Caylee Marie Anthony (August 9, 2005 - 2008) is a two-year-old American girl living in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony (born March 19, 1986), and grandfather - maternal grandmother, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 15, 2008, she was reported missing in a 9-1-1 call made by Cindy, who said she had not seen Caylee for 31 days and Casey's car smelled like a corpse had been inside. Cindy says Casey has given various explanations about Caylee's whereabouts before finally telling him that she has not seen Caylee for weeks. Casey lied to the detectives, telling them that Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny on June 9, and that he was trying to find him, too scared to warn the authorities. He was accused of first-degree murder in October 2008 and pleaded not guilty.
On December 11, 2008, the remains of the Caylee skeleton were found with a blanket in a garbage bag in a wooded area near the Anthony family's home. Reports of investigation and court testimony alternated between the tape found near the front of the skull and in the mouth of the skull. The medical examiner mentioned tape as one of the reasons he decided death as a murder, but officially recorded it as "death in an unspecified way".
The trial lasted six weeks, from May to July 2011. The prosecutor sought a death sentence and alleged Casey wanted to rid himself of parental responsibility and kill his daughter by giving chloroform and applying plaster. The defense team, led by Jose Baez, denied that the boy had drowned accidentally in a family swimming pool on June 16, 2008, and George Anthony dumped his body. Defense argues that Casey lied about this and other problems due to dysfunctional care, which they said included sexual harassment by his father. The defense did not present evidence of how Caylee died, or evidence that Casey was sexually harassed as a child, but challenged every part of the prosecution's evidence, citing most of the "forensic fantasy". Casey did not testify. On July 5, 2011, the jury found that Casey was not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and exacerbated child murder, but was guilty of four minor offenses that provided false information to law enforcement officials. With credit for the time it was presented, he was released on July 17, 2011. The Florida appeals court canceled two of the alleged infringements on January 25, 2013.
The innocent murder verdict was met with public anger and both were attacked and defended by media and legal commentators. Some complain that jurors misunderstand the meaning of reasonable doubts, while others say prosecutors are too dependent on the moral character of the alleged defendant because they can not show conclusively how the victim has died. Time magazine describes the case as "the trial of social media of the century".
Video Death of Caylee Anthony
Disappearance
According to Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony, Casey left the family home on June 16, 2008, bringing his two-year-old daughter, Caylee (who is almost three years old) with her and not returning for 31 days. Casey's mother, Cindy, asks repeatedly for a month to see Caylee, but Casey claims that she's too busy with work assignments in Tampa, Florida. At other times, he tells Caylee with a nanny, whom Casey identifies as Zenaida "Zanny" Fernandez-Gonzalez, or at an amusement park or on the beach. Finally determined that a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez does exist, but she has never met Casey, Caylee, another Anthony family member, or Casey's friend.
On July 13, 2008, while doing the yard work, Cindy and George Anthony found notice from the post office for an official letter stuck to their front door. George picked up a certified letter from the post office on July 15, 2008, and found that his daughter's car was in the backyard. When George picks up the car, both he and the officer in the backyard notes the strong smell coming from the trunk. Both then state that they believe that the smell is a rotting body. When the trunk is opened, it contains a bag of garbage, but no human remains.
Cindy reports that Caylee disappeared that day, July 15, to the Orange County Sheriff's Office. During the same phone call, Casey confirmed to the 9-1-1 operator that Caylee had been lost for 31 days. Desperate, Cindy said: "Something's wrong, I found my daughter's car today and it smells like a dead body in that goddamn car."
Maps Death of Caylee Anthony
Case
Investigation
When Detective Yuri Melich of the Orange County Sheriff's Department began investigating the disappearance of Caylee, he found a discrepancy in the statement signed by Casey. When questioned, Casey said that Caylee had been kidnapped by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, who was also identified as "Zanny", Caylee's caregiver. Although Casey had already talked about it, Zanny had never been seen by Casey's family or friends, and in fact there was no caretaker. Casey also told police he was working at Universal Studios, a lie he had told his parents for years. Investigators brought Casey to Universal Studios on July 16, 2008, a day after Caylee was reported missing, and asked him to show them his office. Casey led the police for a while before admitting that he had been fired several years earlier.
Casey was first arrested on July 16, 2008, and charged the following day by giving false statements to law enforcement, child abandonment, and criminal investigation. The judge rejected the assurances, saying Casey had shown "heavily disregarding the welfare of his son". On July 22, 2008, after the bond hearing, the judge set a $ 500,000 guarantee. On August 21, 2008, after one month of imprisonment, he was released from Orange County jail after his $ 500,000 bond was posted by a nephew of California bail guarantor Leonard Padilla in the hope that he will cooperate and Caylee will be found.
On August 11, 12 and 13, 2008, metric reader Roy Kronk called police about a suspicious object found in a forest area near Anthony's residence. In the first example, he was directed by the sheriff's office to contact the tip line, which he did, without receiving a call back. On the second occasion he called back to the sheriff's office, eventually meeting two police officers and reporting to them that he had seen what looked like a skull near a gray bag. On that occasion, the officer did a quick search and stated he did not see anything. On December 11, 2008, Kronk again called the police. They search for and find the remains of a child in a garbage bag. The investigation team took back the tape hanging on Caylee's hair and some tissue left on her skull. Over the next four days, more bones were found in the wooded area near where the remnants were originally found. On December 19, 2008, medical examiner Jan Garavaglia confirmed that the remains were found belonging to Caylee Anthony. The death decides the murder and the cause of death is listed as undetermined.
Arrests and charges
Casey was offered a limited immunity deal on July 29, 2008, by prosecutors related to "false statements given to law enforcement about finding his son", which was renewed on August 25, until the end of August 28. He did not accept it.
