Casey Anthony Research Paper

John Ruane
14 November 2014
CCJ 3024
Research Paper

The Death of Caylee Anthony

Caylee Anthony, a child from Orlando, Florida, only two years of age, had her life tragically cut short in 2008. The controversial case received significant media attention for several months, captivating the imaginations of people from coast to coast and causing nationwide debate and speculation as to what may have occurred. The centerpiece of conversation, however, hardly featured the devastating loss of Caylee Anthony from the world, and instead focused on the involvement and lifestyles of her mother and defendant in the case, Casey Anthony.
The chronological series of events preceding the disappearance of Caylee Anthony, remains unclear as well as what exactly

triggered off the chain of events. Some things we know for certain though is that Caylee Anthony's life ended, and for an entire month, nobody reported her disappearance. Even Anthony's defense does not deny her inadequate degree of care and affection for her daughter, the question raised was whether it was so minuscule that she could perform such a heinous and disgusting act of killing a two-year old girl, and her daughter. And like any other story there are three sides: the prosecutors, the defenses, and the truth.
After Casey reported the disappearance of her daughter, police noticed discrepancies and inconsistencies in her recounting of events. After little investigation, police determined something was simply not right in the case. Casey claimed Caylee had been kidnapped by her nanny, Zanaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, an woman who no one apart from Casey could validate the existence of. Another red flag was raised when Casey claimed she had been working at Universal Studios when Caylee had gone missing, however when escorted by law enforcement through the park, when nobody could confirm her story, she confessed that she had not worked in the park for a number of years.
Immediately after being unable to establish an alibi for the disappearance of her daughter, Casey was arrested and taken into custody on July 16, 2008 and detained overnight. The following day charges were formally made against Anthony of making false charges to the police, child neglect, as well as obstructing a criminal investigation. While initially denied bail, the judge citing "woeful diregard for the welfare of her child", Anthony was released on August 21 on a $500,000 bail believing her cooperation may aid in Caylee's discovery (McDonough). This prayer was never answered, and 5 months later, on December 11, 2008, Caylee Anthony was finally found, in a trash bag.
The death was ruled a homicide and Anthony was rearrested before being released on another half-million dollar bond, which her parents put up. Several forms of prosecuteional discretion were used at this point, one notable technique being charge stacking. By indicting Anthony on charges of child abuse, providing false information to law enforcement, manslaughter of a child, and first-degree murder, the grand jury ensured the defendant could not plead not guilty on all charges. However, charges of child neglect were dropped as Caylee had become deceased before any neglect occurred and Anthony plead not guilty to all charges.
The court trial was extremely lengthy, containing four hundred and eleven pieces of evidence and over 700 pages of document. Jury selection was particularly difficult as media had already compromised most potential jurors in the region. To fix this jurors were selected from the Clearwater area, to minimize their knowledge of the case. All in all 17 jurors were selected, including 5 alternates, made up of eight men and nine women. 133 testimonies were given over the course of the case, from the prosecution's 59 witnesses along with the defense's 47 others.
The prosecutor team responsible for making a case against Anthony included a group of experienced and well respected attorneys. The lead prosecutor Linda Burdick was an Assistant State Attorney who had expertise in assault cases, especially those that involved family violence. Jeff Ashton and Frank George completed the team. Burdick announced early in the trial that they would be seeking the death sentence for Anthony, a punishment that many believed to be too far reaching, but prosecution found to be within reason. In opening statements Burdick illustrated the story based on evidence submitted in the case. She alleged, based on said evidence, that Anthony had brutally murdered her daughter, in such a way that it must have been premeditated, a first-degree murder offense. Burdick maintained that Casey Anthony used chloroform to make her daughter unconscious, used duct tape to suffocate her, covering her nose and mouth, and finally putting her dead body in the trunk of her car for a period of time between two days and a week, before dumping it in the marshland. The motive they described was that Anthony had little interest in parenting a child, rather preferring a lifestyle of sex, drugs and alcohol. They argued she thought she could shed her responsibilities as a parent and continue her reckless party lifestyle with Caylee out of the question. They focused a much of their accusations exposing discrepancies and contradictions that Casey Anthony had made, creating huge holes in her credibility. Burdick painted a picture of a web of lies Anthony had made. Ashton stated she "maintains her lies until they absolutely cannot be maintained anymore, and then replaces them with another lie" (McDonough). Prosecution utilized several witness testimonies over the course of the trial.
One example of a lie prosecutors exposed Anthony of included a nanny whose identiy could never be verified. Anthony stated that Caylee had been with her nanny during one of the day she had been missing. Anthony identified the woman as Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, but when authorities located the only individual with that name in the Orlando area they discovered she had no relation to the Anthony's in any way, whatsoever.
An important witness account came from Jason Forgey, a K9 handler who specialized in homicides and the locating and recovery of deceased bodies. His account of events involved how he, using a certified police K9, discovered there was a high probability that human decomposition took place in the trunk of Anthony's car. The dog in question, a German Shepherd named Gerus, was a veteran detector, being utilized in thousands of instances. Another key piece of witness testimony came from John Bradley. Bradley, a retired officer who created software that could be used to recover someone's internet search history in cases such as Anthony's, where premeditation is suspected. Bradley testified that Anthony's personal computer was used 84 times between March 17th and the 22nd to search the word "Chloroform" (Sarantos).
