Emotion.
| Caylee Anthony |
Baez keyed in on what all marketers know – people make buying, and virtually all other, decisions based, in large part, on emotion.
Conflicting “want vs. need” (i.e., guilty vs. not guilty) emotions tugged at each juror's head and heart, especially while being subjected to countless illustrations of courtroom theatrics.
How many times did you see Baez passionately pound on the witnesses?
In his opening statement, Baez bellowed as he described a scene depicting Anthony’s father, George, as being furious when he found that Caylee had (supposedly) drowned.
“Look what you’ve done! Your mother is going to be furious!” Baez yelled as he re-enacted what he presumed George said after finding Caylee’s dead body.
How did Ashton respond to these theatrics?
He didn’t.
Ashton’s stone-cold, fact-based presentation and face-covered snickering during Baez’ closing argument alienated the jurors.
Prosecutor Ashton laughing at Jose Baez
Ashton’s performance (let’s face it, that’s what attorneys do) left them feeling nothing – no sympathy, no empathy, and no emotion – for what Caylee endured, more likely than not at the hands of her very own mother.
Also this: on February 18, 2009, documents released by the State Attorney's Office in Florida indicated that the same type of laundry bag, duct tape, and plastic bags discovered at the crime scene were found in the house where Casey and Caylee resided. An entry from Casey Anthony's diary was also released. The prosecution stated that Casey Anthony had written it in 2008 immediately after murdering her child.
The entry, dated June 21, states: “I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out okay. I completely trust my own judgment & know that I made the right decision. I just hope that the end justifies the means. I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess I will soon see -- This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow -- I've made new friends that I really like. I've surrounded myself with good people -- I am finally happy. Let's just hope that it doesn't change.”
The defense warned the jury not to make a decision based on emotion – anger would presumably bias the jury toward a guilty verdict. Instead, jurors went in the opposite direction and, purportedly, made a “technical, legally correct decision.”
However, the jurors appeared not to possess an ounce of common sense. Perhaps they also lacked the tolerance to take the time required to closely study the facts and make a judicious decision. After less than 11 hours, they returned a not-guilty verdict on the case’s three major counts.
The jurors heard a great deal of evidence – 30+ days of sequestration and isolation are difficult to endure.
However, chances are that – whether the jurors’ based their decision on Baez’s convincing theatrics, Ashton’s soul-less arrogance, or their own self-serving desire to rapidly end this seemingly solution-less case – the verdict was not solely fact-based.
Defense attorneys and, in this instance, a certain prosecutor, needed to account for the fact that jurors process and incorporate emotional information into their judgments.
Human decisions – jury verdicts and otherwise – are never completely void of emotion.
