proceedings live as they happen.
And there are still more high profile murder or manslaughter trials still on-going. Let us summarize what has happened since the start of October.
Foxy Knoxy Acquitted of Murder
It has been all over the news since Monday October 3rd, straight from Perugia, Italy, Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito were found not guilty of murdering Amanda’s roommate Meredith Kercher.
Amanda has since flown back to Seattle following her almost four year ordeal inside an Italian prison cell and Italian style justice. She was earlier convicted of Ms. Kercher’s murder.
What bothers me with this and other similar cases is that the victim and the victim’s family aren’t getting the attention that they really need.
If Amanda and the rest of the accused weren’t guilty, then Meredith’s real murderer is still out there.
And this goes the same for these other cases.
Obie Anthony Spent 17 Years in Jail, Wrongly Convicted of Murder
In 1994, Mr. Anthony, a young man of 19, was accused along with Reggie Cole of killing a Mexican immigrant outside a South LA brothel.
He was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He has then languished in jail for the last 17 years.
Tuesday night, October 4, he was released from downtown LA’s Twin Towers County Jail after an LA County Superior Court judge had overturned his murder conviction last Friday.
Superior Court Judge Kelvin D. Filer ordered Obie, now 37, to be released after the prosecution’s key witness recanted his sworn testimony and admitted he never saw the killer.
Cole, Anthony’s co-defendant was earlier released a few months prior after his own conviction was also overturned. Again who was the killer? And worse, we don’t even know the name of the victim.
The Never Ending Casey Anthony Story
Now back in August, after a jury of her peers had found Casey not guilty of killing her own two year old daughter Caylee, we still very much see and read about her in the news.
People have still not gotten over her. Now Casey is even being compared to Amanda, as in who’s prettier, who handled their verdict better, who’s guilty, who looked guilty and who’s not.
As I’ve said, what is being done for the innocent victim, Caylee?
And it doesn’t help that the jurors for the Casey Anthony trial have spoken and unanimously said they were “sick to their stomachs” about voting to acquit Casey.
What can they do though? The prosecutors and the investigators in both the Amanda Knox and the Casey Anthony Murder Trials didn’t seem to have their act together.
Mistrial for the Teen Convicted of Murdering His Gay Classmate
In September, Brandon McInerney’s hate crime/murder case ended in a mistrial.
Brandon shot and killed Lawrence King in 2008 inside their classroom, in front of their classmates and teacher. He brought and hid a handgun to school inside his backpack and quickly fled the crime scene leaving his belongings behind.
He was tried as an adult even though he was 14 at the time. King was an openly gay 15 year old.
Brandon is now 17 and the latest is that a date has been set for his retrial.
Breaking News: Wednesday, October 5, in a hearing in Ventura County Superior Court, Brandon McInerney’s retrial was formally set for November 21st. The jury was deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of the first manslaughter charge against Brandon. Again, he will be tried as an adult.
Conrad Murray’s Manslaughter Trial
Right now, people from all over the planet are following the manslaughter case against Michael Jackson’s doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray. The trial proceedings have been streaming live online as well as being telecast on network television since the trials begun.
And as in the O.J. Simpson Trial and other high profile celebrity cases of this nature, this one looks and sounds like a real circus. I could not even imagine how Michael’s immediate family are right now.
Another Girl Missing In Aruba
With the Natalee Holloway disappearance still unfinished business since 2005, the story of yet another female American being reported missing in the Caribbean islands is now putting Aruba back in the spotlight.
October 4, a team of cadaver dogs was tasked to sniff out the remains of Robyn Gardner first reported missing two months prior by Gary Giordano.
Ms. Gardner, 35 from Maryland State was travelling in the islands with Mr. Giordano, a U.S. businessman.
Gary has been in jail since the time he reported Robyn missing. Local authorities are holding him in suspicion of involvement in Ms. Gardner’s disappearance and presumed death.
The story he gave investigators is that Robyn was swept away into the ocean as they were snorkeling. Never to be seen again.
What has made this story more interesting is that Mr. Giordano has now hired the services of Jose Baez. The same Attorney Jose Baez who successfully defended Casey Anthony of murdering her daughter.
The plot thickens.
Related News:
Seattle Times: Amanda Knox: Home at Last
LA Times: Judge Overturns Murder Conviction in 1994 Slaying
ABC News: Casey Anthony Juror: “Sick to Our Stomachs” Over Not Guilty Verdict
San Francisco Bay Times: Mistrial Declared for Teen Murderer of Gay Teen
NBC-Washington News: Cadaver Dogs Search for Robyn Gardner in Aruba