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
In October of 2001 John Taylor was arrested for the murder of Leanne Tiernan due to the abundance of evidence that was found in regards to her murder. Due to the study of the pollen they were able to clearly say Leanne was at John Taylor’s place for certain. John Taylor was later given 2 more life convictions for 2 rapes he committed and they were able to say that he did them because of DNA
In conclusion a jury trial is more preferable than a bench trial because in a jury trial anything could happen. The jurors need a reasonable doubt to vote not guilty. The juror could say I do not know and that os enough to say not guilty. A bench trial, the judge, would have had a final verdict with all
Caylee Anthony was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy, on July fifthtenth. Her body was found in a wooded area near her home on December eleventh. Casey Anthony was later arrested for child neglect. The jury should have charged and sentenced Casey with the murder of Caylee for these reasons: she lied to the police multiple times during her integration, for example her saying that Caylee was kidnapped by her nanny, another reason being that there were no other suspects that had the motive to partake in this murder, lastly the medical records all point back to Casey for more reasons
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.
In 1987 in Texas, a prosecutor was faced with this dilemma. Michael Morton was convicted of murdering his wife based on circumstantial evidence. Morton’s defense attorney was never told about, or given access to, the police report in which Morton’s three year old son had told police that his daddy had not killed his mommy. After serving 25 years for murdering his wife, Morton was exonerated after attorneys were finally given access to the police report and DNA testing of a bloody bandana found at the scene of the murder matched a man who was serving a sentence for the murder of another woman.
There is certainly a lack of direct evidence. The defense used that to their advantage and was able to paint a different picture of what happened. A speaker from the prosecution, Linda Burdick, paints the picture of Caylee Anthony living a happy life, with changes over the course of a month that led to her eventual death. For example, in the beginning of her opening statement, she discusses Caylee’s room, toys, and how she was loved. (Lohr, 2013) Then she presents Casey Anthony as a parent who wants to be freed from her responsibilities. Their claim is that Casey Anthony killed Caylee using Chloroform to make her unconscious and duct tape to suffocate her. (Lohr, 2012) They are trying to prove their case using prima facie that supports this claim. (Lohr, 2012) The information was presented in a straightforward fashion. She logically described the day-by-day changes in the life of Caylee Anthony, her grandparents, and the last time anyone saw her to a month later when she was reported missing. (Lohr,
Going to school, attending college, and getting married are a few of the many activities Caylee Anthony will never get to experience. When Caylee went missing and was later found dead in 2008, her entire future ended abruptly. Whether the Anthony family murdered Caylee as a scapegoat for their own problems or Caylee 's death was a tragic accident, no one was convicted for her death. Although never brought to court, evidence suggests George Anthony killed his granddaughter, Caylee, and manipulated the evidence to direct the public’s eye away from himself.
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).
While it may seem unlikely that many people would be convicted of a few of the latter crimes, there were nearly 3,000 people on death row in the last year. Of those 3,000 people, 117 were found to be innocent. It is predicted that at least 3% more of those sentenced would have been exonerated with enough time and resources.
On August 5, The State Attorney's Office officially filed formal charges against Casey Anthony for one felony count of child neglect.After two months of being in and out of jail, for both case-related reasons, and other charges unrelated to her missing daughter, a Florida grand jury officially indicted Casey Anthony on charges of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and finally four counts of providing false information to law enforcement officers (Anthony Indictment, 2008). At this point, all charges of child neglect were dropped against Casey due to the belief that Caylee Anthony was presumably dead. Casey Anthony officially plead not guilty to all charges on October 28. For two months following the indictment, Florida’s state Assistant State Attorneys built their case against Anthony. However, on December 11, 2008, the investigation into the disappearance of Caylee’s disappearance changed as officers discovered skeletal remains in the woods behind Cindy and George Anthony's house (CNN Library, 2014). Pieces of duct tape were found on the skull, and hanging from strands of hair and tissue still left on the skull. Eight days later, on December 19, medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia confirmed that the remains found were the remains of Caylee Anthony. Her death was ruled a homicide, but ultimately Garavaglia labeled the cause of death unknown (Office of the Medical Examiner,
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
The Casey Anthony trial involves the death of her two year old daughter Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony is accused of killing her daughter. Casey Anthony claims her two-year-old Caylee Anthony is missing On June 9, 2008 in Orange County, Florida. Anthony later tells police she dropped Caylee off at a babysitter's apartment. The name that Casey had given to the police officers was Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. On June 16th 2008 was the last Caylee grandparents saw her alive. Casey didn’t give her parents any details about nothing. Later on in July of 2008 a post from the internet allowed Casey parent to locate the car which had been towed. There was a foul
The Criminally Accused are given a public trial to discourage the abuse of prosecutorial power. If you weren’t given a public trial you could be put to death, and no one would even know why. That is also the reason that you have a trial by jury. They determine if you are guilty or not guilty by the evidence presented at trial. They also have the power to acquit an accused if it believes that he is accused of violation an unjust law (Hornberger, np).