However, Casey Anthony has drawn several million people to tune in for daily coverage of her trial, including me.
What piques my interest in this trial is the fact that nobody knows the motivation behind an alleged mother murdering her own daughter and having zero remorse about it. Although she doesn’t have the celebrity status of an O.J. Simpson murder trial, it’s the fact that a mother could murder her own daughter and then go to parties and clubs afterwards, and if she didn’t murder her then how could a mother not report their child missing for a month? It’s for these reasons that I’m drawn in to this trial.
I will first put down all the facts, show what the prosecutors and defense teams have game planned, and then give my prediction on how the jury will take it all in.
TIMELINE:
June 15, 2008 - Caylee Anthony last confirmed sighting alive
June 17, 2008 - George and Cindy Anthony (Casey Anthony’s parents) notice that the gate to the swimming pool is open and the ladder is next to the pool
June 18, 2008 - Casey Anthony borrows a shovel from a neighbor
June 20-21, 2008 - Casey Anthony goes clubbing
June 24, 2008 - Casey Anthony’s ex-fiance calls her and may* have heard Caylee in the background although he did hear Casey Anthony reprimand Caylee for climbing onto a table. (*He stated that he did originally, but wasn’t sure in court)
George Anthony calls police and reports that 2 gas cans with about $50.00 in gas have been stolen from his storage shed.
Later that day, George finds the gas cans in Casey’s trunk after she shows up at her parent’s home to pick up clothes.
June 27, 2008 - Casey Anthony leaves her car in a parking lot outside of a store, as she goes to the beach with her ex-fiancé.
June 30, 2008 - Casey Anthony’s car is towed. Her purse is found on the front seat.
July 3, 2008 - Cindy Anthony posts on MySpace that Caylee is missing and her current mood is distraught.
July 4, 2008 - Casey spends the day partying with friends
July 15, 2008 - Cindy Anthony gets a tip from her friend where Casey is staying, and her friend accuses Casey of stealing checks and $700
Cindy picks up Casey and calls 911 three times, telling the police that she wants her daughter arrested for stealing money and a car, and that Caylee is missing. Casey had allegedly stolen her mother’s credit card.
During the third 911 call, Cindy Anthony tells the dispatcher that she found her daughter’s car today and it smells like a dead body.
December 11, 2008 - Human remains, later identified as Caylee, are found with remnants of duct tape by the Anthony house.
January 23, 2009 - George Anthony is sent to the hospital after sending family members suicidal texts.
May 24, 2011 - Casey Anthony’s trial begins, facing first-degree murder charges as well as 2 other charges and 4 counts of providing false information to law enforcement, as well as facing the death penalty.
Prosecution goals:
The prosecution has done a great job for the high profile case without a ton of evidence. The coroner and autopsy still haven’t found way to rule Caylee Anthony’s death, so most of the prosecution’s evidence is circumstantial. However, as many legal experts have noted, Casey Anthony shouldn’t benefit for no forensic evidence because it took nearly half a year for her body to be found.
Also, the prosecution had to be up to the task of trying to explain to a jury how a mother could murder her own daughter. They wanted to portray her as a mother who wanted to get back into the party scene, and is a pathological liar.
Defense goals:
The defense made waves in their opening statements when they declared that Caylee Anthony drowned in the family pool, and that her grandparents helped cover it up, as well as saying that Casey Anthony was abused by her father and brother.
Although the opening statements made for some strong headlines, the defense did an awful job at proving their shocking opening statements. The only mention of a possible drowning was getting Cindy Anthony to admit that they forgot to move the ladder away from the pool, and that Caylee had climbed it before, but otherwise there is zero evidence of a possible drowning and cover-up. Also, the defense started with the abuse charges against her father and brother, but never prodded into it, and it just seems to an inaccurate statement.
What the defense has tried to prove is that George Anthony’s suicide attempt was because of his guilt in covering-up Caylee’s drowning but the prosecution did a great job of blocking this attempt in cross-examination.
Also in one of the most bizarre testimonies, the defense brought in a guilt expert that testified that she thought it was normal that Casey Anthony went out and partied after her daughter’s death (I don’t get it either).
Jury:
The toughest part to predict is that the jury has been sequestered for the past six weeks, and hasn’t seen any of the media coverage around this case. However, the toughest thing is to decipher between the ways that Casey Anthony is portrayed; a woman with no cares in the world and hasn’t really showed any remorse/guilt/sadness that her daughter is dead. On the other side, there is not any forensic evidence that Casey Anthony murdered her own daughter.
Overall, I think the jury will find her guilty due to the defense team trying to blame Caylee’s death on her own family but then not any facts to give that theory any plausibility. Also, Casey Anthony did not testify, which has to mean something to the jury that she didn’t want to take the stand and explain her story when her defense was in shambles for most of the trial.
The jury should begin deliberations Sunday afternoon, and I’ll post the final result on this blog afterwards.
**UPDATE**
Casey Anthony was acquitted on first-degree murder charges.
The jury said in their few interviews that Casey Anthony wasn't "innocent" but rather the evidence wasn't surmountable enough to say without reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony was guilty of first-degree murder. Some members of the media have said that the jury is guilty of a "CSI effect", in which they were disappointed that they didn't get a murder weapon and motive similar to television shows.
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