HLN — once the respectable Headline News arm of CNN, but lately just a dumping ground for tabloid trash — just proclaimed, after learning Casey Anthony had been acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, that "her lies worked."

Having invested so much time, effort and money into covering this case since Caylee was found dead in 2008, and having made the inexcusable mistake of giving Nancy Grace her own show and letting Grace make the crucfixion of Casey Anthony her personal crusade for three years, HLN just couldn't bring itself to believe that Casey — derisively and condescendingly nicknamed "Tot Mom" by the network — might actually not have killed her daughter.

The bottom line is that HLN jumped to conclusions about what it wanted to be the facts of the case rather than spending any real time looking into what the facts of the case actually were. And now, with a jury of 12 people having decided that the largely circumstantial evidence did not support the notion that Casey Anthony killed little Caylee, the network clearly would rather protest the verdict than accept it.

Now I can't say with any certainty that the jury was right and that Casey Anthony truly is innocent. But I can say with certainty that our criminal justice system is well-designed and that it generally works. And I'm willing to accept that it worked in this case.

Perhaps HLN should, too.