On September 5, 2008, he was released on bail for all pending charges after being installed with an electronic tracking device. A $ 500,000 bond was posted by his parents, Cindy and George Anthony, who signed a promissory note for the bond.
On October 14, 2008, Casey Anthony was indicted by the jury on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, murder of an aggravated child, and four charges of giving false information to the police. He was then arrested. Judge John Jordan ordered that he be detained without ties. On October 21, 2008, allegations of neglect of children were handed down against Casey, according to the State Attorney's Office because "[as] evidence proves that the child is dead, the State requests charges on a legally appropriate charge." On October 28, Anthony was indicted and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
On April 13, 2009, prosecutors announced that they planned to seek the death penalty in this case.
Trial
Evidence
Four hundred pieces of evidence were presented. A hair was restored from the trunk of Casey's car microscopically similar to the hair taken from the Caylee hairbrush. The strands show "roots," in which hair roots form a dark band after death, which is consistent with the hair of the corpse.
Kronk, who found his body, repeated the same basic story he told the police. On Friday, October 24, 2008, a forensic report by Arpad Vass of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory assessed that the results of an air sampling procedure (called LIBS) performed in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car showed the chemical compound "consistent with decomposition events" based on the presence of five compounds the main chemistry of more than 400 possible chemical compounds which research group Vass considers a typical breakdown. Investigators claimed that the stem was highly human decomposition, but human decomposition was not determined on a laboratory scale. This process has not been confirmed by Daubert's test in court. The Vass group also stated there was chloroform in the trunk of the car.
In October 2009, officials released 700 pages of documents related to Anthony's investigations, including Google's search records of the term "neck breaking" and "how to make chloroform" on computers accessible to Casey, presented by prosecutors as evidence of a crime.
According to the detective, the crime scene evidence included the rest of the heart-shaped stickers found on the tape at the mouth of Caylee's skull. However, the laboratory was unable to capture the shape of the heart photographically after some tape was subjected to the dye test. The blankets found at the crime scene fit the Caylee bed at her grandparents' house.
Among the photos inserted into the evidence was one of Ricardo Morales's computers, former girlfriend Casey Anthony, who described the poster with the title "Win it with Chloroform".
The witness software John Dennis Bradley, developed for computer investigations, was used by the prosecution to show that Casey had done extensive computer search on the word "chloroform" 84 times, and to show that Anthony had planned to commit murder. He then discovered that defects in software misread forensic data and that the word "chloroform" has been searched only once and the website concerned offers information about the use of chloroform in the 19th century (see below).
Attorneys and judges
The main prosecutor in this case is Assistant State Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick. State Attorney Assistant Frank George and Jeff Ashton completed the prosecution team. The main advice for defense is Jose Baez, a Florida criminal defense lawyer. Attorney J. Cheney Mason, Dorothy Clay Sims, and Ann Finnell serve as legal counsel. During the trial, Mark Lippman's attorney represented George and Cindy Anthony.
The jury selection began on May 9, 2011, at Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater, Florida, as the case has been widely reported in the Orlando area. The jury was taken from Pinellas County to Orlando. The selection of the jury took longer than expected and ended on May 20, 2011, with twelve jurors and five alternatives sworn in. The panel consists of nine women and eight men. The trial took six weeks, during which time the jury was exiled to avoid the influence of information available outside the courtroom.
Opening statement
The trial began on May 24, 2011, at the Orange County Courthouse, with Judge Belvin Perry leading the way. In the opening statement, Linda prosecutor Drane Burdick described the story of Helllee Anthony's disappearance day by day. The prosecutor accused the deliberate murder and sought the death sentence against Casey Anthony. Prosecutors stated that Anthony used chloroform to make his daughter unconscious before putting tape on his nose and mouth to strangle him, and left Caylee's body in the trunk of his car for several days before disposing of it. They characterize Anthony as a party girl who kills his daughter to free herself from parental responsibility and enjoys her private life.
The defense, headed by Jose Baez, stated in the opening statement that Caylee sank accidentally in a family pool on June 16, 2008, and was discovered by George Anthony, who said Casey would spend the rest of his life in jail for neglecting the child and then proceeding to cover up death Caylee. Baez argues that this is why Casey Anthony continued his life and failed to report the incident for 31 days. He alleged that it was a lifelong habit for Casey to hide his pain and pretend there was nothing wrong because he had been sexually abused by George Anthony since he was eight years old and his brother Lee had also made progress toward him. Baez also questioned whether Roy Kronk, the meter reader who discovered the bone, had actually expelled them from another location, and further alleged that the police department's investigation was disrupted by their desire to feed media frenzy about the murder of a child, rather than more mundane drowning. He admits that Casey has lied about a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzales.
Witness testimonial
Prosecutors named George Anthony as their first witness and, in response to their question, he denied having sexually harassed his daughter, Casey. Anthony testified that he did not smell anything resembling human decomposition in Casey's car when he visited him on June 24, but he smelled a similar resemblance to human decay when he picked up the car on July 15. Cindy Anthony testified that his comments to 9-1-1 that Casey's car smelled "like someone died" is just a "metaphor".
Baez asked an FBI analyst about the FBI DNA test to see if Lee is Caylee's father. He told the jury that his test was negative again. Regarding the photo on Ricardo Morales's computer, ex-girlfriend Casey Anthony, who described the poster with the title "Win it with Chloroform," Morales said that the photo was on his Myspace page and that he never discussed chloroform with Anthony or looking for chloroform on his computer.
