Yes, the jury reached the right verdict in the Casey Anthony case. Unfortunately, the justice system is not perfect. There is always the clause of reasonable doubt jurors have to wrap their hands around. From the onset Jose Baez, lead defense attorney for Casey Anthony threw everyone off keel by stating that Casey was molested by both her father and brother. More importantly, Caylee Anthony was drowned in the family pool. With such a ‘bomb shell’ so early in the case, already, that set doubt in the minds of the jury panel.
The Prosecution only had circumstantial evidence to deal with. They were unable to show motive or an eye witness to the murder of Caylee. Like any high profile case, Casey Anthony was scrutinized and tried by wide-cross section of the public both in the United States and abroad. No one couldn’t comprehend why a mother would party for weeks with friends when your child is missing. Moreover, it took weeks before it was reported. She and her family even received death threats over the past three years. Casey went on to present various versions of what happened to her daughter, Caylee Anthony. One scenario was that a nanny called Zanny took her daughter and was in Jacksonville.
The Prosecution fell short in submitting sufficient evidence so as to convince the members of the jury. They couldn’t make up stories as they went along. They had to follow the evidence they already had. The jury decided that you cannot put someone to death because of their demeanor after a crime. Yes, she lied on several occasions; but, that doesn’t mean that she’s guilty of murder. Her attitude and behaviour may have been rather odd, but, that doesn’t mean that she killed her daughter.
When Jose Baez stated that she as sexually molested by her father and brother, many experts in the law profession thought he was inexperienced and incompetent to present such a ‘bombshell’ so early in the case. They thought to do so he would have to definitely convince the jury. Baez and his team forged ahead and placed Casey’s mom, brother, experts and the father’s mistress on the stand. By all accounts, many said that the mistress sounded credible. She stated that Mr. Anthony told her that it was an accident; and Caylee drowned in the pool.
Once again, after having these close family members testifying as defence witnesses for Casey, that put confusion and doubt in jurors mind. Mrs. Anthony stated that she was the one who did a search on ‘chloroform’. However, the prosecution pointed out that on the day the search was carried out, she was at work. In addition, the brother didn’t help the prosecution by being such an emotional wreck. He stated that he was not informed of Casey’s pregnancy until the latter stage. It perhaps made them wonder if he holding back more. Then, there was the mistress of Mr. Anthony who by all accounts looked quite credible. She testified that Mr. Anthony told her that it was an accident that occurred in the pool.
Although the members of the jury were sequestered, let us not forget that they are cognizant of Mr. Anthony’s attempted suicide earlier on after the body was discovered. In addition, DNA evidence was done on both father and son to prove paternity of Caylee. That was proven in the negative. The bizarre behavior of the entire family perhaps made the jurors questioned things. A normal mother would not be partying for weeks while her child was missing. Based on the evidence given by the defense, Casey clearly was not an abusive mother. The jury saw evidence by the presentation of DVD’s and testimonies by witnesses.
The prosecution didn’t perform a foolproof job. They were somewhat limited with the amount of evidence given. Maybe, this case shouldn’t have gone to trial when it did. Time always seems to reveal a more. Perhaps, the authorities should have released Casey and placed her under ‘house arrest’. Maybe, at some point, everyone’s guard would be dropped. It must be pointed that the jurors didn’t find Casey innocent of murder. However, based on instructions from the courts and the evidence given, they had to rule the way they did; without the emotions. They were given reasonable doubt/s. Clearly, the justice system is not perfect and there needs to be changes. For example, a parent or guardian should be held responsible for not reporting a missing child within a reasonable time.