Casey Anthony found Not Guilty

[Shangri-laschild]

It is called "a cute little blonde white girl who lived in subrubia was killed" syndrome.

And when you add in "parent(s) are suspected" it amps it up even more. + 20 if you can question their parenting skills even if it didn't lead to the death.


Have to agree though that the prosecution seemed to have nothing other than "look, she did a lot of suspicious stuff, she must have done it!" which means the fault in her not being found guilty lies with the prosecutors rather than the jury or the legal system.

Was confused by this quote from the article though:

State Attorney Lamar Lawson thanked the prosecutors from his office who tried the case, and he said the case was never about the defendant.

"It has always been about seeking justice for Caylee and speaking on her behalf," he told reporters.

Does that mean that the trial was never about proving her guilty or was he trying to shift focus from what the mom did onto the tragedy of the death? Or something else?

[Kimmik]

Personally I think she did it but I think the case has been handled very poorly. The fact is she has been found inocent of the most serious charges by a jury of her peers. What is she going to do now? After this media circus where is she going to get a job? Where is she going to live? In the end her life is effectively ruined even though she was found innocent. All for a few months of entertainment for the American public.

I have been watching this circus with a feeling of great sadness. We want to lynch anyone suspected of harming a child. now this poor woman.. has no chance at life. She was found not guilty based on a trial of her peers, but no one will care about that... "we know" she did it so she is guilty.

I wish media circuses were against the law as they serve no purpose other then to whip the masses into a lynch mob.

[Imprl59]

While I don't think she should have been charged with murder 1 or anything...I am DUMBFOUNDED that she was found not guilty on ANYTHING to do with it. I mean...child endangerment? Neglect? SOMETHING?!

They can't find her guilty of child endangerment or neglect because she wasn't charged with those crimes. The prosecution "went for the gold" and didn't have the case to back it up. The jury is left with the choice of guilty or not guilty of the charges presented, they cant pick new charges and decide she is guilty of those.

Personally I think she did it but I think the case has been handled very poorly. The fact is she has been found inocent of the most serious charges by a jury of her peers. What is she going to do now? After this media circus where is she going to get a job? Where is she going to live? In the end her life is effectively ruined even though she was found innocent. All for a few months of entertainment for the American public.

[guywithashovel]

People on my Facebook list are whipped into a frenzy over this. It has got me to wondering: Is Casey Anthony going to survive in the outside world? Given how angry so many people are and how sure of her guilt so many people seem to be, I'm wondering if a lynch mob will come after her after she is released.

[Jester]

I am going to play Devil's Advocate here. But first I want to say that I believe that Casey Anthony did, in fact, kill her child. Do I believe the prosecution proved it beyond a reasonable doubt? No. Do I believe the jury probably came to the right verdict based upon the case and evidence they were presented with? Yes. Do I still believe that she's guilty as all hell? Yes...but we don't send people to jail to life, or execute them, for merely believing they are guilty.

Anyway, as I said, I am going to play Devil's Advocate here and present potential answers to some questions raised.

...now it's being said that Casey wants more children, or possibly adopt one.

If she did not in fact kill her child, but is merely the victim of a horrible tragedy followed by mistakes and misunderstandings, then sure, of course she would want more children. If your child was killed, wouldn't you?

With her noteriety and the fact that one child of hers is dead, what agency would in their right mind would let her adopt a child?

She can still give birth, and there's not much anyone can do to stop her.

As for adoption, I doubt she would be allowed to adopt, but not because of the possible murder; more so for the fact that it's been well-documented that her first child stressed her out way beyond normal. Also, the accusations of child abuse and/or neglect, also well-documented (if unproven) wouldn't sit too well with the average adoption agency.

Then again, with Florida's child welfare system being the pathetic joke that it is, anything is possible.

who killed Caylee if it wasn't Casey (supposedly?)

