Casey Anthony

Casey Anthony was a young mother who was put on trial in May of 2011, for allegedly murdering her two year old daughter, Caylee Anthony. The case had a number of key players, ranging from the offender herself, to judges, attorneys, and investigators. Three segments of the trial stick out in particular: the cross examination, the closing arguments, and the sentencing. All were covered extensively by the media, through a number of sources. There were a number of similarities and differences between the selected media sources, anywhere from detail to length, to what opinion the media outlet had itself on the case. Under a criminal profile, Casey Anthony very much fit the characteristics of a criminal psychopath, and the media did very much so

These were the key players of the Casey Anthony trial.

One portion of a trial is cross examination, in which a witness is “interrogated” by the opponent of whoever called the witness. It comes after direct examination, in which a witness or other testifier is questioned by their own side. In a video directly from the courtroom, George Anthony is cross examined by Jose Baez. He is questioned about gas cans and Casey Anthony’s trunk that smelled like a decomposing body. Additionally, George Anthony was questioned as to whether or not he knew Casey Anthony was pregnant, and if he knew who the father was. Lastly, George Anthony was asked if he knew his daughter was working. Essentially, the defense team was using George Anthony to seek verification over a number of claims Casey Anthony had made, such as how she was working at Orlando’s theme park. Another portion of a trial is the closing arguments, when both the prosecutor and the defense basically summarize their entire argument, and plead for the jury to make the right decision. CNN wrote a lengthy article about the closing arguments of the Casey Anthony trial, as follows. For their closing

She was acquitted of the charges of child abuse, neglect, and child murder, and instead only charged with lying to the police. She received a sentence of four years in jail for her lying, as well as a fine of four thousand dollars - one thousand for each count. However, due to time served while awaiting trial, Casey Anthony only served a couple weeks past the sentencing, and was released after paying her fines. It appears that media coverage very much did have an impact not on the outcome, but on the attention the trial received. Due to extensive social media coverage, a number of people were able to direct their own hate, support, and other opinions towards all key members of the case. Additionally, the media essentially convicted Casey Anthony before the case began. The trial had not even started before there were a number of talk shows and news articles were discussing the guilt of Casey Anthony. However, the jury found her not guilty, helping to juxtapose the opinions and world of media, and the actual court case. In conclusion, the Casey Anthony trial had a number of key players, as listed above, and was heavily affected by media presence. A number of news outlets across the country reported on the case, and took their idea of the court in their own direction. Many of the news outlets had opposing ways of telling the case, and three of the segments of the trials covered were: cross examination, closing