Casey Anthony notoriously came to fame after the disappearance of her daughter Caylee Anthony. It all began in June 2008 when Casey’s parenting came into question and she left her family’s home after an argument. Weeks later Casey’s parents received a letter in the mail that her car was had been towed, they went to pick it up and noticed a foul smell coming from the trunk. Casey’s mother questioned the whereabouts of Caylee and was told that she was with a nanny in Orlando by the name of Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. She later confessed to them that the nanny kidnapped Caylee and disappeared; they called 911 and reported the child missing and said that it "smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car", a month after her disappearance. …show more content…
Casey was taken in for question where law enforcement noticed a lot of discrepancies in her statements.
They determined that there was never a nanny among many other lies and Casey was arrested on July 16. They also believed that Caylee was not alive and planned to treat the case as a homicide. Bail was posted for Casey by a well known bounty hunter hoping that she would lead police to Caylee’s body but she failed to cooperate. The child’s lifeless body was found 6 months later in a wooded area near her family’s home by a utility worker. The body was in a plastic bag and had duct tape around the skull. Samples from the car were sent the University Of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center where they were tested by Air Sample Test among others and confirmed that there had been a decomposing human body in the trunk of the car. Investigators also find strands of hair, a stain and dirt in the trunk. A police dog trained to detect human decomposition indicated the presence of a body as …show more content…
well. Three years after the disappearance of Caylee, the trail, lasting a month and a half for Casey began; prosecutors were seeking the death penalty despite an earlier decision that they would not seek capital punishment. Prosecution painted Casey as a party girl, whereas her defense placed blame on Casey’s father, George, saying that Caylee drowned in the family’s pool and George covered up the death. The jury, composed of seven women and five men, found Casey not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter after almost 11hours of deliberation. She was found guilty of four misdemeanors counts for providing false information to law enforcement and sentenced to four years in jail and four thousand dollars in fines. Judge Stan Strickland was the original judge assigned to the case but removed himself after the defense team accused him of being biased against Casey. They claimed that he had a personal friendship with a popular blogger that thought Casey to be guilty. The case was reassigned to Judge Belvin Perry Jr. Jury selection for the trail of Casey Anthony took 10 days with 14 potential jurors.
There was a great deal of drama surrounding the selection. On the first day, about 50 percent of 200 potential jurors were excused due to personal hardship. On day 2 of jury selection the judge dismissed over 20 people for discussing their opinion of the case while seated in a private room. On the fourth day of jury selection, a male juror was dismissed and fined for attempting to discuss the case with news reporters. During the selection process, many other jurors were dismissed for displaying alarming behavior related to the
case. The opening statements for the trial began on May 24, 2011. Casey’s defense claims that Caylee drowned in the family’s swimming pool. Casey’s father, George was holding a lifeless Caylee when Casey grabbed her and began sobbing. George then yelled at her, blaming her for the incident and claimed she would go to jail for child neglect. They say he helped dispose the body to protect Casey. The defense also claims that he molested Casey beginning when she was 8 years old. The prosecution painted a different picture by creating a timeline of events from when Caylee was last seen alive until the time she was reported missing to authorities. Those events included a lot of drinking and partying. On those days Casey participated in a contest at an Orlando night club and got a new tattoo. The prosecution stated that Casey was they only one to benefit from Caylee's death because she was able to live the good life without the worry of having to look after the child. As Casey and her family were placed on the stand, the jury heard more of her lies. It was revealed that the words "chloroform", "neck-breaking" and "shovel" were searched on a computer in the family's home belonging to Casey. Casey's mother, Cindy said that it was her that searched for "chloroform", but it was later determined, after her manager took the stand, that Cindy was at work on the day and at the time of the search. Casey's friends were also questioned as well as her former boyfriend. All of them testified that Casey never mentioned her daughter being missing and didn't seem to notice any changes in her behavior. Casey never went back on the stand to testify. The defense put forensic anthropologist Werner Spitz on the stand who testified that the tape found on the body was placed there long after the body had decomposed. He believed that the tape was an effort to keep the jaw in place when moving the body. Spitz also stated that the autopsy was faulty because the Orange County Medical examiner did not open up the skull to make a proper conclusion. Testimony from botanist Jane Bock claimed that leaf debris found in and on Casey's care were not consistent with the leaves found with the body. She agreed with the defenses theory that they body could have been moved and was probably there as little as 2 weeks from the time it was found. On July 5, 2011, after almost 11 hours of deliberation, Casey Anthony was found not guilty on charges of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was found guilty and ordered to 4 years in jail as well as four thousand dollars in fines for providing false information to law enforcement. Those four years were to be served consecutively and she would be able to apply time served. There have still been no arrest in the murder of Caylee Anthony.
