Gone are the days (if only temporarily) of worrying over terrible news of the drought in the South, wildfires, and drug-related crimes. There's bigger news to talk about. The verdict has rocked the country and I have a pretty good idea that we'll continue to hear about this for at least 6 months from now.
My initial response upon hearing the verdict from a co-worker was shock, then frustration (how can our legal system fail!? I know - that's a loaded question), then ultimately - understanding. Before I start getting eggs hurled at my house for what I just said, let me state my case. Finally - I have something worthwhile to blog about, and I get to exercise my passion - law. Finally, a legal background that I get to use!
On the outside it's easy to form our own opinions based on what we hear from the media. It's easy to decide that Anthony is guilty and that she should rot in jail for murdering her daughter. But if it were you sitting in the jury seat, would you have easily come to the same decision? Could you just have easily put a potentially innocent person in jail and maybe on Death Row? Granted, there's just too many suspicious things going on, lots of evidence that clearly points to her (right?), and she just keeps lying about what actually happened. As crazy as this case may have seemed, we all have to remember that there are rules/laws to follow and yes, even Casey Anthony is presumed innocent until proven guilty. I'll cover the crimes that Casey Anthony was charged with, the evidence that was presented, the claims that Anthony made, the rules the jury had to follow and where I think this case went wrong.
The Charges:
Casey Anthony was charged with four things...
1. Felony Murder in the First Degree
2. Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child
3. Aggravated Child Abuse
4. Four counts of providing false information to a police officer
Anthony was charged with child neglect back in 2008 on the basis that Caylee was still alive. When it was determined that Caylee was indeed deceased, they dropped the charge against her and proceeded to charge her with the four crimes above. My personal thought: So a child must be alive for a parent to be charged with child neglect? I wholeheartedly disagree. If parent neglected his/her child for a month by not giving the child food/water (which ultimately caused the child's death), how can it NOT be neglect? Apparently the law decrees that the child neglect charge is unnecessary because there are four other charges (which she HAS to be guilty of, right? Right!). Sadly enough, I personally think that if the child neglect charge stuck, the jury would have found her guilty of at least that.
The Evidence:
1. Hair in Anthony's trunk. *Fun Fact: If any of you know me well enough, you'd know that I'm a big fan of the Body Farm over at the University of Tennessee. They use donated bodies to conduct research on the circumstances of death, how long it takes to decay in certain environments and so forth. Very cool. It was actually the Body Farm that discovered hair banding - forensic evidence that proves whether the hair came from a living or a deceased person. After death, the roots of the hair will develop a dark band. The hair found in Anthony's trunk proved that a deceased person was in the trunk at one time.
2. Air samples taken from the same trunk showed chemical compounds that is present in the stages of decomposition. However, it is still unconfirmed whether it was a human decaying in the trunk.
3. Chloroform was found in the car trunk.
4. A search on Anthony's home computer found Internet searches of "neck breaking", "how to make chloroform", and "death". Casey Anthony's mother took responsibility for the Internet searches.
5. Laundry bag, duct tape and plastic bags found at the crime scene matched the materials found at Anthony's home
6. A heart-shaped outline was found on a duct tape found at the crime scene. However, the outline faded when the duct tape was dusted for prints. Heart-shaped stickers were found at Anthony's home.
7. A Winnie The Pooh blanket was found at the crime scene; the blanket was similar to the blanket that was missing from Caylee's bed.
After all the evidence, the case has got to be open-and-shut, right? But there has to be other things to consider. Let's take a look at Anthony's claims (or defense or whatever you want to call it)....
Anthony's
1. Originally she stated that a nanny had kidnapped Caylee
2. She also stated that it was an accidental drowning (and that her father helped her cover it up... which her father denies doing)
3. She alleged that her father had sexually abused her since she was 8 years old and that her brother made sexual advances towards her. With no clear knowledge of who Caylee's biological father was, both men were tested to see if they were Caylee's father. (Can we say ew?) The tests were negative and we still have no idea who the biological father was. I'm not seeing why this claim has any validity in the case. What does Casey's supposed sexual history have to do with her daughter?
We have to remember that we weren't the ones sitting in on the trial. We didn't hear and see all the evidence, we didn't hear all the arguments and we didn't hear all the witnesses testify.... that is, unless you were glued in front of the television the whole time and watched the entire trial. It's easy to talk with your friends, family and church members and come to the conclusion that Anthony is guilty. Maybe she is. Maybe she isn't. Only she and God knows (as well as accomplices if there were any). In determining whether a suspect is guilty of any type of crime, there are laws to follow. There are no real punishments against a jury for coming up with a "wrong" verdict, but if it is found that a jury failed the follow the laws, and/or cannot come to an agreement on a verdict, the judge would probably call a mistrial.
