Why Casey Anthony Trial Provokes Questions about American Legal System

Accused Mom Casey Anthony

The longer I follow the trial of Casey Anthony, the woman accused of killing her two year old daughter, Caylee, the more troubled I am by the way the American legal system metes out justice.  Not being a lawyer, I regret not having paid more attention to how our legal system functions before now.   But why does no one in that Clearwater, Florida courtroom seem to genuinely care about what happened to that beautiful little toddler?  Why should bringing a murderer to justice be more about the attorneys' acting skills, procedural tricks and adeptness at manipulating gullible juries?  There is something almost medieval about a justice system that depends on factors other than whether the defendant actually committed the crime.  In Europe of the Middle Ages innocence or guilt was determined by which of the two disputing parties or their representatives won a judicially-sanctioned jousting tournament.  


For instance, I just don't see why the lawyers in the case would bicker over what proven evidence should be withheld from the jury, if the court's goal is to find out what really happened to the little girl.  Her skull and bones were found five months after the mother claimed a (non-existent) Mexican nanny ran off with the child.  Legal observers now say that if the defense attorney's story of the child having accidentally drowned doesn't stick, then he will merely have to put back on his thinking-cap and come up with another tale.

Are court cases like this merely pre-casted reality tv?  Or does American society actually care to find out whether this woman killed her child?  Perhaps a system such as ours that gives such casual regard to what actually happened as opposed to what procedures were followed, explains why so many minorities on death row have had to rely on DNA evidence to absolve them of crimes they did not commit. 

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