On July 15th 2008, Caylee Anthony was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy, who claimed that she had not seen her granddaughter in 31 days. Cindy called the police after picking up her daughter Casey’s impounded vehicle, which smelled strongly of a decomposing body. Cindy found a bag of garbage in the trunk of Casey’s car but no trace of a body. Cindy had attempted to contact and visit Caylee over the past month, but Casey Anthony refused visitation, claiming that Caylee was with a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, or at the beach or parks. Casey had given Cindy various explanations as to Caylee’s whereabouts before finally telling her mother that she had not seen Caylee for multiple weeks.
The 9-1-1 phone call started it all, Cindy Anthony reported her grandchild, Caylee Anthony missing and that the smell of death reeked inside the mother’s car. Caylee was missing for nearly 31 days and Casey was charged with first degree murder. Hundreds of evidences were found,
A horrific murder happened in tiny Skidmore on December of 2004. Lisa Montgomery and Bobbi Jo Stinnett met and found out that they had much in common and became good friends (Nunes 85-86). Surprisingly, Bobbi and Lisa met in an internet chat room. Bobbi was into puppy breeding and she occasionally served as a judge. Lisa lived in Kansas where her close friends were shocked about what she was talking about. Of course, Lisa shrugged it off and she sent an email to Bobbi saying that she wanted to see the puppies (Nunes 85-86). When Lisa met Bobbi Jo she had a fake name which was Darlene Fisher because she didn’t want Bobbi to know her real identity. When Lisa sent Bobbi the email she had a criminal intent on her mind. She was planning to choke Bobbi into unconsciousness and then cut open her womb and steal Bobbi’s unborn baby. When Lisa arrived at the house she threw a rope around Bobbi’s neck and choked her until she was unconscious. That is when Lisa took a knife and started to cut open Bobbi’s stomach. Lisa had to cut through skin, fat, and muscle to get to Bobbi’s uterus. Bobbi’s baby was in eight-month gestation; Lisa cut and tied the baby’s cord. Lisa stole the baby and fled to her house in Kansas. Unfort...
Adam John Walsh was born on November 14, 1974, he was 6 years old when he was kidnapped and killed. Adam was abducted from a Sears parking lot on July 27, 1981 in Hollywood, Florida. His severed head was found in a drainage canal off of the Florida turnpike two weeks later by 2 fishermen. Adam Walsh’s story was turned into a t.v. show called Adam. 38 million people have watched Adam since it first aired in 1983. Adam’s father, John Walsh, became an advocate for victims of violent crimes and is the host of the television show, America’s Most Wanted. Convicted serial killer, Ottis Toole, confessed to Adam’s murder, but was never convicted.
This stage is an examination of potential jurors to ensure a fair trial for the defendant. Ideally, voir dire will result in an impartial jury for the trial of the accused. On March 4, 2004 jury selection began for the trial of Scott Peterson. Nearly 100 potential jurors began answering questionnaires about their views on the death penalty and their opinions on extramarital affairs. The nearly 30-page questionnaire given to prospective jurors also included questions as whether they read Field and Stream, what stickers grace their car bumpers and whether they have lost a child. On April 14, 2004 Judge Alfred A. Delucchi dismissed an unidentified Redwood City woman after a brief meeting in his chambers. Defense attorney Mark Geragos two weeks early had accused the retired secretary of bragging to her friends on a bus trip to Reno, Nevada, that she has "passed the test" to get on Peterson's jury and that Peterson was "guilty as hell" and would "get what's due him." May 28, 2004 six men and six women were selected for Scott Peterson's murder trial all said they would be willing to sentence him to death if they convict him of killing his wife and the couple's fetus.
