Whether guilty or not I surely don’t know. Is there a smoking gun like in other circumstantial cases? No, it doesn’t appear to be.
I do see many Frum bloggers here and other places jumping for joy at this guilty verdict. This I believe is due to Sinas Chinum on their part. Forget about what Bais Din would have done – nothing near life in prison, but let’s look at this from a Goyishe perspective. They say the Jury saw circumstatial evidence and that’s why they found him Guilty. Let’s look at a different case in our Court system (even though a different State, but they all work basically the same) – the Anthony trial. There was tons of circumstantial evidence against her, more than this Satmar guy, but the Jury claimed it wasn’t enough to convict. Over here, there was much less and yet guilty on ALL counts?
It seems juries in general are basing their decisions on emotions rather than on facts. In Florida it was a young “innocent” girl on trial for murder – poor girl. In NY it was a Chassidish Middle Age guy supposedly molesting a young girl – poor girl.
Forget about guilty or innocence, forget about what the Torah requires, how could anybody with any brains, let alone s/o who was brought up Frum, have faith in a Jury system that is a total failure? You see clearly time after time Juries basing their decision on emotions, not on facts. Eg. OJ, L. Nelson, besides the above.
So perhaps all these Frum bloggers should Not jump for joy just because some Jury decided what they wanted to hear?!? It’s even more saddening to hear from Frum bloggers -“Justice has been served”. Justice is Not possible with a Jury system, even if sometimes they get it right!