The Casey Anthony Case

Casey Anthony was put on trial for murder on May 24, 2011. The trial lasted six weeks, from May to July 2011. Prosecutors were seeking to give Casey Anthony the death penalty and allegedly claimed that Casey murdered her daughter so she would not have any parental responsibilities for the child. By managing chloroform and applying duct tape onto the child’s mouth, Casey Anthony murdered her own baby. Casey Anthony’s defense team tried to argue against the charges by claiming that the child had drowned on accident in the family's swimming pool on June 16, 2008. The defense contended that Casey lied about this, along with many other issues, because of a dysfunctional childhood. They claimed that she had endured sexual abuse by her father. Casey Anthony’s defense did not present any evidence however on how Caylee died, or any evidence that claimed that Casey was sexually abused as a child, but yet they still challenged every piece of the prosecution's evidence. During her trial; Casey did not testify.

Casey told detectives several lies, including that her nanny had kidnapped Caylee on June 9, and that she had been trying to find her, too frightened to alert the authorities. She was charged with first-degree murder in October 2008 and pleaded not guilty. The prosecution sought the death penalty and alleged Casey murdered her daughter to be free from parental responsibilities by administering chloroform and applying duct tape. The defense team countered that the child had drowned accidentally in the family’s swimming pool on June 16, 2008, and that George Anthony disposed of the body. The defense contended that Casey lied about these issues due to a dysfunctional upbringing, which was said to include sexual abuse by her father. On June 5, 2011, the jury found Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. She was released on a bond of $500,000 and a Florida court overturned two of the misdemeanor convictions on January 25, 2013.

Her trial, which started 10 months after the murders, was lead by what towns’ people called the “dream team” of lawyers. The jury had 12 men on it that believed that she was not guilty because after they showed her the skull of her father in court, she fainted, and because she was a girl. They thought that no girl was capable of committing such a crime.

On July 5, 2011, during all deliberations Casey was found guilty for false information that she was providing. However, she was found Not Guilty for 1st degree murder, Child Abuse,

Facts: Kyle John Kelbel was convicted of first-degree murder, past pattern of child abuse, in violation of Minnesota state statute section 609.185(5) and second-degree murder, in violation of Minnesota statute 609.19, subdivision 2(1). He was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Kailyn Marie Montgomery. Kelbel appealed, and argued that the district court failed to instruct the jury that it must find that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the acts that constituted the past pattern of child abuse and he also argued that the evidence against him was insufficient to prove past pattern of child abuse

In 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub in her home. This was very disturbing news. I am a native Houstonian. I was at home that day. The television was on and will never forget the news breaking announcements that broke the story of a homicide in Clear Lake. All the information the reporters had was a mother killed all her children then called the police to report it. The full story and the details that lead to this tragedy did not unfold until years later. It was sad because as details unfolded if Andrea Yates had been treated properly and followed her doctors

During the year of 2015, a case that the Innocence Project was working on at the time was the Joseph Buffey Case. Joseph Buffey was convicted in 2001 in West Virginia of rape and robbery. Mr. Buffey pled guilty to the crimes based on the advise of his counsel and witness misidentification which was the heart of this investigation. On May 11, 2015, Mr. Buffey was excluded by DNA and the real perpetrator was later found. Mr. Buffey served a total of 15 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. DNA Exonerations makes up 334 total cases that the Innocence Project has worked on. The following numbers overlap with the 334 cases. 237 cases involved misidentification by witnesses, 154 were the result of improper forensics, 92 were due to

Document D analysis • 1. agree with acquittal- Jose Baez, Joe Adamson….disagree- Angela Wright, Janine Gonzalez, Lawson Lamar • 2. Because the body of Caylee Anthony was found months after she had died, it was impossible to tell exactly how she died. These facts made the prosecution’s case of proving guilt much more difficult. Document D analysis • 3.