The prosecution was called John Dennis Bradley, a former Canadian law enforcement officer who developed software for computer investigations, to analyze data files from a desktop extracted from Anthony's home. Bradley says he can use the program to recover deleted searches from March 17 and March 21, 2008, and that someone searched on the Sci-spot.com site for "chloroform" 84 times. Bradley expressed his belief that "some of these items may have been marked". Under cross-examination by defense, Bradley agrees to have two individual accounts on the desktop and that there is no way to know who actually did the search.
The K9 handler, Jason Forgey, testified that Gerus, the German Shepherd's shepherd dog who was certified in 2005, showed a high warning about the decomposition of humans in the trunk of Casey's car, saying that police dogs had been searching the real world for "over three thousand now ". During cross examination, Baez argues that the dog's search records are "rumors". Sergeant Kristin Brewer also testified that his K9 counterpart, Bones, signaled decomposition in the backyard during a search in July 2008. However, K9 partners were unable to detect decomposition during his second visit to Anthony's home. Brewer explains that this is because whatever is on the page is moved or smells bad.
The prosecutor summoned the head of the medical examiner Jan Garavaglia, who testified that he determined Caylee's death as murder, but listed it as "an unspecified death." Garavaglia takes into account the physical evidence available to the body he inspects, as well as all available information about how they were found and what he has been told by the authorities, before arriving at his resolve. "We know by our observation that it is a red flag when a child has not been reported to the authorities with injuries, there is cheating," Garavaglia said. "... No child should duct tape on [the bottom] of his face when dead." In addition, Garavaglia discusses the evidence of chloroform found by researchers in the trunk of Casey's car, testifying that even a small amount of chloroform would be enough to cause a child's death.
University of Florida professor and laboratory director of human identification Michael Warren was brought by the prosecutor to present computer animation of the tape can be used in child death, which is defended by the defense of hearing. Judge Perry, after a short recess to review, decided that the video could be shown to the jury. This animation featured a picture of Caylee taken with Casey, superimposed with a rotting Caylee skull image, and the other with a strip of masking tape found with his body. The pictures were slowly put together showing that the tape could cover his nose and mouth. Baez stated, "This disgusting superimposition is nothing more than a fantasy... They throw objects to the wall and see if it sticks." The jurors were seen recording the images, and Warren testified that it was his opinion that the tape found with the Caylee skull was placed there before his body began to rot.
FBI latent observer Elizabeth Fontaine testified that a heart-shaped adhesive was found at the corner of the tape covering the mouths of Caylee remains during ultraviolet testing. Fontaine examined three pieces of masking tape found on the remains of Caylee for fingerprints, and said she had not found fingerprints but did not expect, given the moon's recording and remnants had been outdoors and exposed to the elements, stressing that any oil or the sweat from one's fingertips must have long worsened. Although Fontaine showed his findings to his superiors, he initially did not try to photograph the heart-shaped adhesive, explaining, "When I observed something unexpected, I recorded it and continued my examination." During cross-defense checks, Fontaine explains that when she checks the sticker proof for a second time, after subjecting the tape to check the test, "It's no longer visible." He said that other FBI agents had been testing the tape temporarily.
The defense appealed to two government witnesses who countered witness statements about tape. The chief investigator for a medical examiner stated that the original placement of the tape was not clear and could have shifted position as he gathered the remains. Cindy Anthony testified that their family buried their pets in blankets and plastic bags, using masking tape to seal the holes. In addition, the FBI forensic examiner did not find any evidence of stickers or stickers on the tape found near the remains of the child.
The defense called for the forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz, who conducted a second autopsy on Caylee after Garavaglia and challenged Garavaglia's autopsy report. He called his autopsy "ugly," saying it was a failure that the Caylee skull was not opened during his examination. "You need to examine the entire body in an autopsy," he said. Spitz stated that he was not allowed to attend the early autopsy of Garavaglia on Caylee's body, and that, from his own follow-up autopsy, he was uncomfortable to rule out the boy's death as a murder. He said he could not determine what the way of Caylee's death was, but said that there was no indication to him that he was killed. In addition, Spitz testified that he believed the tape found on the Caylee skull was placed there after the body rotted, arguing that if the tape was placed on the skin, there should be DNA left on it, and suggested that someone might have performed some photographs of the scene. "The person who took this photo, the person who prepared this, put the hair there," Spitz said. When asked by Ashton during cross-examination, "So your testimony is a medical examiner who takes a hair that is not on the skull, puts it there?", Spitz replied, "This is not the first time, sir, I can tell you some horror stories about that. "
On June 21, Bradley found that defects in his software misread forensic data and that the word "chloroform" has been searched only once and the website concerned offers information about the use of chloroform in the 19th century. On June 23, Baez summoned Cindy Anthony to the pulpit, informing the jury that he was the one who performed a "chloroform" search on a family computer in March 2008. The prosecutor alleged that only Casey could do this and other searches because he was the only one- the only house at the time. When asked by the prosecutor how he could make an internet search when the job records showed he was at work, Cindy Anthony said despite what was indicated by the time of work, he was at home during this time period because he left work early during the days in question. Bradley reminded prosecutors Linda Burdick and Sgt. Kevin Stenger from the Sheriff's Office the weekend of June 25 on the differences in his software, and volunteered to fly to Orlando at his own expense to show them. On the same day, the judge temporarily suspended proceedings when the defender filed a motion to determine whether Anthony was competent to continue the trial. The motion states that the defense receives privileged communication from their clients that leads them to believe "... Ms. Anthony is incompetent to help and assist her own defense". The trial resumed on June 27 when the judge announced that the results of the psychological evaluation showed Anthony competent to proceed. Then, in testimony of air samples, Dr. Ken Furton, a professor of chemistry at Florida International University, stated that there is no consensus in the field about what chemicals are typical of human decomposition. Judge Perry decided that the jury would not smell air samples taken from the trunk.
