By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… Amendment VI of the United States Constitutions reads:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witness against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

The Constitution does not say the jury must decide what the majority of the people believe to be the truth but must deal with the information that is presented to them.

The standard of guilt that has been set in criminal cases is “reasonable doubt” not the “preponderance of evidence.” The trial of Casey Anthony has over the last week taken over the news. For the last three years, tabloid press and TV news has declared the guilt of the Casey Anthony in the death of her daughter Caylee. It appears that everyone in America with the exception of twelve jurors found no “reasonable doubt” in the quilt of the party-girl mother of the child.

An over confident prosecutor ran into an underestimated defense attorney who realized he did not have to prove the mother had not murdered the child he only had to prove there was a reasonable explanation other than murder for the death of Caylee. He never contested the child did not die while in the mother’s care, he didn’t even deny that Casey was responsible for the child’s death, only that she had not murdered her. He presented a plausible explanation that the child died in the family’s swimming pool and a panicked mother with the help of the grandfather disposed of the body.

The statement was made only in the opening arguments, but it stuck in the minds of the jury as the prosecutor used all the circumstantial evidence he had to show that the child was murdered. He failed to convince the jury that his explanation for the death was the only reasonable explanation there was.

The smartest thing the defense attorney did was not deny that his client was a pathological liar and a despicable party girl who possesses the morals of an alley cat. He merely indicated that the character assassination that had been going on for three years since the arrest was not relevant to the charges.

The talking heads of the tabloid press were shocked, yes, shocked they said, over the results of the trial for they had long ago decided the fate of their proclaimed child killer. They were shocked that a jury actually accepted the evidence presented to them over the word of these self-proclaimed legal experts.

These experts entertain the American public on twenty-four hour stations that claim to bring the American people the news while what they really do is make editorial comments supporting either the extreme right or left of the American political scene. For once, both extremes found something they could agree upon and that was the guilt of one Casey Anthony.

I do not know how Caylee Anthony died, or who put her body in a garbage bag and left her beside the road. I have my suspicions that there are Anthony family members who do know. However, I don’t know that for a fact and neither do you.

Whether we like the results of the trial or not, the system of justice established by the Constitution worked. It is the job of the prosecutor to convince a jury of twelve people as to the factual basis of the case they presented; they did not do so.

The only crimes that the prosecutor proved was Casey Anthony lied to the police during the investigation as to the location of Caylee; and for that, the judge gave her the maximum sentence allowed, four years. She has already served three years and will be out in a short time as she will be given time off for good behavior.

Apparently, the only place she has ever had good behavior was in jail.

No one asked me but… Since we are talking about Constitutional rights, let’s look at one that is being violated everyday on the roads of Texas and New Mexico. A right that Americans have willingly surrendered, and is violated at the airports and the roadways of America every day is Amendment IV.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall be issued, but upon, probable cause, supported by Oaths or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

While traveling down Interstate 10 in Texas and on Interstate 25 in New Mexico, I was stopped and queried as to my citizenship. My car was sniffed by a dog and looked into by a border patrol agent.

Now I know many of you are saying “poor baby.” You are questioning what the issue is. This makes us safer from terrorism.

We have become so willing to give up our Constitutional rights for a degree of safety that we allow the government to throw away the very rights we established this country to instill.

After waiting in line at each stop, I lowered my window and when the officer asked if I were an American citizen, I mentally said: “You have no right to randomly stop me, get the dog away from my car you have no probable cause for this illegal search. Produce the warrant describing my car as place to be searched. As an American citizen, I am appalled that a government official would violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution with such impunity.”

However, out loud I said, “Yes, sir.”

Thank goodness, he did not ask me to prove my citizenship, for I had no such proof.

Thought of the week… “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

– Benjamin Franklin