Perhaps the most significant testimony presented to the jury by prosecution came from Jan Garavaglia, chief medical examiner, who performed the initial autopsy on Caylee Anthony. Garavaglia, after through examination of the Caylee's remains concluded her death could be determined to be homicide, however the exact cause of death was unable to be uncovered. Her diagnosis was contingent that Caylee's mouth was duct taped around the time of her death and that had she been exposed to even a small amount of chloroform, she may have died as a result of toxicity, rather than suffocation, but that both scenarios were entirely possible.
Apart from witness testimony, several pieces of physical evidence were presented. Exhibit A was the blanket found with Caylee's body. The blanket featured Winnie the Pooh illustrations, matching the bedding Caylee's grandparents owned. An uncommon brand of duct tape was used to cover Caylee's mouth during her murder, of the same brand that Casey owned. A laundry bag was also presented that prosecutors deemed to have be used to house the body of Caylee after her death.
The prosecutions closing argument included a broad overview of evidence provided while dismissing the defense's account of events that took place as ridiculous and contradictory to common sense. Burdick's team maintained that they supported each point they made sufficiently, and urged the jury to not ignore what was so obviously a cold-blooded, conscienceless murder. She also urged the jury to consider Casey Anthony's character in their deliberations, particularly citing a tattoo she got weeks after her daughter's death which read "Bella Vita", which translates to "beautiful life" (Sarantos).
Casey Anthony's defense council was led by Florida defense attorney, Jose Baez. Co-council members included attorneys Ann Finnell, Dorothy Simms, and Cheney Mason. Casey Anthony's parents, George and Cindy Anthony, sought legal representation in their defense and hired Mark Lippman, who collaborated with Anthony's council in establishing a defense. Baez described the death of Caylee Anthony as an accident that spiraled out of control and reached a point where it had snowballed into a cover up. Baez painted the child's death as a result of accidental drowning and that she had been discovered by Anthony's father in the family pool on June 16, 2008 (CroakerQueen). The defense council argued that the cover up had been orchestrated primarily by George Anthony who convinced his daughter that if she reported the death she would be charged with child neglect and receive a life sentence in prison. Casey Anthony agreed a cover up was the best option and agreed to establishing a false back story. Baez also alleged that Casey Anthony was a victim of sexual abuse from her father since she was a child herself, which accounted for her irregular behavior and attitude following the death of her only child. Baez states that Anthony could not express her emotions because she has grown so accustomed to hiding her emotions from others (CroakerQueen). The defense team did not deny Anthony not reporting Caylee's death, and confirmed her not reporting the accident for 31 days. The defense also cited the defamation of their client, creating the impression that the prosecution targeted emotional responses from the jury, by portraying Casey Anthony as reckless party girl rather than presenting substantial evidence that she committed the crime in which she was accused.
One tactic the defense council employed in the case was to make the jury feel as though they were being exposed to information that was irrelevant to the case, as well as biased towards creating a perception of Casey as being neglectful to the point beyond apathy. An example of this included hundreds of instant messages that were sent during the months leading up to Caylee's death from Casey to her boyfriend at the time, Tony Rusciano. Baez asserted because evidence the prosecution had was circumstantial, they tried to make the jury hate Anthony to evoke a guilty verdict. The council claimed prosecutors tried to frame their defendant's character as being promiscuous and untruthful, and gradually worse until sociopath criminal was not a huge leap in possibility. The defense council's biggest responsibility, was to effectively uncover plausible explanations for the evidence that incriminated Casey Anthony.
Baez used several witness testimonies as well as cross examinations of prosecutor's witnesses over the course of the trial as well. Several accusations were made that evidence was altered in an effort to sensationalize the case and create doubt in the credibility of several key witnesses.
Roy Kronk, the individual who found the remains of Caylee, for one, was questioned as to whether he removed the bones from one location and planted them in another. This far-fetched theory held no water, however, Kronk's motives for testifying were brought into question after he admitted to receiving $5,000 from police after finding Caylee's body and his son testified that Kronk made statements saying that the trial would make him rich and famous.
Another huge breakthrough for Anthony and Baez's defense council came on June 21, when Bradley recanted his previous statement stating there was a programming coding flaw in the software he developed that rendered the search count of the word "chloroform" to be inaccurate. Instead, he declared he could find only one instance of the term being searched, and the context in which it was used involved the compound's use in the 19th century, and not modern applications.
A final witness who provided testimony contradictory to the prosecutions was Dr. Werner Spitz, a forensic pathologist. Spitz challenged the previous autopsy done by Garavaglia after performing what she believed to be a more complete examination because Garavaglia had failed to open the skull and look at the brain. Spitz had been unable to be present for Caylee's initial autopsy and stated he could not reasonable conclude the death was result of homicide, and not drowning. Spitz further suggested the tape placed on Caylee's skull was put there after her death after the skin had decomposed from the body, citing a lack of DNA on the tape.
Baez reiterated in his closing argument his hopes that the jury not let emotions get in the way of their decision. His belief that the prosecution failed to establish a burden of proof and that any reasonable person could not conclude Casey Anthony is guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
On July 5, 2011 a jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of the murder of Caylee Anthony, and guilty of 4 counts of providing false information to police (Sarantos).

