ORLANDO, Fla. — O.J. Simpson is alive and free and living in the body of a 25-year-old sociopath named Casey Anthony.
Yesterday, as the world wept, 12 sun-scorched jurors in this burg a stone’s throw from Disney World believed a goofy fantasy. They decided that Casey was too young, too pretty, too innocent, if a tad shallow and self-absorbed, to have murdered her adorable 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, on her way to competing to a “hot body” contest.
So Casey skips free, with just a three-year interruption in her drinking and partying and fooling around. She was convicted of lying to police — one would assume, about killing her daughter. But wait! She didn’t kill the kid. The jury has spoken with a forked tongue.
How will they live with themselves?
Tension was as thick as the Florida pea-soup air after the jury reached a decision in this nearly six-week trial, deliberating less than 11 hours. That’s barely long enough to recover from a chemical peel. Casey had stretch marks that hung around longer.
Normally, a quick verdict signals guilt (Martha Stewart). But it soon became clear that this panel had made up its mind long ago. Why deliberate at all?
Casey began to cry when “not guilty” was read, over and over and over again. But then, she did something we hadn’t seen before. She cracked a small, sphinx-like smile. A little laugh.
Her daughter is dead, found decomposing in a Florida swamp. She didn’t report her kid missing for 31 days. She never shed a tear.
What’s more, her lawyers made the fantasy claim that Casey was molested by her father and brother since age 8 — a story so desperate and without foundation that even the judge told jurors not to consider it.
And Casey Anthony chose this day to celebrate.
“She just got away with murder,” said observer Pam Santiago. “Like O.J.”
Like O.J. As in the O.J. trial, a sequestered jury stopped listening. But evidence told the tale of a selfish, bored and overwhelmed lady just itching to get out from under the demands of a small child.
In O.J., defense lawyers played the race card. It meant a conviction would represent a personal threat to the jury: Someone could falsely accuse you of murder.
Casey’s lawyers clearly read the O.J. playbook. They played the Mommy Card, painting the ridiculous picture of a loving mother who made mistakes. They claimed Caylee drowned in her grandparents’ pool, one of countless excuses Casey whipped out while trying to explain why her daughter was missing. But jurors had to believe it. Doubting Casey would have been a threat to any parent on whose watch a kid was ever hurt.
No matter how rotten a mother one is — and Casey should win an award for Brood Mare of the Year — it is difficult for people to believe a woman is capable of taking the life of her own flesh and blood.
The truth is that some mothers don’t love their kids. Due to selfishness or horniness or narcissism, the child we find so adorable is a speed bump on her way to getting a new tattoo.
As surely as Casey was a bad mom, another child will be killed.
Will anyone believe the mother did it?