Prosecutors said they discussed Bradley's software differences with Baez on June 27, and he raised the issue in court testimony. Baez also asked Judge Perry to instruct the jury on this search information, but the prosecutor refuted this and it was not done. Also on 27 June, the defense called two private investigators who, in November 2008, had searched the area where the body was found. The search was recorded, but nothing was found. On June 28, the defense called up a Texas EquuSearch team leader who made two searches in the area and found no bodies. The defense then summoned Roy Kronk, who told the same basic story he told police about his discovery to the corpse of Caylee Anthony in December 2008. He admitted receiving $ 5,000 after the body was identified but denied that he told his son that finding the body would making him rich and famous. The next day, his son testified he had made such a statement.
On June 30, a defender named Krystal Holloway, a volunteer in the Caylee quest, stated that he had an affair with George Anthony, that he had been to his house, and that he had sent a message to him, "Just thinking of you I need you in my life." told the defense that George Anthony had told him that Caylee's death was "an increasingly uncontrolled accident." Under cross-examination by prosecutors, they point to the police statement he swore in which he said that George Anthony believed it was an accident, rather than knowing it was an accident. In his initial report, Holloway reported George Anthony said, "I really believe that it was just a wrong accident and (Casey Anthony) trying to cover it up." He says he did not tell him that he was present when the alleged accident happened. During the redirect examination, Baez asked Holloway if George Anthony had told him that Caylee died when he publicly declared that he was missing, and he answered yes.
In his previous testimony, George Anthony refused his affair with Holloway and said he visited him just because he was sick. He says he sends a text message because he needs everyone who has helped in his life. After Holloway's testimony, Judge Perry told the jury that it could be used to interpret the credibility of George Anthony, but that is not evidence of Caylee's death and/or innocent or innocent evidence of Casey Anthony.
The prosecutor filed his case on June 15, after calling 59 witnesses to 70 different testimonies. The defense bases his case on June 30, after calling 47 witnesses to 63 different testimonies. Casey Anthony did not testify.
On June 30 and July 1, the prosecutor filed a rebuttal argument, beginning with shows of pictures of the Caylee clothing jury and George's suicide note. These are called two representatives of former employer Cindy Anthony explaining why their computer login system shows Cindy working late afternoon she says she came home early and searched her computer for information on chloroform. A police computer analyst testified that someone was deliberately searching online for "neck breaking". Other analysts testified that he found no evidence that Cindy Anthony had searched for certain terms he claimed to have sought. Professor of anthropology Dr. Michael Warren of the University of Florida was called in to dispute a defense witness about the need to open the skull during the autopsy. The lead detective stated that there was no phone call between Cindy and George Anthony during the week of June 16, 2008. However, he told his defender that he did not know that George had a second phone.
Closing arguments
Closure of the argument sounded July 3 and July 4. Jeff Ashton, for prosecution, told the jury, "When you have children, the child becomes your life.This case is about the clash between that responsibility, and the hope that goes with it, and the life that Anthony Casey wants to have." He outlines the state's case against Casey, touched many of his lies to his parents and others, the smell in his trunk of his car - was identified by several witnesses, including his own father, as the stench of human decomposition - and items found with Caylee's skeleton in December 2008. He emphasizes how Casey "keeps his lie until they are completely untenable" and then replaces [them] with other lies, using "Zanny the Nanny" as an example. Anthony repeatedly told the police that Caylee was with the caregiver he specifically identified as Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. The police, however, have never been able to find a nanny. Authorities found a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, but she refused to meet Anthonys.
Ashton reintroduced the items found with the remains of Caylee, including the Winnie the Pooh blanket that matched the bed at his grandparents' house, one of a set of laundry bags with twin pouches found at Anthony's house, and the tape he said was relatively rare brands. "The bag is a Caylee chest," Ashton said, holding a picture of a laundry bag, when Casey reacted with emotion. He further criticized defense theory that the Caylee drowned in Anthony's pond and that Casey and George were panicked when finding the child's body and covering his death. He advised the jury to use their common sense when deciding on a verdict. "No one made an accident like a murder," he said.
Before closing the argument, Judge Perry ruled that the defense could argue that the sinking occurred because a reasonable conclusion was aided by the witness's testimony, but that the reason for sexual harassment was not allowed because nobody supported the claim that George sexually harassed Casey. Baez started by arguing that there was a hole in the forensic evidence of the prosecutor's office, saying it was based on "fantasy". He told the jury that prosecutors wanted them to see stains and insects that did not really exist, that they did not prove that the stain in Anthony's car trunk was caused by Caylee's decomposing body, not from the garbage bag found there. He added that prosecutors are trying to make his clients look like liars indiscriminately because their evidence is weak. He said drowning was "the only plausible explanation" and showed the juror a photograph of Caylee opening the sliding glass door of his own home. He emphasized that there was no child-safety lock at home and that both parents Casey, George and Cindy, testified that Caylee could get out of the house easily. Although Cindy testified that Caylee could not put the stairs on the side of the pool and climb, Baez suspected that Cindy might have left the stairs the night before. "He did not confess to doing that in testimony," he said, "but how much guilt will he know about him leaving the ladder that day?"
