Angela McAnulty's jury verdict.

Recently Angela McAnulty was sentenced to death by the jury at her trial. In case you are not familiar with the case, this mother killed her 15 year old daughter. She had tortured, starved, and beaten her. Her actions towards her daughter were atrocious and sickening. You can find the basics on it here. If you want to read more, you can search her name on that site.. It should be mentioned that DHS had been called multiple times and after a brief visit, dismissed the case. If they would have asked to see her room, I don't see how they could have dismissed it and therefore Jeanette would still be alive.

According to the news, the jury was to decide the following...

1. Did McAnulty deliberately kill Jeanette Maples?
2. Is it likely that McAnulty will re-offend? Meaning, will she be a danger to society? 

3. Did McAnulty kill her daughter without being provoked by her daughter?

These first three questions had to be answered beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the jury unanimously answered yes to all three questions, they would then have to answer a fourth:

Should McAnulty be sentenced to death?

To make that decision, the jury had to take into account factors from McAnulty's life and answer another question:

Were there mitigating circumstances? For example, should her punishment be less severe because of troubles in her own life, or mental health issues, etc.

I have been reading in the news forum on KVAL's site and am saddened. First of all, I want to make it known that I do not condone what this woman did to her poor child. I think it is sick and despicable and unimaginable... I don't believe in the death penalty to begin with, never have... Now that I am working to follow a Buddhist path, it is even more so that I think sentencing her to death was the wrong thing to do. It was reported that when the verdict was read, many of the jury members wept. Angela McAnulty seemed unaffected. Two of the prime beliefs in Buddhism is to practice compassion and to see a potential Buddha in everyone. I was not part of the jury and I was not in the courtroom to hear the testimony and see the evidence.. I realize that that would have been very hard to bear witness to. I have thought long and hard about what verdict I would have fought for. Let me go through the options and the things that I considered about each.

-Death penalty- 

Death is really kind of an easy way out for someone. Part of me says that what she did is deserving of horrible retribution. Then the part fighting to become a better, more compassionate person, says that that thinking is not good. In any case, my biggest debate on this option was whether it was more compassionate than the other options.. However, I also believe that all the people involved in making that decision, do not deserve the heart ache that it would (and did) cause them. Not to mention the Dr. who would (maybe) eventually carry out the execution.. He/she got into that job knowing what it would entail, and maybe thinks their ok with it, but I still wouldn't want to be a part of putting them into a position to take someones life. If they really were ok with it, that is even worse... for the jury members and the executioner.. So, NO on the death penalty.

-Life in prison without possibility of parole- 

I was pretty sure on this one being the one I would choose, for quite some time. I question myself because of my feelings about what she did vs my Buddhist belief that there is a potential Buddha in everyone. This verdict, in my honest opinion, is the least compassionate. It would mean that she would be locked away somewhere for the rest of her life with not a whole lot to do or think about but what got her there. The less compassionate side of me says she deserves that. The more compassionate side of me says that maybe after 30 years she will have changed her life around and decided to dedicate her life for good. My hubby said that there are convicts that do that from the inside, that she does not have to be free from prison walls to accomplish that. In any case, that inner debate of mine got me to thinking about the more compassionate sentence of life in prison with possibility of parole after 30 years. So lets explore that

-Life in prison with possibility of parole after 30 years- 

Like I said above, this is the more compassionate verdict for Angela McAnulty than life without parole. In 30 years, when her chance for parole came up, she would be something like 72 years old. The chances of her re offending would be slim to none. I took a criminal justice class and they said that anyone over a certain age is statistically unlikely to re offend. With a 'NO' answer to whether she was likely to re offend, the death penalty would be taken off the table, so one of the life sentences would be the only options. In this case, I have to agree with the defense that her crime was sort of limited to a certain situation and person, as far as the physical abuse was concerned anyways. The other kids being around for it and directed to gather things for the abuse, was in essence, abuse in itself..

In the end, I decided it would have to be one of the life sentences.. I can't say for sure which one though. It sort of changes day to day and sometimes moment to moment, even, depending on how compassionate I am feeling. Either way, I think that the other jurors and I would have been able to sleep better, knowing that she wasn't going to hurt anyone again and we didn't have to take part in her death to ensure it.

Next up: Why the comments on this story made me so sad!

My daughter's art

My 12 year old daughter is a fantastic artist. She could draw a cat, on demand, at about 9 months old. She drew me a few pictures when she was 9 that I adore. She recently has gotten into anime though. She is really good at it. I hope she never loses her love and passion for drawing! Anyway, you can see for yourself how good she is at it. 

This first picture is one she drew for me when she was 9. She drew things she knew I liked.

 These 3 are just a few of the anime she has drawn. She created a whole family of them. They are part human and part animal.

She said that boys are harder to draw than the girls.

This is one of my favorites that she has done!

This was for Halloween. She drew it at school in her drawing class.

EIGHTEEN!

In less than six months from now, my eldest child will be 18. While this astounds me on so many levels, this blog entry isn't really about her. 

It is about a laundry basket... 

"A laundry basket!?!" I can hear people asking (in stereo, or, at least unison)... 

Yes.. A laundry basket.

I was in High School when I became pregnant with my eldest daughter. I had to switch schools because the one I went to didn't have a teen parent program. The way the program worked, was supposed to teach us things about parenting, life, etc... Anyways, it was around Christmas time, I believe, and I think it was after I had my daughter. However, it may have been while I was still pregnant, I can't remember. This organization or church group (maybe) came in and brought "care packages" for each of us. The packages had things in them like baby oil, diaper wipes, and a handmade something. I can't recall what it was, a hat or blanket, etc... but there was a handmade something that I really wanted more than any of the others. I got it. These care packages were cleverly made up in  cheap Dollar Store laundry baskets. The one I got was orange. I didn't really care for orange, but it wasn't the basket I was after, it was the handmade item... Obviously, that handmade item has been long forgotten; the laundry basket ~ not so much. In the last 18 years I have gotten married and had 2 additional children, not to mention the couple of room mates I've had that also had kids. I have bought numerous laundry baskets, ranging from cheap to moderately expensive. Due to massive abuse, wear and tear, and misuse, not a single one has lasted or stayed in tact for more than a couple of months. All except 1. My cheap orange laundry basket that housed the care package 18 years ago. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have gone and stocked up on those baskets. My orange laundry basket probably would count as an antique as far as laundry baskets go. It is like the super hero of laundry baskets. As an additional note, just because I find it curious... Little did I know back then, that my future husband to be (my husband now) would become associated with the color orange. Let me explain that a little better. My husband didn't really like the color orange, but somehow people started associating him with orange. So now when people give him gifts, they usually look for orange colored stuff. He likes orange better now, thank goodness, but it seems kind of weird and coincidental to me that orange seems to have a running track in my history.

So, technically, in less than a year, my daughter could move out of the house. She won't, but legally, she could. In doing so, she could fill that orange laundry basket up and take it with her. It only seems right that it go with her when she goes. They are about the same age. And while it amazes me that I have a daughter who is almost legal to buy cigarettes (although, she better not) and lottery tickets, she could live to be 80-100 or older, barring anything tragic. The fact that my orange laundry basket has made it this long, really amazes me more than is probably normal and/or healthy!...