One from the WTF File
July 7, 2011 by admncc
I have long considered starting a segment on here called the “WTF Files.” And after Tuesday’s Casey Anthony not-guilty verdict, I guess now is as good a time as any. As a parent, it’s hard not to have strong feelings about what happened to little Caylee Anthony. Prosecutors say that Caylee was murdered by her mother, Casey. Defense attorneys say that Caylee accidentally drowned and that Casey and her father panicked, and disposed of the body. But in between that are about one million things that don’t add up.
I’m not looking to regurgitate the prosecution or defense’s case. I’m just honing in on a few things that don’t add up to me. You have a gap of about 30 days where Casey Anthony was proven to have been hanging out and partying; with absolutely no mention whatsoever of her daughter, who was missing at the time. You have a nanny and a suitor who Casey contended that her daughter was with. But both of them were proven to not exist and Casey’s defense now says they were her “imaginary friends.” You have random boyfriends, a mystery father to the child and allegations of sexual abuse within the Anthony family itself. Part of Casey’s defense was that she was unable to deal with the pain of her daughter’s drowning as a result of her own father abusing her (a charge which he has denied). And you have a whole lot of circumstantial evidence, such as people identifying an “odor” of “human decomposition” coming from Casey Anthony’s car trunk. Further, you have experts saying that Caylee’s body was found with duct tape over her mouth and that the tape had heart stickers on it (similar to ones found in Casey’s house). Then you have Casey getting a sudden “beautiful life” tattoo. You have more experts saying that Casey’s computer contained Internet searches for things such as “neck breaking” and “chloroform.” And the car’s trunk also had inexplicably high levels of chloroform and a hair that was tested to have come from a female member of the Anthony family with a “death band” – meaning it showed signs of decomposition. All of the females it could’ve been from were alive (the only person not accounted for was Caylee).
So let’s jump ahead… After the trial (a.k.a. circus) of the century, Casey was found not guilty of first-degree murder, not guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child and not guilty of aggravated child abuse. But she was convicted of lying to the police. Her sentence was four years in prison, but with time already served, she’ll be released within one month.
What I don’t understand is this… While there might not be “scientific” evidence that proves that Casey actually killed her daughter, you certainly have evidence that she acted awry during the above-mentioned timeline. So I find myself asking why she wasn’t charged with additional crimes pertaining to her behavior and deceit. Why did the prosecution keep trying to settle the case early on – that’s never a good sign that they want to go to trial. And why wasn’t the jury moved by any of the evidence that was entered (you can familiarize yourself with Tuesday event’s here). I mean, at a minimum, Casey admitted that her daughter drowned and she covered it up. But apparently that’s only worth a charge of lying to the police these days. And why would you cover up an accident by making it look like a murder?
The defense is saying justice was served because Casey didn’t kill her daughter. But many others, including me, are saying this is a travesty to the justice system simply because “some” of the technical aspects of the case couldn’t be proven. And the question still remains…for the months before Caylee’s death, where was she when Casey said she was with the “nanny?”
Pictures courtesy of lalate.com and wesh.com
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While I will be the first to say I do not agree with the verdict, I will also be the first to understand why the jurors came to that conclusion. From their own point of view, a cause of death was never given by the prosecution and without that, the jury could not absolutely conclude that Casey murdered Caylee.
I’m also curious as to what a decomposing body smells like, not that I’m overly eager to find out. I only know if I smelled something rancid coming from someone’s car, my first thought wouldn’t be “dead body”. I’ve never smelled one, so I couldn’t identify it if I had to do so.
Beyond that, I can only say a verdict of Not Guilty does not mean Innocent. Yes, I personally think Casey did it, and that’s something she will and should have to wrestle with for the rest of her life. Karma’s a bitch, and Casey is going to find out just how big a bitch she can be.
Great comment and opinion, Angela.
It upsets me, because I think Casey did it. But it’s unfortunate that they couldn’t more thoroughly prove it. And I do question why she couldn’t have been charged with abuse of a corpse based on her pool/drowning admission.
@Jane I’m not sure when she made that admission. It might have been after it went to trial.
And here’s an interesting thought for you. Everyone is so riled up about this “injustice” and a guilty person going free. But there are far more wrongfully convicted people currently incacerated than the other way around.
However, I don’t agree about Casey and it royally ticks me off to think she’ll now get a book deal or lucrative interview offer.