Defense lawyer Jose Baez told the jury that his biggest fear was that they would base their verdicts on emotion, not evidence. "The strategy behind that is, if you hate it, if you think he's a lying and unkind prostitute, then you'll start seeing this evidence in a different way," he said. "I've told you at the beginning of this case that this is an accident that's getting out of hand... What makes it unique is not what happened, but who happened." He explains Casey Anthony's behavior as a result of a dysfunctional family situation. At a time when Baez spoke, Ashton could be seen smiling or laughing in the back of his hand. This prompted Baez to refer to him as "the man who laughs here". The judge called a sidebar conference, then took a break. As the trial proceeds, he punishes both sides, saying that both Ashton and Baez have violated his orders that both sides should not make disparaging statements about opposing counsel. After the two lawyers apologized, the judge accepted an apology but warned that a recurrence would make an offending lawyer removed from the courtroom.
Cheney Mason's defense attorney then followed him with additional closing arguments. Overcome the jury to discuss the allegations against Casey Anthony. "The burden is on the shoulders of my colleagues at the state prosecutor's office," said Mason, referring to the proof that Casey Anthony committed a crime. Mason said that the jury needed, whether they liked it or not, to find the defendant innocent if the state did not adequately prove his case against Casey Anthony. Mason stressed that the burden of proof is on the state, and that Casey Anthony's decision not to testify is not the implication of guilt.
Linda Drane Burdick's main prosecutor in the prosecution's complaint told the jury that she and her colleagues backed every claim they made in their opening statement six weeks ago, implying that the defense never directly supports their own opening statement claims. "My biggest fear is that common sense will be lost in all the rhetoric of this case," he said, insisting that he would never ask the jury to make their decisions based on emotion, but evidence. "The response to guilt is oh, very predictable," he said. "What do the guilty people do? They lie, they avoid, they run away, they are misleading... they distract from themselves and they act like nothing is wrong." He suggested that garbage bags in the trunk of the car were "bait" placed there to make people unsuspecting of the smell of the car when he left it abandoned in the parking lot right beside the trash can in the Amscot parking lot. "Who lives better without Caylee?" he asked, emphasizing how George and Cindy Anthony wondered where their daughters and grandchildren were in June and July 2008, the same time Casey was staying at his girlfriend's apartment while Caylee's body rotted in the woods. "That's the only question you need to answer in considering why Caylee Marie Anthony was left on the side of a dead road." Burdick then showed a separate screen judge with a photo of Casey partying at a nightclub on one side and a close-up tattoo of "Bella Vita" (meaning "Beautiful Life") that he got a few weeks after Caylee died in another.
The jury starts deliberation on 4 July. On July 5, prosecutors stated that, during deliberation, they would give the jury information corrected in connection with the Bradley software differences; however, the jury reaches the verdict before they can do so. A legal analyst stated that if the jury had found Casey guilty before accepting evidence of release, the prosecution's failure to fully disclose it could be the reason for the cancellation of the trial.
Verdict and sentence
On July 5, 2011, the jury found that Casey was innocent of counting one to three first-degree murders, aggravating child killings, and aggravating child abuse, while finding him guilty in a matter of four to seven for providing false information to law enforcement. :
- Calculate Four: Anthony says he was hired at Universal Studios during 2008, based on an investigation of missing persons' reports.
- Count Five: Anthony says he has left Caylee in an apartment complex with a nanny causing law enforcement to chase down missing nanny.
- Count Six: Anthony says he told two Universal Studio "employees", Jeff Hopkins and Juliet Lewis, at Universal, about the disappearance of Caylee.
- Count Seven: Anthony says he has received a phone call and talked to Caylee on July 15, 2008, causing law enforcement to spend more resources.
On July 7, 2011, the punishment argument was heard. The defendant requested a punishment based on a single allegation of lying on the ground that the offense took place as part of a single interview with police dealing with the same problem, the disappearance of his daughter, as a continuous lie. The defense also argues for the same sentence, ie for all four counts to become one count and sentence to be executed together as one. The judge disagreed with the defense argument, finding that Anthony's statement consisted of "four separate and distinct lies" ordered that the sentences be presented in sequence, noting that "Law enforcement spends a lot of time, effort and labor looking for Caylee Marie Anthony. this goes from July to December, for several months, trying to find Caylee Marie Anthony. "Judge Perry punishes Casey one year in a county jail and a $ 1,000 fine for each of the four charges of providing false information to law enforcement officials, the maximum penalty determined by law. He received 1043 credit days for the time served plus additional credit for good behavior, so he was released on July 17, 2011. Anthony filed an appeal notice on July 15, 2011.
In September 2011, Perry, in compliance with Florida law that requires judges to assess the costs of investigation and prosecution if requested by state agencies, decides that Casey Anthony should pay $ 217,000 to the state of Florida. He decided he should pay a fee directly related to lying to law enforcement about Caylee's death, including the search fee only until September 30, 2008, when the Sheriff's Office stopped investigating the case of the missing child. In previous arguments, Mason has called the prosecutor's attempt to demand a greater "sour wine" because the prosecutor's office lost the case. He told reporters that Anthony could not afford it.
In January 2013, the Florida appeals court reduced her conviction from four to two charges. His attorney argued that his false statements were a single offense; However, the appeals court noted he provided false information during two separate police interviews several hours apart.
Media coverage
Initial report
The case attracted the attention of the national media in large numbers, and regularly became the main topic of many TV talk shows, including those hosted by Greta Van Susteren, Nancy Grace, Geraldo Rivera, and others. This has been featured on Fox's America's Most Wanted , NBC Dateline , and ABC 20/20 . Nancy Grace called Casey Anthony "mother tot" and urged the public to let "professionals, psychics and police" do their work.
Casey Anthony's parents, Cindy and George, appeared on The Today Show on October 22, 2008. They defend their belief that Caylee is alive and will be found. Larry Garrison, president of SilverCreek Entertainment, was their spokesman until he resigned in November 2008, arguing that he would leave because of Anthony's "uncertain family behavior".
