El Pasoans React To Casey Anthony Verdict

It took jurors about 10 hours to find Casey Anthony not guilty in the death of her daughter Caylee. But ask most people, and their presumption of guilt came much sooner.

The not-guilty verdict was a shocking ending to a trial that had been played out in the media and seemingly solved by public opinion.

Comments on KVIA.com’s Facebook page poured into shortly after the verdict was read.

“Just by her actions alone she should have been convicted. It is disappointing that anyone can get away with murder here in the United States,” wrote one viewer.

“Absolute disgrace of our so-called ‘judicial system,'” wrote another viewer. “Now the message has been sent to all that you can chloroform your child to put them to sleep, then when they don’t wake up, put them in a trash bag and dump them.”

District Attorney Jaime Esparza, who weighed in on the reaction to the case, which has stirred such strong emotions, said people focus on the act, but proving it isn’t always as clear cut as people may think.

“In many of these cases you see a horrific act, a child is lost, a murder is brutal,” Esparza said. “What will occur in the courtroom is trying to prove what they see and what brought their attention to the story, and in some cases it’s a straight line, and it’s easy, and in many cases it’s not.”

Having been a part of many high-profile cases, including recently prosecuting David Marmolejo, who was convicted of killing his own mother during a second trial that had to be moved to San Antonio because of pretrial publicity, Esparza says the public only gets a glimpse.

“It’s always difficult in a news story, whether it’s on TV or the newspaper, to capture exactly what the jury is seeing. Only the jury knows what they’ve seen and what they’ve heard.”

And only the jury makes the ultimate decision.

Esparza added that whenever people get upset over a jury’s decision, they need to remember how important it is to serve your jury duty.