In the criminal justice system there is very rarely a single linchpin that can be pointed to and held responsible for the failure to convict a seemingly guilty person. This reigns true for the very public prosecutions of both Casey Anthony and George Zimmerman. In the eyes of a vast majority of the public, fueled by media spectacle and opinion, Anthony and Zimmerman were guilty even before they ever saw the inside of a courtroom. There simply could be no other answer. The public was subsequently outraged when, after what seemed to be trials of certainty, juries acquitted each. The public sought to find someone, or something to blame. The verdict could not be accepted and many turned their focus to condemn the workings of the criminal …show more content…
In each case we can seek to highlight what the defense did right, what the prosecution did wrong, the evidence in each case, the media 's role, and how all of these things worked together to lead the juries to decide the way they did.
Overview of the Cases It is important to start with a brief overview of the cases to re-familiarize the details and circumstances; for brevity, only an overview of each case is presented. In July of 2008, a 2-year-old Caylee Anthony is missing as her grandmother calls the police to report that her daughter 's car smells as if it had contained a "dead body" (CNN, 2014a). When questioned about the whereabouts of her daughter, Casey Anthony admitted that she hadn 't seen her in 31 days. She claimed that Caylee was with her nanny, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzales (Hustmyre, 2014). One day after the 911 call Anthony was arrested on suspicion of child neglect, filing false official statements, and obstructing a criminal investigation, she was later released on bond; meanwhile Caylee is still missing (CNN, 2014a). In September of 2008 the police announced that they did not believe that Caylee was still alive, and in December their suspicions were confirmed (ABC News, 2011a). Anthony was to face trial for the murder of her daughter; prosecutors would seek the death penalty. Anthony 's jury was sequestered throughout the trial, and after only 11 hours of deliberation they announced that they acquitted Anthony of any culpability in her
Anderson’s lawyer at trial and on appeal provided obviously and grossly inadequate representation. The failures of defense counsel are overwhelmingly sins of omission, especially the failure to investigate. This is proven true as over half of the exonerees from the innocence project claim government misconduct throughout their trials. This also ties in with government misconduct. Common forms of misconduct made by prosecutors are : withholding exculpatory evidence from defense, deliberately mishandling, mistreating or destroying evidence, allowing witnesses they know or should know are not truthful to testify, pressuring defense witnesses not to testify, relying on fraudulent forensic experts, making misleading arguments that overstate the probative value of testimony. Government misconduct took on a major role throughout the entire case in prosecuting Anderson. The innocence project mentions this, “In the years after Anderson’s conviction, when DNA testing had become widely available, Anderson sought to prove his innocence of the crime. After his lawyers were told by the police, prosecutor, and court that the rape kit and its contents had been destroyed, Anderson contacted the Innocence Project and his case was accepted in 1994.” All the evidence had been destroyed, wonder how that happened? It is undeniable that foul play is present within
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.
As detectives continued their search, they found a Human Skull that belonged to a child about a half of a mile from where Casey lived; aswell as bones. Police stated that they are sure that Caylee is not alive, and that the remains do infact belong to her. (Timeline of Casey Anthony Trial, ABC News Internet Ventures). This became the saddest part of the trial for all people, including the judge, police , family and detectives. Prosecuters later in the trial announced that they will infact start to seek a death penalty on Casey. (CNN Library, Latest News, Cable News Network).
Courts are established social, political, and judicial institutions necessary for the manifestation of justice and the maintenance of law and order. The courts are part of the judicial branch of government, as outlined in Article III of the United States Constitution. Courts are the arenas in which the law is tried and applied. Judges are the presiding officers of the court. The United States Supreme Court is the most fundamental court because has "the authority to decide the constitutionality of federal laws and resolve other disputes over them," (United States Courts, 2012). This is true even though even though the court does not expressly enforce that law; enforcement is the province of the executive branch.
In 2008, the murder of two-year old Caylee Anthony shocked the country. Arrested and put on trial for her murder was her mother Casey Anthony. Many people believed that she was guilty, and they were appalled when the jury found her not guilty. The jurors used the information presented to make their decision. As opposed to going with what everyone else believed (document
Guilty or Not Guilty? Casey Anthony v. State is a famous court case originating in June of 2008. Casey Anthony was accused of murdering her two-year old daughter. Casey Anthony claimed that her daughter had died by drowning in a pool a month before she was reported missing and that George Anthony, her father, panicked and covered up her death.