More than 6,000 pages of evidence released by the Orange County County Police Department, including hundreds of instant messages between Casey and his ex-boyfriend Tony Rusciano, were subjected to increased media scrutiny for clues and possible motives for the killings. Outside Anthony's home, WESH TV 2 reported that protesters repeatedly shouted "baby killer" and that George Anthony was physically attacked. George Anthony was reported missing on January 22, 2009, after he failed to appear to meet with his lawyer, Brad Conway. George was found at a Daytona Beach hotel the next day after sending a message to a family member who threatened suicide. She was taken to Halifax Hospital for psychiatric evaluation and then released.
Test scope
This trial is generally compared to the case of the assassination of O. J. Simpson, both because of his wide attention in the media and the initial shock to the innocent verdict. At the beginning of the trial, dozens of people raced to the Orange Court Building, hoping to secure one of the 50 seats open to the public in the murder trial. Because the case received the media attention so thoroughly in Orlando, the jurors were imported from Pinellas County, Florida, and exiled for the entire trial. The case became a "horrible tourist attraction", when people camped outside to sit in the courtroom, where fights also occurred among those who wanted seats inside. The New York Post describes the trial as "from being a case of news to one of the biggest ratings drawn in recent memory", and Time magazine calls it "the medieval social media experiment this ". Cable news channels and network news programs are full of intent to cover this case as widely as possible. Scot Safon, HLN's executive vice president, said it was "not about policy" but "the very, very strong human dimension" of the case that drove the network to cover it. Viewers for HLN's Nancy Grace rose more than 150 percent, and other news channels decided to focus on trials seeing their ratings double and triple. HLN reached the most-watched watch in network history (4.575 million) and peaked at 5.205 million when the verdict was read. According to The Christian Post, the case of O. J. Simpson had 91 percent of viewers watching television, with 142 million people listening on the radio and watching television when the verdict was delivered. "The Simpson case is the longest trial ever conducted in California, costing more than $ 20 million to fight and defend, running 50,000 pages of trial transcripts in the process." Casey Anthony's experiments are expected to "far exceed" these numbers.
Opinions vary about what makes the public really invested in the trial. Safon argues that Anthonys has become an ordinary and "mediocre" family with complicated relationships making them curious to watch. In a special section for CNN, psychologist Frank Farley describes indirect evidence as "across the map" and in combination with "the obvious and contradictory contradictions and testimony clips, and questionable or odd human behavior theories, it is no wonder that the nation is fixated on the tube ". He said it was a good experiment of dreams and nightmares of psychologists, and believed that much of the public appeal [should] be done with uncertain motives for crime. Psychologist Karyl McBride discusses how some mothers diverge from the "sacred archetype" expected of mothers. "We are anxious to rely on a belief system that mothers do not harm children," he said. "It is surprising that the defense in Anthony's case finds a way to blame father.Although we do not know what is true and may never happen, it's good to see a narcissistic family when the mother's narcissism is in charge Casey Anthony is a beautiful white woman and the fact that the case includes things like sex, lies, and videotapes making it unbearable. "
When an innocent verdict was given, there was a significant protest among the general public and the media that the jury made the wrong decision. Outside the courthouse, many of the 500 people who reacted with anger, shouted their rejection and waved a protest. People take to Facebook and Twitter, as well as other social media outlets, to express their anger. Traffic to news sites jumped from about two million page views a minute to 3.3 million, with most visits coming from the United States. Mashable reported that between 2 and 3 pm, a million viewers watched CNN.com/live, 30 times higher than the previous month's average. Trending topics in the United States are mostly about the subject associated with the case, and Newser reports that posts on Facebook come in "too fast for all Facebook to even count, meaning at least 10 per second". Some people refer to the verdict as "O.J. Number 2", and various media and celebrity figures expressed anger through Twitter. News anchor Julie Chen gets very angry when she reads the innocent verdict on The Talk and has to be assisted by her colleagues, who also express their disappointment.
Others, such as Sean Hannity of the Fox News Channel, feel the verdict is fair because the prosecutor does not have enough evidence to establish guilt or fulfill the burden of proof beyond any reasonable doubt. Hannity said the verdict was legally true, and that all evidence presented by the prosecutor was accused or contradicted by the defense. John Cloud of Time magazine echoed this sentiment, saying the jury made the right call: "Anthony came down because the prosecutor could not answer [the question]," Cloud stated. "Because prosecutors have little physical evidence, they build their case on Anthony's almost invisible moral character.The prosecutors seem to think that if the jury sees Anthony's fantastic liar, they will understand that he can also become a murderer."
The disagreement with the verdict is heavily debated by media, lawyers and psychologists, who propose several theories for public discontent with the decision, ranging from wanting justice to Caylee, to strong indirect evidence, to some media blaming. UCLA forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman, said, "The main reason people react so hard is that the media punish Casey before the jury decides the verdict.The people have been plagued by this madness for wanting to take revenge for this poor little man and for wanting revenge they have been whipped become a murder monster. "He added," Nobody likes liars, and Anthony is an ordinary liar and no one likes the fact that he feasted after the death of Caylee.Casey obviously has a lot of psychological problems.Whether he kills his daughter or not is something else. "
There is a gender gap in perception of this case. According to a Gallup Polling of 1,010 respondents, about two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) believe Casey Anthony is "definitely" or "likely" to kill his daughter; However, women are far more likely than men to believe the alleged murder of Anthony and become angry by the innocent verdict. Polls reported that women more than doubled from men, 28 percent versus 11 percent, to think Anthony "definitely" committed murder. Twenty-seven percent of women said they were angry about the verdict, compared with nine percent of men. On the day Casey Anthony was sentenced for lying to investigators in the death of his daughter, supporters and protesters gathered outside Orange Court Building, with a man showing signs of asking Anthony to marry him. Two people who spent the night from West Virginia held signs that said, "We love and support you Casey Anthony," and "Nancy Grace, stop trying to destroy an innocent life.The jury has spoken. P.S. Our legal system is still working!" The gender gap has been partially explained by "motherly instinct". The idea of ​​a mother killing her own child poses a threat to the ideal of motherhood. For example, the trial was compared to the trials of Alice Crimmins of the 1960s, who were accused of killing his two small children.
