I found this a poignant read today, including the Comments that follow her article:
Do Women Rape?
THE DAILY BEAST
Marcia Clark
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-16/huckabys-crazy-defense/
I think that Marcia Clark rocks!
The article was really interesting. It made me think about what I had said earlier about Casey and the Anthonys making it easier for people to believe that MH could commit such horrors. I still think so, just not as strongly. I know that Casey didn't molest little Caylee, but she was Caylee's mother. Motherhood is a special bond that is a far cry from the bond with the mother of a friend or babysitter. The first mother to murder her children I ever heard about was Susan Smith, and I was almost as horrified as I am today hearing about what MH is charged with. When I heard about Caylee I was saddened, by sadly not shocked.
I also think that these days, with everything that has happened (Oklahoma, Columbine, The World Trade Center, Virgina Tech, Warren Jeffs/FLDS sex crimes, DC Sniper and all the crimes similar to those just mentioned) we live in an era where we aren't as shocked with being shocked.:sheesh:
I found hope in this comment she made when talking about how the insanity plea would not work for MH: "even though she allegedly placed the body in a suitcase and sunk it in an irrigation pondthere is nothing that could make a jury understand or forget the hideous fact, if proven, she defiled a little girl. T
he fastest verdicts I ever prosecuted were molestation casesI once saw a jury convict on nine counts in 20 minutes flat." I look at that as saying that what may be the achilles heal of the case may also be its greatest asset in the pursuit of justice. This case is about pure evil, it has none of the Andrea Yates "I was saving my child" sympathy plea as Marcia Clark mentioned. And sure MH sought mental health services, but I don't think that she faced any of the obstacles like AY's husband was to getting that treatment.
By all appearances so far MH's family has none of the Anthony's dysfunction. So while a history of abuse may get her some sympathy, unless she was abused by a family member that is going to be overshadowed by a family that is heavily involved in the church.
Anyway thanks for the article I think I may have read it before my head began to calm down enough to really process stuff like that.