Washington ( CNN ) -- O.J . Simpson , Casey Anthony , George Zimmerman : Sensational trials with national buzz covered gavel-to-gavel on television and on the Internet . All ended with verdicts that , to some , seemed to make a mockery of the law . But did they really ? Did George Zimmerman really get away with murder as one of the jurors -- juror B-29 -- in the case suggested in an ABC interview ? That same juror said she stands by the verdict , even though she clearly agonized over the outcome . 'Boycott Florida ' is n't so simple , experts say . From a public opinion standpoint , the question is whether Zimmerman committed a crime for which he was acquitted . But from a legal standpoint , the question is whether the prosecution was able to prove each and every element of its case -- whether murder or manslaughter -- beyond a reasonable doubt . In the Zimmerman , Simpson and Anthony cases , the answer was no . For the prosecution working one of these high profile trials , the failure to prove the case is almost never a result of failure to try . More often than not , it 's a result of missing pieces of the puzzle , and the unpredictability of taking a case to trial in the first place . Think about it . Prosecutors and defense attorneys go to war over a defendant . They chose jurors from a pool presented to them . The jurors promise to decide the case on the merits . But each and every juror brings his or her own life experience to the table . And when they start to deliberate the case , they are on their own . While we only get see to the biggest cases on TV , this drama over reasonable doubt plays out all across the country every day . And just like juror B-29 in the Zimmerman case , some of the people who decide the facts walk away with a deep sense of regret that marks them for life . That happened to me , too . I am one of those former jurors who is still haunted by a verdict . Probably my most painful experience with the justice system was when , in the mid-'90s , I was called on to help decide a case . I was chosen as foreman of a jury in a criminal trial in D.C. Superior Court . It was a horrible set of facts . Child molesting . And the outcome is still bitter to me . The child in question -- a little girl -- had been sexually assaulted . And a grown man with a long list of personal problems had been charged in the case . Part of the evidence showed the girl had contracted a venereal disease as a result of the encounter the defendant was charged with . Police : Robbers tell man , 'This is for Trayvon Martin ' The defense was simple and straightforward . The defendant had gotten a checkup right around the time authorities said the girl was assaulted . And the defendant 's medical report indicated that he had tested negative for the venereal disease . The defendant admitted he had been near the child . But he adamantly denied sexually assaulting her . There were no other witnesses . The trial lasted for a couple days , and I believe we deliberated almost as long . On the first vote , shortly after hearing the judges instructions and retiring to the jury room for deliberations , I was shocked to discover that only two people , myself and a woman juror , had come to the conclusion that the defendant was guilty . I was suspicious of his demeanor . I was skeptical about the medical report . I struggled , I fought . I demanded that my colleagues on the jury use their common sense . I suggested maybe he took penicillin or something . But all that was conjecture , the other jurors said . There was no evidence of treatment for the disease . We insulted each other . We yelled . But we kept coming back to that single piece of paper , the medical report that was impossible to deny . Reasonable doubt . After a truly bitter experience , and fighting for justice for that little girl and her family , I voted not guilty and so did the other `` holdout '' . And the most bitter moment of all , as the jury foreman , was the reading of the verdict . I felt I had let that little girl down . I still do . I left the courthouse and sat on a stoop in front with my head in my hands . I will never forget that feeling . Reasonable doubt is a bitter pill to swallow sometimes . But it is the law .
In recent high profile cases -- Zimmerman , Anthony , etc . -- they did n't always change popular sentiment . Judges were asked to rule on fact vs. reasonable doubt . Although decisions may be consistent with the law , not guilty cases left some wondering .