Happy Independence Day!

Posted by Valerie on July 9, 2011

A little late? No, but in the providence of God right on time!
I have prayed for this day and am so happy to see it here.

South Sudan
July 9, 2011

There has been much suffering in South Sudan and may be more to come. May the Lord pour out mercy and grace upon this new nation, so that many will turn to Christ and live. May God’s people from all over the world be provoked to enter this open door, rejoicing and demonstrating the love of Christ in every practical way.

Are Jury Instructions Too Difficult for Modern Readers to Comprehend?

Posted by Valerie on July 8, 2011

The verdict for Casey Anthony came in this week, and while I know that we are supposed to applaud and affirm the jury’s verdict, this is troubling.

‎”If they charged her with other things, we probably could have gotten a guilty verdict, absolutely. But not for death, not for first-degree murder. That’s a very substantial charge.” — Juror Jennifer Ford

According to what the media is saying, that sounds about right, doesn’t it?

But this jury was given all of the following options for a verdict:

• first degree murder
• second degree murder
• manslaughter
• third degree murder
• aggravated manslaughter of a child
• aggravated child abuse.
• child abuse.

Each juror received his or her own copy of Judge Perry’s instructions, with each of these verdict options in bold type, followed by detailed elements and definitions for each.

How could a juror not know this? Did they not read the instructions, or did they not understand them?

Ask a Jury

Posted by Valerie on July 7, 2011

I would like to ask a Florida jury two questions.

First, if the prosecution proposed that Caylee had been taken by a stranger who had previously researched methods of murder and how to make chloroform, had carried her dead body in the trunk of a car of which he alone had custody (while explaining the odor to friends as roadkill), had an astonishingly high level of chloroform in his trunk, had put Caylee’s body in a plastic garbage bag inside a laundry bag that matched one in his own house and had then thrown her into a swamp near his house with her mouth and nose sealed with duct tape (using a rare brand that matched tape in his own house) would those circumstances add up to any sort of unlawful killing, beyond a reasonable doubt?

Second, what one or two pieces of evidence would have been needed, more, to make this into a killing that was either 1) premeditated or 2) preceded by some act of aggravated child abuse, beyond a reasonable doubt? (Acts of aggravated child abuse would include things like putting duct tape on faces and putting babies in trunks.)

I think Casey Anthony was acquitted primarily because she is pretty, and because she is a mommy. Pretty girls, and especially pretty mommies, just don’t do what Casey did.

I find the phrase “merely circumstantial evidence” really disturbing in this context. Historically, we as a people have been comfortable making inferences from circumstantial evidence. Murderers don’t consistently offer much in the way of direct evidence like eyewitnesses, surveillance video, or even fingerprints and DNA.

Most murderers hide their actions and then cover their tracks as well as they can. Historically, most murders have not been solved in test tubes but in human minds drawing inferences from known facts and behaviors. Our system of jurisprudence has a strong foundation in Christianity and the Bible, both of which have historically accepted various forms of circumstantial evidence as legitimate witnesses.

I think that we are seeing the fruit of a powerful and tragic cultural evolution. First, definitions are evolving. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” has become “beyond imagination,” “moral certainty” has become “absolute certainty,” and “circumstantial evidence” seems to mean approximately what “red herring” used to mean.

Secondly, we are being pushed toward the belief that all forms of behavior are just points on an endless spectrum of legitimacy, so that we feel compelled to believe the nurse who testified that every possible emotion could be a form of grief–including joyful exuberance.

Thirdly, I suspect that a societal distrust of logic and certainty is leaving us less comfortable with the process of making logical inferences and more susceptible to the powerful effects of TV and movies.

On this last point, we might hear that just as Sue left Bob alone in his office, she watched Jane enter, heard a shot fired, and then heard a loud crash. When Bob is later discovered dead on the floor, this evidence compels the inference that Jane is the murderer.

But haven’t we seen Jane exonerated a thousand times on TV? We especially remember the episode where Sebastian Supersleuth discovered that the shot was actually fired from across an alley, from the window of a man who had long rented under a secret identity, biding his time in patient wickedness for the ideal moment to take Bob’s life. In a culture where logic and certainty are becoming increasingly distasteful, might not this story have a powerful impact as it leaves its images in millions of memories?

When a baby falls into a pool, a mother calls 911, even and especially when the baby is found non-responsive and without a heartbeat. The only exception is the case where the mother has helped the baby into the pool and watched her drown. I don’t know Caylee’s exact cause of death (duct tape is most plausible), but reasonable doubt just doesn’t allow for an accident in this case.

What would you ask a jury?

Anthony Verdict May Signal Death of Circumstantial Evidence
The Casey Anthony Brand Wins
Worse Than O.J.! [by Marcia Clark]
Casey Jury Brainwash: On Sequestration
Casey Anthony Juror: ‘Sick to Our Stomachs’ Over Not Guilty Verdict
Casey Anthony Juror Says the Jury Wanted to Find her Guilty, but the Evidence ‘Wasn’t There’

Don’t read; just vote. It’s all for a good cause.

Posted by Valerie on February 13, 2009

I think this video must be getting tons of hits, because it’s not loading readily. Here’s the text from John Boehner,

“…If all that wasn’t enough, here we are with 1100 pages. 1100 pages that not one member of this body has read. Not one. There may be some staffer over at Appropriations Committee that read all of this last night. I don’t know how you could read 1100 pages between midnight, uh, and now. Not one member’s read this. What happened to the promise that we’re gonna let the American people see what’s in this bill for forty-eight hours. But, nope––we don’t have time to do that.”

Did you know that 1100 pages of legislation is the functional equivalent of almost 9000 pages of good fiction? (It’s something like dog years to human years.)

My kids keep saying that no one read CPSIA before voting.