Let me start off by saying that being acquitted of murder does not mean that Casey Anthony is innocent and the jurors felt the same way. In this great country we are innocent until proven guilty and the State of Florida was unable to prove Casey’s guilt. Plain and simple.
As Jose Baez reminded the jury in his closing statement, emotions and anger must be put aside when deciding the fate of this young mother who was accused of murdering her 2 year old child back in the summer of 2008. Judge Belvin Perry gave a description of each charge against Ms. Anthony and explained what they needed to convict her of the charges.
The proof just wasn’t there.
Many in this country were outraged over the verdict because of their emotional attachment to this case. The fact that Casey Anthony carried on with her life for 31 days when she knew that her daughter was dead and actually continued to lie about it when confronted by her family and police makes her look guilty. There is no doubt that her behavior is not acceptable or normal.
The speculation of how and why she killed Caylee is just that: speculation. There was no concrete evidence that showed how she killed her.
How could the jurors convict her of abusing her child when no one got on the witness stand to testify that Casey was anything but a good mother? Yes, a good mother does not ignore that her child is missing or dead as the defense claimed but it is not proof.
Computer searches done for chloroform and her car trunk showing high levels of chloroform would make you assume that chloroform had something to do with Caylee’s death. The smell of a decomposing body in Casey’s trunk also would make you assume that Caylee was in that trunk before her body was dumped 15 houses from her home.
There was one hair in the trunk of the car that experts argued about. The State of Florida’s expert says it came from Caylee’s decomposing body. Is one hair enough to prove that Caylee was in that trunk?
To me it is but the prosecution never explained how her body got there. When the evidence leaves the jury to put the pieces of the puzzle together that leaves room for reasonable doubt. This is what happened in this case.
The fact that it was a death penalty case is another reason why the jury was hesitant to put those puzzle pieces together themselves. A woman’s life was on the line.
Many do compare this case to the OJ Simpson trial but that is not a fair comparison. With OJ there was DNA evidence, a bloody shoeprint, the glove and motive. With Casey Anthony there just was not enough to prove murder.
Caylee’s death could have been accidental or it could have been deliberate murder. When all that is left is skeletal remains, no proof of how she died or when, how can murder be proved? The lead prosecutor in this case said that to him, looking at the condition of Caylee’s skull with the duct tape over the mouth and weeds growing through it was enough to prove a crime.
The crime scene photos sound gruesome and although they have not and will not be released for public view, they provoke emotion and do not tell the story of how, when and why this little girl was dumped in the woods.
The Anthony family are dysfunctional and not honest people and their testimonies probably hurt the prosecution’s case but they did help to save Casey from death. The state tried passionately to fight for justice for Caylee but in this case, the emotion and anger over the death of a little girl was far stronger than the proof of a crime.