Even though the prosecution presented evidence to the court, the only clear-cut hard fact the prosecution had against Anthony was that she failed to file a report for her missing daughter Caylee and that when she finally did a month after her daughter had gone missing, she proceeded to lie profusely to the authorities on the events that took place. The prosecution focused highly on the forensic evidence of decay located in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car. The use of a cadaver dog to search the vehicle led investigators to be able to determine that a decomposing body had been stored in the trunk of the car. The forensics department used an air sampling procedure on the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car, also indicating that human decomposition and traces of chloroform were in-fact present. Multiple witnesses described what they considered to be an overwhelming odor that came from inside the trunk as it where the prosecution believes Caylee’s decomposing body was stowed. Several items of evidence were ruled out to be the source of the odor, as experts were able to rule out the garbage bag and two chlorine containers located in the trunk as the source. The prosecution alleged that Casey Anthony used chloroform to subdue her daughter and then used duct-tape to seal the nose and mouth of Caylee shut, inevitably causing her to suffocate. Based off the
Casey Anthony was accused of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee, but because of lack of evidence, Anthony was convicted not guilty. John Cloud, from Time magazine, implies, “And yet virtually no one doubts that Anthony was involved in her child’s death. In fact, her lawyer admits that Anthony know how her daughter’s body would be disposed of” (“Few Doubt That Casey Anthony Was Involved in Her Child’s Death. But Fascination With Her Case Has Made It The First Major Murder Trial Of The Social-Media Age”). They found Caylee’s corpse duct taped by Casey’s parent’s house, in Orlando, Florida. The only evidence they found was in the family Pontiac Sunfire. The stench of decomposing flesh overpowered the trunk of the family’s car. “Why did Anthony let 30 days pass between the time Caylee went missing and the day police were notified?” questioned Tresniowski, “And how could she so blithely dan...
Casey Anthony. Throughout those six weeks, there were claims that the Anthony family had dark family secrets which included that Casey was sexually abused by both her father and her brother. The defense made claims that Caylee’s death was caused by accidental drowning in the family’s pool. The prosecution told the story of the days after the las day Caylee was seen. They highlighted Casey as a party girl who possessed new found freedom once Caylee was out of the picture. There were also claims that the meter reader who found the body moved it from its original
To begin, I will provide a summary of what happened prior-to and throughout the duration of the trial. Caylee Marie Anthony was a two-year-old American girl who lived in Orlando, Florida with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony, and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 15, 2008, she was reported missing to 9-1-1 by Cindy, who said she h...
Two detectives were assigned to the case: Harry Hanson and Finis Brown. [2] When they and the police arrived at the crime scene, it was already swarming with people, gawkers and reporters. The entire situation was out of hand and crowded, everyone trampling all over any hopes for good evidence. [2] One thing they did report finding was a nearby cement block with watery blood on it, tire tracks and a heel print on the ground. There was dew under the body so they knew it had been set there just after 2 a.m. when temperatures dropped to 38 degrees.