Since she was a teen, Casey Anthony lied to those around her. “Casey had stopped attending classes toward the end of the school year, but led her family to believe she would walk with the graduating class.” She lied to the police about having a nanny. She lied about what city she was in. She told investigators so multiple lies when the truth was absolutely vital. She is not to be trusted.
On July 15, 2008 a women by the name Cindy Anthony called the authorities to report the missing her granddaughter Caylee Anthony; Cindy stated that she had not seen her for “quite some time”. The grandmother Cindy informed police that the young Caylee had been missing for roughly a month or thirty days to be exact. She was only two years old (www.biography.com), this would lead to one of the most infamous trials in history when the mother of Caylee, Casey Anthony, was charged with her murder. What raised eyebrows was Casey Anthony’s abnormal behavior after her daughter’s disappearance. Casey Anthony’s trial captured headlines throughout the news and was even being compared to the OJ Simpson trial. This paper will focus on the cases of both
The Casey Anthony Case revolves around a child named Caylee Anthony who was allegedly killed by her mother Casey Anthony. As the trial progressed it is shown that although Casey presented multiple lies she was still proven not guilty. Despite Casey Anthony's Parents statements, or the graphic opening statements made by both the prosecution and defense: defense won this trial. They proved the prosecution's evidence to be circumstantial when it came to the conviction of Casey Anthony. With the help of forensic entomology, forensic scientists were able to find the remains of Caylee Anthony, and fill one of the many holes protruding into this case.
Throughout one’s life many are prone to being in one of America’s many courtrooms at least once in their life. Whether it is for a parking ticket, a petty larceny charge, or simply jury duty most citizens have been in a courtroom once or twice. However, it is rare that one knows the many steps and processes that take place when a crime has been convicted. There is an excess number of elements that are introduced and just to name a few it all starts with the occurrence of the crime, then follows the arrest, proceeded by an arraignment, bail hearing and any more steps before finally reaching the final verdict that lands one with guilt or innocence (Neubrauer, Fadella 2013). Based on the laws in place by the United States and the Constitution one must be able to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is doubt at all in the jurors minds, they cannot convict the individual of being guilty and lately this has created a lot of controversy in the United States with many cases being tried. For example, the Casey Anthony case that took place in Florida was one of the most recent states where Common Law and the Constitution were unable to be reconcilable to prove one’s guilt.
Of course, her father denied it all and on June 30 the defense rested. Casey never took the stand. On July 5, the jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse, citing the mostly circumstantial evidence presented. She ended up being found guilty on four counts of providing false information to law enforcement authorities, and thus sentenced to four years in jail and $4,000 in
During the trial and the prosecution of O. J. Simpson, there were many variables in this case that did not add up. Several pieces of evidence were mismanaged during the analyzation of the crime scene
The truck operator who towed the vehicle expressed to the authorities that there was a smell of decomposition in the car. Also found in the trunk of the vehicle was a plastic bag, hair and presumably blood. On July 16, 2008, Casey Anthony was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of lying to detectives (Alvarez, 2011).
Lawmakers and criminal justice personnel are meant to be guarded against prejudiced laws, policies and practices and to enforce equal and effective protection of the law to everyone (Findlay, Odgers and Yeo, 1994). However, if justice is indeed blind, why is it that police are relentlessly targeting Aboriginal people and why are they severely overrepresented in the criminal justice system of Australia? The disconcerting truth is that racial policing does happen in our criminal justice system. This paper accentuates how certain groups in society such as the Aboriginals or indigenous people have been discriminated against somehow or another by the police or by the criminal justice system itself; particularly directed towards the issues of overrepresentation, over-policing, and under-policing.
Criminal Justice, in simple words, is a part of the judicial system that is in charge of applying the law and punishing those who break it by incurring in acts of crime. It is based on the investigation of facts that lead us to the crimes that were committed. Investigating and researching are the most important part of Criminal Justice because these allow us to find the evidence we are looking for in every crime. By researching scientifically, I will be capable of narrowing down small pieces of data that can lead to significant information. The first and most important aspect of a crime is finding what the problem is by answering a series of questions such as, but not limited to, what caused the crime to occur, when did it happen, and how it