Double Jeopardy

Amber and Amber 

A friend (named Amber, too) and I were chatting last night. She is a casual friend that I hope to someday become closer friends with. I really like her. Her husband and my husband are "best" friends. I don't think guys say that.  Not "besties" for sure. BFFs wouldn't mean the same thing in their world. Anyway, I mentioned Flip Side and she said, "What's that?" WHAT? "Didn't your husband tell you about my book?" Guess what she says? "What book?" Seriously!  Dead meat!

So I spent a few minutes explaining my Flip Side revolution with passion and conviction. Changing the world. Helping people. Teaching children. Empathy. Compassion. Controlling your emotions. Don't flip em' off. Look at the flip side. She listened with as much enthusiasm. I don't know if it was for me, for my book or because she is so damn adorable and sweet. It fed my excitement anyway.

We shared a couple of related stories and then she asked me what I thought about one of the toughest stories in the news. She wanted to know what I thought about it and how it relates to the Flip Side. It was the story of Caylee Anthony. Funny thing was that I had just been listening in on a conversation at dinner about her and considered what the Flip Side meant in this case. This is one of those tough ones where it is hard to see the Flip Side.

There is a Flip Side though. We assume it was the mother who killed her by the evidence the news gave us  and how we perceived her actions. Some of us wonder if justice was served in the court of law but part of our judicial system is  having enough evidence to prove someone is guilty. The jury judged the case with the evidence that was given to them and it wasn't enough to convict. Whether or not the police and lawyers who collected and presented the evidence did a good job isn't the jury's job to decide. So, that sucks. A little girl is still dead and one or a bunch of people aren't telling the truth. What can we do about that? Nothing. Take justice in our own hands? Not unless you want to end up in Casey's seat. It's out of our hands.

Caylee is gone and she is not coming back whether we convicted the killer or not. I want justice. I want the killer found as much as the next person. I've heard that Casey is going into hiding because she might get lynched. That is her prison. If she did it and anyone else was involved, they are going to be looking over their shoulders the rest of their lives and probably ridden with guilt. You can't kill someone and not feel guilty. you can't protect someone who has killed someone and not feel guilty. Unless you are a mentally ill person who has no conscience or the ability to feel empathy.  Can you imagine going in hiding because people hate you enough to kill you. Killing her is an easy way out for her.

We don't need to waste our emotions on Caylee's killer. Being angry isn't bringing her back. Mourning for her is natural.  Dwelling on it isn't healthy.  Like the OJ case many years ago, it is a frustrating turn of events and infuriating end result. We may never know what happened to her.  I certainly hope the truth will come out and the person who did this will be held responsible. Double jeopardy protects Casey... but Casey has to live with Casey and she may possibly be a very sick person.  If its true what they she says happened to her growing up, then we should feel terrible for her as a child. She is who she is because of the abuse she endured. Does it make killing someone right? Absolutely not. She needs and has needed help long before this ever happened.

Honestly, Amber and I didn't get as deep as that into this topic (one too many glasses of wine to go that deep.) When her husband joined us in the room, I fired out, "Nice of you not to mention my book to your wife." The debate began as to when he told her.  "No you didn't! This is when! No way! I said this! I never heard that!"  it wasn't a fight. They were playfully disagreeing.

So, those are some of my thoughts and none are meant to lessen the horror of Caylee's death but in her innocence, to let her rest in peace, not vengeance.


God Bless Caylee and let her rest in peace.