Justice for Caylee!

As I know most of you have seen, the verdict for Casey Anthony came down at 2:15 yesterday after a jury of her peers only deliberated for 10 hours. As with most of America anger swept through the crowds as it was announced that Casey was found "not guilty" on all major charges and "guilty" on the charges of lying to police. Well actually providing false information to law enforcement officers, but I'm not going to split hairs. I can say that with most of America I was angry, and felt like the justice system had grossly let down this 2 year old girl who died of causes unknown, and had a mother who did not report her missing for 31 days. So by the time the proper authorities were notified and by the time her body was found, all evidence of how she died, or who had been involved were all gone. How very sad for this child, to not have justice for her name. And how sad for her family. Then my mind took over and I analyzed the evidence before me.
To say the justice system failed is actually false. The justice system in it's set-up is what actually won the case. And don't think the jury thinks she is innocent because of the "not guilty" charge, they have to go by evidence. I go back to the days when I was in college and searching through case law after case law to answer homework questions. I have my bachelors in criminal justice and so once I sat down and thought about the evidence before me, I understood why the jury came back with the verdict it did. There was no smoking gun. There was no evidence that tied Casey to Caylee's death. Though the car may have reeked of decay there were no fluids in the car. There was no empty roll of duct tape found at the home, nor was there any sign of the brand of duct tape found at the scene. The heart stickers did not match any of the ones obtained from the home. The only thing that tied Casey to any crime was her lies about where her daughter was and the wild goose chase she led detectives on after her mother reported her to the police. The evidence was all circumstantial to the case. Yes this is how they found her, yes this was what surrounded her, yes Casey's answers were sketchy lies, however; nothing actually ties her to the death or disappearance of her daughter.
This may come off as callous and don't think for one second that I don't believe she is guilty of something. Whether it be murder, or just plain stupidity Casey Anthony is guilty! Guilty of being a young mother who did not place her child first. Guilty of not caring that her daughter was gone, guilty of partying and lying. She is guilty of a million things! However, there is no evidence that she was guilty of murder, and as a jury you can not place guilt on emotions, you have to go by what evidence is brought forth to you. And unfortunately nothing in that evidence ties Casey to the murder of her daughter. Not even an accidental death cover up, which we all know is false but Baez apparently felt that was a strong enough defense, and he was right. It was strong enough, and there just wasn't enough to say she did anything wrong to her child other than not reported her missing, and lied to investigators.
Now, even though the verdict came back "not guilty" and more than likely she may either be released on Thursday for time served, or have to spend one more year in jail, Casey's life is effectively over. And such a young life that is. Her life is over because even though she was found "not guilty" the world sees her as guilty, as a young mother who no longer wanted the responsibility of taking care of a child. Her life is over because she dragged her family through the mud. Accusing her father & brother of molestation and her mother of ignoring it. Over because she will never be able to get a job, she will never be able to have friends that trust her, and over because her family may never accept her back into their lives. She would really have been better off in jail because there are no answers for anyone to fall back on, there is no other person to blame but her for the young life lost.
So though we are all plagued with anger that our Justice System failed this little girl, the reality is that Casey Anthony will no longer have the life she knew. She will forever have to live with the guilt of losing her daughter to whatever means, she will forever have to deal with the lies she told, she will forever have to deal with the family she betrayed, and she will forever have to deal with the country who will not stand behind her. We believe that she was guilty, we believe that she lied, and we believe that she just got off scot free, however; Casey will have to endure her own hell for the rest of her life.

Paleo Challenge and Chase

Wow, it's been awhile since I wrote. It's been a busy year. But I decided it was time to start writing again.

My 8 yr old son Chase is a chunky monkey, and since I have been working hard at trying to lose weight, I figured it was time to get him involved as well. So I signed him up for a cross fit kids class at my gym. Which he loves. However, they have three weeks left and his trainer decided to give the kids a Paleo challenge. If you don't know what a Paleo diet is, it is basically going back to the days of the cave man. Nothing processed, no grains, no dairy, just lean meats, veggies, and fruit. Eggs are ok, because they are a protein and not a dairy. So I went to Trader Joes and bought almonds, almond butter, and some trail mix for in his lunch box. I already had an abundance of fruits and veggies from the fresh produce market, and now it's just putting it all together.

My son who wants to win the "prize" for whoever has the most points at the end of the challenge, does not want to do the work for said prize. This morning was a challenging morning as my daughter would not wake up for school, my box o'wine leaked in my fridge, and Chase did not want to wake up in time for school. So after fighting them to get up I went to make Chase breakfast, his usual waffles or pancakes was out, so I made him an egg, with a side of strawberries, and he went into melt down. Putting his feet firmly on the ground and setting his jaw, "I am not going to eat this!" I said "Chase you have 10 minutes before we have to leave for the bus, I don't have time for stubborn this morning, you need to eat this so you won't miss your bus and it's part of your challenge!" So I went into the kitchen to make his lunch for him to take to school, and in it I packed, grilled chicken chunks, and sliced apples, almond butter, carrots and celery, and a bottle of water. I need to go get some almond milk or something. I also put in one of his little trail mix bags. Well the nuts set him off. "I told you I don't want the nuts." He says, I tell him "Honey, you may want to eat them as a snack, and if you try them, you may just like them." So finally after the fighting, he reluctantly eats his breakfast, brushes his teeth and we get out the door by 8:35. Thankfully his bus was running late this morning. I'm not sure how this Paleo thing is going to work, but I'm sure going to give it a try. Hopefully after a few days he will quit fighting me!!!