For these crimes, Anthony was sentenced to one year in county jail and $4,000 in fines which I think is an absurd verdict. Anyone who feels justice was served in this case does not share my view of the concept. Regardless of whether Casey Anthony killed her daughter or not, the level of apathy she displayed disgusts me as well as her attempts to cover up the death of a child. I tend to agree with the prosecution in that it only takes a little common sense to realize this woman should not be able to share the world we live. Innocent people don't cover up accidents, especially involving the death of their only child, a beautiful little girl, who could have just as easily been dropped off at any adoption agency in the country and been picked up within days. I think, in this particular instance, there was a fundamental problem in determining the punishment, because while maybe it could not be established, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Casey Anthony murdered her daughter, anyone in their right mind could tell you that if you are a mother whose child has just died and your out at nightclubs posing in "hot body contests" and getting tattoos that read "beautiful life" then your pretty sick in the head, certainly sick enough, in my opinion, to have pulled the trigger. If I had been on the jury I certainly would not have

accepted this shit verdict and would like nothing more than to look into her eye as I personally tell her that she'll die in federal prison, no deal, no plea.
The media is what set this case apart from so many others like it.

There is no doubt in my mind that Casey Anthony fascinated people much more than she would have if she had not been an attractive, young woman. While everyone had an opinion on the case, that they felt obliged to talk about, and give the same recycled, regurgitated opinions on, at the end of the day you can't really blame them. The media is really just an extension of the masses. What gets reported is based upon what interests people, and this case sure did interest people. I think this level of exposure oftentimes benefits the defendants because evidence becomes over saturated to a point where it blinds the jury from seeing the basic points of the case, and the foundation for a guilty verdict. Casey Anthony's trial is often compare to the O.J. Simpson trial for reasons similar to this. The trials are among the most high profile cases to take place during the new media era, and the not guilty verdict created public outrage and calls for Anthony to be punished. Media figures discussed why prosecutors failed to convict in what seemed to be a can't-miss trial. One reason the guilty verdict fell through could be the lack of Casey Anthony's DNA or fingerprint evidence at the scene of where the body was recovered. This is known as the CSI effect, and involves a jury's desire for forensic evidence, even when a clear picture of the crime is created, and a logical motive is present (English). Many criticized

prosecutors for seeking the death penalty with the amount of evidence they were in possession of, believing had they sought second degree murder, citing Anthony's reckless abandon as being a central reason for Caylee's death, they could have procured a guilty verdict and significant jail time. Several jurors came forward after the case and stated they felt Casey Anthony did not deserve to walk free, but lacked the evidence required to find her guilty.

Bibliography

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English, Marianne. "How Science Fell Short in Anthony Case : DNews."DNews. Disques News: Discovery Channel, 06 July 2011. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

McDonough, Samuel Dennis. "The Casey of Caylee Anthony's Murder."Google Books. Clue Master SDM, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Michelle, Book. "Casey Anthony Trial." Crime Library:. CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Sarantos, Michael. "Casey Anthony Trial Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.

Siegel, L. J. (2011). Essentials of Criminal Justice. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning