This is actually a flaw of the jury system. The European continental system lets a judge appreciate whether a person is guilty or not of some crime. Since judges have to pass an exam in order to be appointed and since they are not elected for some period of time, their complete independence is assured. This way, an impartial judge would be indifferent to the media pressure and would weigh the evidence better than any jury, since a judge certainly has more experience than any juror. However, the American legal system chose to put ordinary people to judge other ordinary people, with the "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" principle as the only protection for the accused. Who can actually believe that the jurors didn't have any doubt, whatsoever, in the Peterson case? After all, a jury let OJ go free, so there is nothing as unpredictable as juries.
There is no fail-safe solution to this problem. However, since OJ was found not guilty, there was a fair chance that Peterson could have also gone free. Perhaps that would have been better. At least there was the same justice for everyone. But the verdict in Peterson's case is a heavy blow to the credibility...
Hilden, Julie, "The Scott Peterson trial: Can prosecutors win the case?," FindLaw Columnist Special to CNN.com, CNN.com, July 21, 2004 Wednesday
2. Sahagun, Louis, "Peterson Case Puts the Jury on Defensive," the Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2004 Friday
3. Dearen Jason, "Crunch time at Peterson trial" the Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), November 1, 2004 Monday
Dearen Jason, "Crunch time at Peterson trial" the Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), November 1, 2004 Monday
Hilden, Julie, "The Scott Peterson trial: Can prosecutors win the case?," FindLaw Columnist Special to CNN.com, CNN.com, July 21, 2004 Wednesday
Sahagun, Louis, "Peterson Case Puts the Jury on Defensive," the Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2004 Friday
Dearen Jason, "Crunch time at Peterson trial" the Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), November 1, 2004 Monday
Sahagun, Louis, "Peterson Case Puts the Jury on Defensive," the Los Angeles Times, November 12, 2004 Friday