Despite the efforts of lawyers and judges to eliminate racial discrimination in the courts, does racial bias play a part in today’s jury selection? Positive steps have been taken in past court cases to ensure fair and unbiased juries. Unfortunately, a popular strategy among lawyers is to incorporate racial bias without directing attention to their actions. They are taught to look for the unseen and to notice the unnoticed. The Supreme Court in its precedent setting decision on the case of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), is the first step to limiting racial discrimination in the court room. The process of selecting jurors begins with prospective jurors being brought into the courtroom, then separating them into smaller groups to be seated in the jury box. The judge and or attorneys ask questions with intent to determine if any juror is biased or cannot deal with the issues fairly. The question process is referred to as voir dire, a French word meaning, “to see to speak”. During voir dire, attorneys have the right to excuse a juror in peremptory challenges. Peremptory challenges are based on the potential juror admitting bias, acquaintanceship with one of the parties, personal knowledge of the facts, or the attorney believing he/she might not be impartial. In the case of Batson v. Kentucky, James Batson, a black man, was indicted for second-degree burglary and receipt of stolen goods. During the selection of the jury the prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike out all of the four black potential jurors, leaving an all white jury. Batson’s attorney moved to discharge the venire, the list from which jurors may be selected, on the grounds that the prosecutor’s peremptory challenges violated his client’s Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to have a jury derived from a “cross-section of the community”(People v. Wheeler, 583 P.3d 748 [Calif. 1978]). The circuit court ruled in favor of the prosecutor and convicted Batson on both counts. This case went through the courts and finalized in the U.S. Supreme Court.
12 Angry Men is about 12 men who are the jury for an 18 year old accused of murder. The judge states in the opening scene that it is a premeditated murder in the 1st degree, if found guilty will automatically receive the death penalty. The 18 year old male is accused of killing his father with a “one of a kind” switch blade, in their home. The prosecutors have several eye witness testimonies, and all of the evidence that they could need to convict the 18 year old male. In the movie it takes place on the hottest day of the year in New York City. There are 12 jurors whom are to decide if the evidence is enough to convict the teen of murder in the first degree. In the first initial vote it is 11-1. The only way that the jurors could turn in their votes was if there was unanimous vote either guilty or not guilty among the 12 jurors. As the movie progressed the jurors ended up changing their minds as new evidence was brought to their attention by simple facts that were overlooked by the police and prosecutors in the initial investigation. Tempers were raised, and words flew, there was prejudice and laziness of a few of the jurors that affected the amount of time it took to go over all of the eye witness testimonies and evidence. The eye witness testimonies ended up being proven wrong and some of the evidence was thrown out because it was put there under false pretense.
The first vote ended with eleven men voting guilty and one man not guilty. We soon learn that several of the men voted guilty since the boy had a rough background not because of the facts they were presented with. Although numerous jurors did make racist or prejudice comments, juror ten and juror three seemed to be especially judgmental of certain types of people. Juror three happened to be intolerant of young men and stereotyped them due to an incident that happened to his son. In addition, the third juror began to become somewhat emotional talking about his son, showing his past experience may cloud his judgment. Juror ten who considered all people from the slums “those people” was clearly prejudiced against people from a different social background. Also, Juror ten stated in the beginning of the play “You 're not going to tell us that we 're supposed to believe that kid, knowing what he is. Listen, I 've lived among 'em all my life. You can 't believe a word they say. I mean, they 're born liars.” Juror ten did not respect people from the slums and believed them to all act the same. As a result, Juror ten believed that listening to the facts of the case were pointless. For this reason, the tenth juror already knew how “those people” acted and knew for sure the boy was not innocent. Even juror four mentioned just how the slums are a “breeding ground
The jurors had several conflicts in disagreeing with each other and it didn't help that they would shout over one another. The very first conflict is when juror 8 voted not guilty against the 11 guilty votes. The other 11 jurors don't seem to want to hear this man out; they don't want to hear why he has voted not guilty. Some of these men, jurors 3 and 7, just want to get this case over with so they can get on with their lives. They don't think it is imperative enough to look over the evidence and put themselves in the place of the defendant. They get upset with this man and try to get him to vote guilty.
He later pulverised the bones with a sledge hammer and scattered the bones around the [his grandmother’s] property. The flesh was put into bags and buried in a crawlspace under the house. It wasn't until 3yrs later that police and forensics found the remains.” (Blanco) His second murder was not until 1987.