Excellent question. There are three possibilities I can think of:

1. As has been suggested by the defense, Caylee drowned accidentally, and then Casey, not being the best suited for handling such a tragedy, hid the body and covered things up, and then only reported her missing 30 some days later. Stupid, sure, but if this is what actually happened, her only crimes are stupidity (not yet punishable by the law) and lying to investigators.

2. Someone who no one has mentioned or suggested. Since the family seems to all suggest that Caylee was not murdered at all, I tend to highly doubt this possibility. After all, if someone other than Casey killed Caylee, don't you think the defense team and/or her family would be screaming it from the tops of sand dunes? (Florida doesn't have any mountains....) Unless.....

3. Someone else from the Anthony family killed Caylee, either intentionally or accidentally, and then the family covered it up a la #1, but the coverup backfired badly on to Casey.

Personally, I believe the most likely scenario is that Casey killed her. Barring that, the next most likely in my mind is #1. Those are really the only two possibilties that really fit all the evidence.

Even though the grandparents claimed the child drowned in the pool . . . if that were the case, then why didn't they call 911 when it happened?

From what I understand, Casey was the only one that knew that Caylee had drowned, and the grandparents didn't find this out later. So that would explain why they didn't call the authorities. Of course, I could be wrong, and perhaps they did know from the beginning, but maybe they thought Casey could somehow be implicated for neglect. If, of course, it was the case that Caylee drowned.

The whole Anthony family is dysfunctional as hell . . .every last one of them. They've lied to everyone about everything and changed their stories so many times one doesn't know what to believe any more.

From what I've seen, this is all true. But dysfunction and lies do not murder make. They certainly do not make a guilty verdict beyond a reasonable doubt in a capital murder case.

Overwhelming evidence of guilt, yet the defendant gets off scott-free with a not guilty verdict and acquittal.

As has been pointed out, the evidence of guilt was not overwhelming. Almost all of the evidence against Casey was circumstantial, with just the thinnest of physical evidence.

That being said, if it is the case that Casey did not kill Caylee, she hardly got off scot free. Not only has she spent 3 years in jail, but her reputation was destroyed on national television. If you did not kill your child but were tried for it, and most of the country knew about the case and felt you were guilty, do you think you'd be getting off scot free? I don't.

All that being said, I believe both that Casey killed her daughter, and that despite that, the jury came to the correct verdict, based upon the case they were given.

[Eisa]

I DO think she is guilty of something. Blatant stupidity if nothing else.

However, they didn't have the evidence to prove murder. So as frustrating as the verdict is, they really did make the correct choice. The prosecution couldn't PROVE the poor child was even murdered.

[Greenday]

I've always believed she was guilty . . . but since the state couldn't prove it, the question now is: who killed Caylee if it wasn't Casey (supposedly?)

Why does it have to be murder? Accidents never happen or something?

Overwhelming evidence of guilt, yet the defendant gets off scott-free with a not guilty verdict and acquittal.

Wow, I really must have missed something because for such a huge amount of evidence that proved she killed her daughter, I didn't see any of it somehow.

[Andara Bledin]

Overwhelming evidence of guilt, yet the defendant gets off scott-free with a not guilty verdict and acquittal.

Overwhelming evidence of not bloody much. To return with a guilty verdict based on what was available would have been a travesty of the American justice system. Trial by media with the outcome decided based on speculation and hyperbole.

^-.-^

[tropicsgoddess]

I still think she's guilty. She's been lying through her teeth so many times and to top that she didn't report her daughter missing until after what 30 days?!!! That says a lot. Another OJ Simpson-esque trial. Overwhelming evidence of guilt, yet the defendant gets off scott-free with a not guilty verdict and acquittal.

[DGoddess]

Actually, Jane is being pretty even keeled. I just finished watching her. She's surprised, but not frothing at the mouth like Nancy is.

I just turned on Nancy Grace a couple of minutes ago . . . and I'm ready to jump through my flatscreen and beat the living crap out of Casey . . .now it's being said that Casey wants more children, or possibly adopt one.

With her noteriety and the fact that one child of hers is dead, what agency would in their right mind would let her adopt a child? I wouldn't let her adopt a puppy from the local animal shelter.

I've always believed she was guilty . . . but since the state couldn't prove it, the question now is: who killed Caylee if it wasn't Casey (supposedly?)

Even though the grandparents claimed the child drowned in the pool . . . if that were the case, then why didn't they call 911 when it happened?

The whole Anthony family is dysfunctional as hell . . .every last one of them. They've lied to everyone about everything and changed their stories so many times one doesn't know what to believe any more.

As for Casey's misdemeanor charges of lying to law enforcement: each charge carries a year in jail. As long as she's been in jail awaiting trial (plus good behavior - I've heard no reports of her causing any trouble or else Nancy would've been all over that like a pack of dogs on a 3 legged cat) the judge could consider it as time served and release Casey this weekend.

But that's speculation at this point. We'll know for sure on that tomorrow when the sentencing hearing is held.

But it's a sad situation all the way around. 4 lives are ruined and a little girl has gotten the shaft even in death.

[lordlundar]

This was, and is, a trial by media if I've ever seen one.

Which is why I just plain avoided it for the longest time. "Oh half the country is being ravaged by natural disasters? Nope, Casey Anthony just shed a tear, must give a week long analysis about that. Ugh, it's the perfect example of what's wrong with American "news" media.

Even if you feel justice wasn't done, feel thankful that justice isn't being determined by the Nancy Graces and Jane Velez-Mitchells in the media mob.

Agreed. Their approach is "kill them all and let God sort it out. They see the "innocent until proven guilty" and just see "proven guilty" all the time. Honestly, as bad as Faux News.

The web comic "Something positive nailed just how Nancy Grace operates to a T.

http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09142009.shtml
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09182009.shtml
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp09232009.shtml

[Racket_Man]

I find it kinda funny to watch people like Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell just beside themselves because the people who actually were in the courtroom and on the jury came to a different conclusion than they did. Even if you feel justice wasn't done, feel thankful that justice isn't being determined by the Nancy Graces and Jane Velez-Mitchells in the media mob.

my biggest problem is that these two have been going on and one and on and on and on and frothing at the mouth for 2 or 3 YEARS now on an almost nightly basis. this "murder" has comsumed these two woman 24/7 since it made national news

I'm sorry, but why is this such a big case? It's just another murder case that just so happened to get the media's attention.

It is called "a cute little blonde white girl who lived in subrubia was killed" syndrome. the media seems to LOVE the shit outta cases like this. Now if the little girl had been say black and lived in the getto with a crack whore mother, it MIGHT get a 10 second mention on the local news and the story would quickly fade away never to be heard again

second someone in the media just ran with this and some others got a hold of this and made it THEIR personal mission in life to dig and dig and dig and whatever and keep it is inthe public's eye until someone (singular or plural) get charged and a media trial is held where in the "guilty party" is deemed guilty by public opinion not by a trial by a jury of peers.

I have gotten so SICK of hearing about this whole thing for the last 2 years. the talking heads had SUCH a field day with this that it just sickened me

HELL some of the major cable news channels had a jury's out TIMER going as soon as the jury started to deliberate.

do we know what really happened??? NO were there "mistakes" made by the parties involved??? (and I include ALL who were involved from the parent the grandparents, the media, law enforcement, etc.) YES. is this decision going to be scrutinzed for the next 6 months???? YES WHY?????

[Greenday]

This is what I said the first time I heard about it. I can go on my local newspaper and read about how some kid got shot a couple times a week. Murder isn't something new to America.

[daleduke17]

I'm sorry, but why is this such a big case? It's just another murder case that just so happened to get the media's attention.

[Peppergirl]

Actually, Jane is being pretty even keeled. I just finished watching her. She's surprised, but not frothing at the mouth like Nancy is.