An explanation other than, or emphasize, the lack of forensic evidence of the claimant is given for a jury's decision. A number of media commentators argued that prosecutors paid higher on the case by signaling the death penalty, concluding that people with a good conscience could not pass the death sentence to Anthony based on indirect evidence presented. The CSI effect is also widely debated - that people are now living "in the 'CSI era' where everyone is expecting fingerprints and DNA, and we are sending messages that the old indirect evidence is not enough. Likewise, commentators such as O. J. Simpson case prosecutor Marcia Clark believe the jury to interpret "reasonable doubts" is too narrow. Clark says that the instruction of reasonable doubt is "the hardest, most elusive instruction". "And I think that's even where the most thoughtful jurors could be derailed," he said, arguing confusion between reasonable doubt and the reason for doubt. "In Scotland, they have three decisions: guilty, innocent, and unproven.This is one way to show that even if the jury does not believe the evidence is undeniable proof, do not find the defendant innocent.. "
Aftermath
Defense, prosecution, and jury
Following a criminal trial, Mason blamed the media for a passionate hatred directed at Anthony. He described it as "media murder" before and during the trial, saying, "I hope this is a lesson for those of you who have been involved in media killing for three years, biases, and prejudices, and incompetent speech chiefs say what will happen and how to be. "Mason adds:" I can tell you that my colleagues from coast to coast and border to border have condemned this whole process of lawyers on television and talked about cases they did not know, and had no experience for support their words or laws to do it.Now you have learned the lesson. "
Mason's response was seen as highly critical of Nancy Grace, whose news program was cited as "almost single-handedly inflating Anthony's case of routine local murder into a national obsession". Grace says that she does not understand why Mason will care what the experts say, and that she imagines she has tried and covered many cases like Mason. He criticized defense lawyers for criticizing the media before naming Caylee in a post-ruling press conference, saying he disagreed with the verdict. At a meeting of local professionals, named Tiger Bay Club of Tampa, Mason told the media and those present that he was surprised by the innocent verdict.
State Attorney Lawson Lamar said, "We are disappointed with today's verdict because we know the facts and we have really included every evidence available.This is a case of a shinbone.Very, very difficult to prove, the delay in recovering the remnants Little Caylee works for our big losses. "Jose Baez said," Although we are happy for Casey, there is no winner in this case. "Caylee has gone far, too fast, and what my driving force for the past three years is always to make sure that there's justice for Caylee and Casey because Casey did not kill Caylee.simple that. "He added," And today our judicial system does not pollute his memory with false beliefs. " Former defense lawyer Casey Anthony Linda Kenney Baden shares Baez's sentiments. He believes the jury has the right decision. "We have to accept their verdict," he said.
On July 6, 2011, Jeff Ashton gave his first interview about the case on The View . Ashton said of the verdict, "Obviously, that's not the result we want, but from what perspective we do, it's a fantastic case." He disagreed with those who claimed the prosecution overcooked the case, saying, "The facts we have... this is first-degree murder, I think it all comes to evidence, I think that finally comes to the cause of death. " Ashton also explained that if the jury does not see first-degree murder when they see a picture of Caylee's skull with tape, "then be it". He said he accepted the jury's decision and that it did not eliminate his faith in the judicial system. "You can not believe in the rule of law and do not accept that sometimes it does not go the way you think it should," Ashton said, and explained that he understood why the case was "upset" with the public. "I think when people see someone they believe has gone from [the love of a mother to her child], it just makes them angry." Ashton also made appearances at several other talk shows in the following days, and praised Jose Baez in his cross-examination and had "the potential to be a great lawyer".
After the trial ended, twelve jurors initially did not want to discuss the verdict with the media. Russell Huekler, an alternative judge who stepped forward on the day of the verdict, said, "The prosecution does not provide evidence that there are allegations of first-degree murder until second-degree murder, for child abuse and even ordinary murder.
The next day, the jury number three - Jennifer Ford, a 32-year-old nursing student - told ABC News, "I'm not saying she's innocent" and "I'm just saying there is not enough evidence.If you can not prove what the crime is, you can not determine what punishment should be. "He added," I'm not saying I believe in a defense, "but it's" easier for me logically to get from point A to point B "through defense arguments, as opposed to the prosecution argument. Ford believes George Anthony is "dishonest." He said the jury "hurts their stomach [for a [innocent] verdict" and that the decision process gets them overwhelmed to the point where they do not want to talk to reporters afterwards. Juror number two, 46-year-old man who was asked to remain unidentified, told St. The Petersburg Times that "everyone agrees if we are entirely on feelings and emotions, [Anthony] is done". He states that the lack of evidence is the reason for the innocent verdict: "I just swear to God... I wish we had more evidence to get rid of it I really... But it does not exist." He also said that Anthony is "not a good person in my opinion". The number six jury, identified by WTSP as Brian Berling, told TMZ.com gossip website that he was willing to be interviewed "as long as the opportunity was paid".