The stories about Andrea being insane and having a psychological disorder do not prove to be true. According to Dr. Puryear, “Mrs. Yates was insane at the time driven by delusions that they were going to hell and she must save them.” If her doctor was aware of her status before all this happened, why did he let her be at home? Yates should have been helped and treated, since Dr. Puryear claims she had suffered from psychotic delusions. Dr. Puryear said “This woman did not now right from wrong,” as he stated to Court Television Network, on February 2,2002. It is somewhat strange how Mr. Yates claims he had no suspicions of her being unhealthful in the mind. What kind of married couple will not be able to detect this in their partner? Some of the jurors believed Andrea was mentally ill, but they also believed that she knew right from wrong. This is a key element in determining if the Andrea meets the legal definition of insanity.

On July 15, 2008, Cindy Anthony called the police saying her daughter Casey Anthony stole her car and some money. Later that same day the police received another call from the same person saying that her granddaughter Caylee Anthony had been gone for over a month. When this was heard, they knew they had a big case on their hands. The mother Casey Anthony was taken into custody and told many lies concerning the whereabouts of her daughter. The police began to investigate and found some interesting things that could very well prove Casey Anthony guilty of kidnapping and murder of her own daughter.

I remember this story because they played her story on lifetime, Casey Anthony didn’t receive jail time for the crime because they found her not guilty. Casey didn’t want to be a mother anymore and decided to kill her daughter and blame it on the babysitter. There were signs that she was involved in the disappearance of her daughter because she wasn’t acting like a distraught parent who had just lost their daughter. Casey was partying and hanging out with friends and posting the pictures on social media. After reviewing these photos anyone with common sense will see that this is a mother who didn’t care that her daughter was missing. She didn’t try and do anything to help bring her daughter back or even help search for Caylee. That is not the behavior of a parent who lost their child, any parent will be out

In the case of Kennedy V. Louisiana Patrick Kennedy was found guilty in raping and sodomizing his eight-year-old stepdaughter in a Louisiana courtroom. Mr. Kennedy refused to plead guilty and stated the crime was committed by two young boys from the neighborhood. He was convicted sentenced to death 2003. On March 2nd 1988 the victim sustained severe injuries; the injuries required emergency surgery because the rape was so brutal. Louisiana law authorized capital punishment for the rape of a child twelve years and younger. Mr. Patrick Kennedy challenged his sentence under the eighteen amendments as cruel and unusual punishment. The Louisiana Supreme Court declined the challenged that the death penalty was not too harsh for such a wicked crime. In a Supreme Court decision Coker v. Georgia 1977 the United States Supreme Court concluded that capital punishment for rape of an adult women was not applicable if the victim is a child and if it did not result or contemplated in result of a death. The court discussed a number of Supreme Court case related to child vulnerability and the death penalty. In the case of Roper V. Simmons the court ruled that the death penalty could not be applied to a person if the crime was committed when they were under the age of eighteen. In another case, Atkins V. Virginia the death penalty could not be placed on a mentally ill person. The petitioner Kennedy argued that in all these cases they do not establish conformity.

Weeks before the call, the vehicle Casey had been driving was found abandoned. The tow truck driver who found the vehicle told officers that the vehicle had a smell as if something had been decomposing. The tow truck driver compared the smell to a similar situation where he found an abandoned truck with a dead man’s body laying inside. Along with the horrible smell inside the vehicle; hair and a black plastic bag were found in the trunk of the car. Also found was what it seemed to be blood. On July 16 Casey Anthony was charged with first-degree murder, child neglect, aggravated child abuse and four counts of lying to detectives. On December 11, 2008 Caylee’s body was found wrapped inside a plastic bag, her body was decomposed and her skull only

Casey was cleared of all the charges that were in connection to the first degree murder that she was facing. Casey was also fine for each false statement she gave the jurors.

There have been many murder trials in the United States which have gripped the nation, OJ Simpson, BTK, Lee Harvey Oswald. But more shocking to the consciousness of America is the story of a child which has been killed. Such would be the case of Caylee Anthony, and the trial of Casey Anthony. In this assignment the discussion will focus on this case, exposing the much of the drama created by this case.