Jury Rules:
1. The state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt of the following criteria in order to determine that the suspect is guilty. If there is doubt of just one criteria, the jury will be required to return a verdict of not guilty or they may return a guilty verdict of a lesser crime - provided that all the criteria is met.
2. If they cannot agree on a verdict for the charges, they will be required to look at all the lesser crimes and decide if any others apply to the evidence provided.
3. The state has the burden of proof. The jury is required to look to the state for the evidence and the explanations of the evidence. The jury cannot base their decisions on the defense not being able to prove that Anthony did not do it. They must look at the evidence that proves she did.
4. It is up to the jury to decide which evidence is reliable, if it is reliable and which evidence to ignore (because it is too circumstantial, etc).
5. The vote must not be unanimous but the type of verdict must be agreed on (murder in the first degree, second degree, etc).
Let's look at the charges and the criteria for each:
- Murder in the First degree (which can be either a felony murder or a premeditated murder
- Felony murder
- Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.
- The death occurred as a consequence of and while Casey Marie Anthony was engaged in the commission of Aggravated Child Abuse OR The death occurred as a consequence of and while Casey Marie Anthony was attempting to commit Aggravated Child Abuse.
- Casey Marie Anthony was the person who actually killed Caylee Marie Anthony.
- Premeditated Murder
- Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.
- The death was caused by the criminal act of Casey Marie Anthony.
- There was a premeditated killing of Caylee Marie Anthony.
- Aggravated Child Abuse
- Casey Marie Anthony knowingly or willfully committed child abuse upon Caylee Marie Anthony and in so doing caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement.
- Caylee Marie Anthony was under the age of eighteen years.
- Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child
- Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.
- Casey Marie Anthony’s act(s) caused the death of Caylee Marie Anthony OR The death of Caylee Marie Anthony was caused by the culpable negligence of Casey Marie Anthony.
Since the jury couldn't find Casey Anthony guilty of anything above, they now have to look at the lesser crimes.
- Murder in the Second Degree
- Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.
- The death was caused by the criminal act of Casey Marie Anthony.
- There was an unlawful killing of Caylee Marie Anthony by an act imminently dangerous to another and demonstrating a depraved mind without regard for human life.
- Manslaughter
- Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.
- Casey Marie Anthony’s act(s) caused the death of Caylee Marie Anthony OR The death of Caylee Marie Anthony was caused by the culpable negligence of Casey Marie Anthony.
- Murder in the Third Degree
- Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.
- The death occurred as a consequence of and while Casey Marie Anthony was engaged in the commission of Child Abuse OR The death occurred as a consequence of and while Casey Marie Anthony was attempting to commit Child Abuse.
- Casey Marie Anthony was the person who actually killed Caylee Marie Anthony.
She could have also been charged and found guilty of the two lesser crimes:
- Attempt to Commit Crime
- Casey Marie Anthony did some act toward committing the crime of Child Abuse that went beyond just thinking or talking about it.
- She would have committed the crime except that someone prevented her from committing the crime of Child Abuse or she failed.
- Child Abuse
- Casey Marie Anthony intentionally inflicted physical or mental injury upon Caylee Marie Anthony OR committed an intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to Caylee Marie Anthony
- The victim was under the age of eighteen years.
Based on these criteria, the jury has found Casey Anthony not guilty. The vote did not have to be unanimous but there had to be just enough votes to be the majority. The majority decided that none of the evidence presented met any of the criteria 100% for any of the crimes and that there were reasonable doubts that Casey Anthony was directly responsible for the death of her daughter.
Where the case went wrong:
The evidence was there. As clear as day. But the problem lies with the DA. The State didn't do a good enough job of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony is responsible for the death of her daughter. There were just too many circumstantial evidence. It's apparent that Caylee was murdered. It wasn't exactly clear who did it. There were loopholes in the Defense but the jury chose to ignore that. If the child died of an accidental drowning, why would there be a need to put duct tape over Caylee's face? We all know that duct tape is mostly used to bind a victim and/or to quiet them. If Caylee was already dead, there would be no need to put tape over her mouth. If it really was accidental drowning, why didn't she (or her father, who said he helped cover it up) just call 911 and have the body taken away and have a proper funeral? Unless they had something to hide...But, there's always a "but"....
Reasonable doubt can be an annoying, pesky little thing, but if it were you sitting in the hot seat and you really were innocent, you'd be damn thankful for reasonable doubt.
Now that the verdict and the trial is out of the way, what is stopping the State from charging Anthony as an accomplice? In the eyes of law, an accomplice is someone who participates in the crime knowingly, willingly and with common interest. An accomplice aids in the crime without actually committing the crime itself. The accomplice could aid the crime in any way, but more specifically knowing about it and not doing anything about it and/or helping someone cover it up. If someone is found guilty of being an accomplice of a crime, the accomplice will receive the same punishment as if he/she physically committed the act.
Something tells me that even though this particular trial is out of the way, the case is far from being over.
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