In an anonymous interview, the foreman juror stated, "When I had to sign a verdict, the sheets were given to me - there was only the disgust that came to me knowing that my signature and [Casey Anthony's] signature would be on the same sheet , "but that" there's suspicion [George Anthony] "that plays a role in jury consideration. The foreman said his work experience enabled him to read people and that George Anthony "had a very selective memory" living with the jury, emphasized that the jury was frustrated with the motives, causes of death, and George Anthony. "That a mother wants to do something like that to her child just because she wants to go out and party," he said. "We feel that the motive the country provides is, in our eyes, just a little weak." Although the foreman objected to Casey Anthony's behavior after the death of his daughter, he and the jury did not put that behavior into their verdict because it was not illegal. They initially voted on the number of murders, of which 10-2 (two guilty) votes, but after more than ten hours of consideration, they decided the only allegations they felt proved were four allegations of lying to law enforcement.
Perry announced on July 7 that he would hold the names of the jury for several months due to fears that "Some people want to take something from them." He released the jury name on October 25, 2011. On May 6, 2013, he stated that he believed there was sufficient evidence to punish Casey Anthony, despite most indirect evidence, and that he was surprised by a guilty verdict.
Anthony's family
Mark Lippman, George's lawyer and Cindy Anthony, told ABC News the family received death threats after the innocent verdict was given. In response to the verdict, a statement was released by Lippman on behalf of Anthony's family (George, Cindy and Lee Anthony):
While families may never know what has happened to Caylee Marie Anthony, they now have a cover for this chapter in their lives. They will now begin a long process of rebuilding their lives. Despite the groundless defenses chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believed that the jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented, the testimony presented, the scientific information presented and the rules given to them by Perry's Judge Perry to guide them. The family hopes that they will be given time by the media to think about this decision and decide the best way to move forward in person.
Allegedly in a press report that Cindy Anthony has sworn to himself when telling the jury that he - not Casey Anthony - is the person who uses his family's computer to search the internet for "chloroform". State attorney's office said he would not be prosecuted.
On July 6, 2011, Anthony's prison letters were released to the general public. They were initially released (though not publicly) in April 2010 by prosecutors preparing for Anthony's trial. In over 250 pages of handwritten, Anthony discusses his life in prison, what he longs for, and his plans for the future if set free. On July 8, 2011, Cindy Anthony had scheduled a visit to meet Casey at 7 pm, but the visit was rejected. "This morning under the policy, Casey was told about the visit and he has refused the visit so it will not happen," prison spokeswoman Allen Moore said. Moore also said that Cindy would be notified of her daughter's decision. Mark Lippman told Reuters during the trial that Casey broke off communication with his parents. It was later announced that George and Cindy Anthony would appear at Dr. Phil in September 2011 to tell their story.
Casey left for an undisclosed location shortly after the verdict. On August 12, however, he was ordered to return to Florida to undergo a year-long supervised probation for an unrelated fraud-related conviction. When he pleaded guilty to the charges in January 2010, the judge in the case was meant for Casey to undergo his probation after the killing process ended, but a mistake in the punishment document allowed him to undergo his probation while awaiting trial. Casey returned to Florida on August 25 and underwent a trial period at an undisclosed location. Due to many threats to his life, the Correction Department did not enter the information into the country's parolee database. In August 2011, George and Cindy issued a statement that Casey would not stay in their home when he returned to Florida for his probation. According to the Huffington Post he reportedly worked with his probation officer to take online lecture classes in an unspecified field, while protected by security, at an undisclosed institution.
In August 2011, the Florida Department of Children and Family released a report based on a three-year investigation into the disappearance and death of Caylee. A spokeswoman for the agency stated, "It is a conclusion from [DCF] that [Casey Anthony] failed to protect his child from harm either through his actions or lack of action, which tragically resulted in his untimely death."
Casey filed for bankruptcy with the Florida District Central Bankruptcy Court on January 27, 2013. His estimated liabilities are between $ 500,000 and $ 1 million.
Civil settings
In September 2008, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez sued Casey for defamation. During the investigation, Anthony told investigators that he left Caylee 2½ years with a babysitter named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez - also known as "Zanny" - on June 16 at a certain apartment staircase in Sawgrass apartment complex located in Orlando. Fernandez-Gonzalez, who registered in the apartment notes for visiting the apartment on that date, was questioned by police, but declared he did not know Casey or Caylee. His slander lawsuit seeks redress and punishment, alleging that Casey deliberately damaged his reputation. Fernandez-Gonzalez told reporters that he lost his job, was expelled from his home, and received death threats against himself and his children as a result of Anthony's lies. Fernandez-Gonzalez's lawyer, John Morgan, said he wanted to interrogate Anthony about Caylee's death because it was the "essence" of the libel suit.
On October 8, 2011, Morgan overthrew Casey via a videoconference. He runs his Fifth Amendment correctly against self-torture and only answers some factual questions. Morgan felt it was not true, but the jurists thought that Anthony had the right to invoke the Fifth until his appeal over the conviction of lying to the officers had been exhausted. Fernandez-Gonzalez's lawyers sought and received permission to get Anthony's address (though sealed from the public) so they could summon him to testify, even if he just took the attitude long enough to plead the Fifth. However, Fernandez-Gonzalez is willing to drop the lawsuit if Anthony apologizes to him and compensates for his pain and suffering. In September 2015, a judge ruled in favor of Anthony, stating: "Nothing in the statement... to support (Fernandez-Gonzalez's) allegations that (Anthony) intended to portray (caregiver) as kidnapper of child and potentially child killer."
In July 2011, Texas EquuSearch (TES), a nonprofit group that helps the Cay search
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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