I figured that the jury would come back with “not guilty” on the murder charge – though I thought there was a good chance they’d find her guilty of manslaughter; but that only because she’s clearly guilty of something in the death of her child…but I didn’t think guilty of murder; certainly not provably guilty of murder.  We don’t even know how the child died – so how can their be a murder charge?  For all we know the child really did die of an accident and then Ms. Anthony went in to panic mode…the rest is tragic history.

But now that the jury has ruled, I want to take issue with what she was found guilty of: lying to the police.  In my view, there is something just wrong about being found guilty of lying about a crime you didn’t commit.  Remember, she was ruled not guilty – the jury says she didn’t do it.  That is the end of it as far as the death of her child goes.  To now hold her responsible for lying to the police just doesn’t come across to me as an action of justice.

I don’t blame the jury in this – from what I can tell, she not only lied to the police, but lied a lot…and to a lot of people.  I further understand that lying under oath is a very serious crime (for which, incidentally, Bill Clinton should have been removed from office; so serious is the crime)…but I don’t think she was under oath in the interrogation room.  Sure, she should have just kept her mouth shut or told the absolute truth…but she is also a young, irresponsible girl who has a dead child to account for; in such a situation it can easily seem that lying is the best course (it never really is – this is no justification for lying; just a statement that lying, in and of itself, perhaps should not be prosecutable).  All such convictions do is ensure that anyone who watched the trial now knows what to do – shut up, shut up and shut up some more.

Quite simply, if you are ever arrested – even for something you absolutely know you didn’t do – you should just say nothing to the police.  Don’t even give your  name without your attorney present.  You might even make an honest mistake and wind up convicted for lying to the police over it.  How many of us, suddenly hauled in to a police station, could be certain we’d lay out a complete story with no inconsistencies or errors?  And once you’ve made an error, how do you convince the authorities that it was just an error and now you’d like to correct the record after you’ve had a chance to review in your mind the sequence of events?  The charge of lying to the police is a trap that only the most clear minded person completely familiar with the law can possibly avoid.

The police and prosecutors should not have this ability to convict us of lying to them – that should be taken away.  As long as you aren’t solemnly swearing to it, then it isn’t a lie in the legal sense.  At least, that is my view.