On July 5, 2011, an Orlando jury at the Orange County Courthouse found
defendant Casey Anthony not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child regarding
charges filed against her in 2008 regarding the death of her two year
old daughter, Caylee Anthony. She was convicted of four lesser misdemeanor
crimes of providing false information to law enforcement officers. If
Casey had been convicted of first degree murder, should could have faced
the death penalty in Florida. Judge Belvin Perry sentenced her to the
maximum four year sentence for her misdemeanor convictions of lying to
authorities. He denied the defense's request to combine the misdemeanor
counts into one which could have meant that she would have been released
immediately. She was given time served and good behavior and is expected
to be released on July 17, 2011. An unnamed juror who was interviewed
after the decision said the reason the jury found Casey not guilty of
the more serious crimes of murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated
manslaughter is that the prosecutors failed to show how Caylee was murdered.
The circumstances surrounding the case began when Cindy Anthony reported
her granddaughter, Caylee Anthony missing on July 5, 2008. Casey Anthony
was arrested on July 16, 2008 on circumstantial evidence and charged in
October of 2008 with first degree
murder. In December of 2008, almost six months after Caylee was reported missing,
police investigators found parts of the decomposed body of Caylee with
duct tape in the woods near the Anthony residence. It was established
by the prosecution and admitted by the defense team, that Casey Anthony
lied to sheriff deputies about working at Universal Studios, about employing
a nanny that took care of Caylee and that the nanny, whose name was Zenaida
Fernandez-Gonzalez took the child (it was later determined that no such
person existed, about telling two imaginary people Caylee was missing
and about receiving a telephone call from Caylee the day prior to when
she was reported missing). Photos were presented showing Casey at a Florida
nightclub partying with friends prior to the child being reported as missing.
At trial, Casey's lead defense attorney Jose Baez claimed that Casey
had lied to cover up the family tragedy that Caylee had accidentally drowned
in her grandparents George and Cindy Anthony's pool. He also claimed
that Casey did not tell the truth because she was frightened of her father
George Anthony, who her attorney Baez claimed started molesting Casey
at age eight. Baez also claimed that Casey’s brother might be Caylee’s
father, and that the meter reader who found Caylee's remains may have
moved them. None of these allegations were ever proven. Casey's defense
team was able to raise enough reasonable doubt about the duct tape that
showed no evidence of Casey's DNA on it, which prosecutors argued
was allegedly used to suffocate Caylee. They also raised doubt about conflicting
testimony regarding the odor inside the Anthony car. It had not been established
whether it was a decomposing body or trash left in the car. The prosecutors
did not clarify why chloroform was so important to the case.
The case became one of the most watched and talked about cases since the
O.J. Simpson murder trial and attracted a crowd of spectators and national
and international media coverage. In fact, outside the courthouse the
day the verdict was read, people expressed their outrage that justice
had not been served for Caylee. Casey Anthony could profit from the case
by selling her story to publishers, filmmakers or by signing a television contract.
If you are arrested for murder, aggravated child abuse or aggravated assault
of a child, these are serious crimes. Depending on your state laws, you
could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted of first degree
murder. You should hire an experienced criminal defense attorney to defend
you. The attorney can argue such defenses as circumstantial evidence or
lack of evidence, mistaken identity, self defense or defense of others
to either create enough reasonable doubt to get you acquitted or have
the charges dismissed or reduced to a lesser crime.