Being a resident of Florida that lives just north of the circus, Orange county prosecution team dropped the ball from the start. It has been my experience that you can’t take a handful of crap, throw it against the wall, and hope it sticks. They shouldn’t have tried so hard to try the case in the court of public opinion by the daily release of partial information which the news media normally gets wrong anyway.
I also want to say, I am glad that the Constitution still works, because if it didn’t, anyone can get convicted by circumstancial eviedence, guilty or not!!! I for one am more than happy to applaud the jury of her peers to objectively view this case and do the job they were chosen to do.
For the record, I am truly disgusted and saddened that the murderer of that little girl most likely wont be brought to justice, but I am glad that we have the justice system we have that requires individuals to be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I invite people to imagine themselves on trial for something they actually didn’t do. Would they want to risk being convicted and getting the death penalty on the same evidence?
It kills me that they couldn’t convict, but they didn’t have all the info. that we did. I’m sure as they learn more during the next days they will rethink their decisions.
I would have loved to see charges of neglect and child abuse thrown in there – what mother acts like this?!? If there was never a nanny was that kid alone? Casey Anthony is one sick puppy.
There are so many things about this trial that just makes my blood boil. I understand that no cause of death was given but now all anyone has to do is just make up what might have happened and not have to give proof. I know the defense was saying that Caylee drowned but they didn’t give any proof of that. So they could have said that aliens abducted Caylee and the dumb jury would’ve probably believed it. The biggest problem I have is that Casey lied from the beginning. This is just so unfair I just don’t understand how this jury couldn’t see that she did this. If she didn’t have anything to do with the death of her daughter why didn’t she cooperate with the police from the beginning? She didn’t tell anyone Caylee was missing for 31 days? She lied to them every step of the way but no she didn’t have anyting to do with it. As a mom I can’t believe what I would do if my child were missing. I would be doing everything in my power and then some to find them and anything the police wanted they would have. I sure as hell wouldn’t be out partying and getting new tattoos!! The only hope is that someone out there will give Casey what she deserves and get justice for Caylee since the justice system couldn’t.
Dear Casey Anthony,
Can I bum some left-over chloroform? I have a pesky ant problem.
Thanks,
Blunt
Casey may be free to get out of jail in a month, but you had better believe the public won’t accept this. If I was Casey, I would be afraid to be released. Her behavior and lies during Caylee’s disapearance just made it worse. I just can’t believe she wasn’t convicted.
I agree with most everyone here…there simply wasn’t enough for the jury to convict. I expect nearly every jury would’ve come to the same conclusion. I hope this will remind the gov’t that they need to do all they can to prove their case. This was a total failure by the prosecution, and the jury did its job.
I completely agree. I made it a point to not follow the case. I refused to get caught up in that media hype but now reading all of the details, I’m so disturbed. I too don’t understand how she couldn’t have been convicted of neglect or reckless endangerment or something. How can a child be AWOL for a month and no one notice?
Wooooa! We don’t have a TV, so before reading this post I had no idea who Casey Anthony was. It does sound as if many things were not cleared up. This is a major FAIL! for the justice system.
I’m no lawyer, but I think that even I could have thrown up enough roadblocks in the case to confuse the jury. The prosecution really needed a smoking gun.
Casey is a lying horrible person who is going to burn in hell. I firmly believe that she will get hers.
Well now… too bad you weren’t a juror, huh? I don’t understand how that verdict went so terribly wrong. They keep saying “We didn’t have the evidence to prove it, or we would have.” UHM, huh? So ridiculous. Casey Anthony better get a face transplant and a name change b/c life is only going to get worse for her from here on out. People are MAD, as they should be, and the wrath is going to be put on her.
In other news: Yay for a trip to New Oreans! Too bad it’s the freakin’ hottest time of year, but enjoyable nonetheless. What are you planning on doing while here? I will send some restaurant recommendations your way if you like! And your wife has great reason to be prancing like a pretty pony over to Anthropologie… I swear I could spend a day just exploring and enjoying the decor.
I agree with someone who said not guilty does NOT equal innocent. I’ve been on a jury, where a Doc was accused of molesting one of his patients. The poor girl had to get up and testify and everything. Every single juror – in our gut – had a feeling the guy did it. But there was not enough evidence to say he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So we wrote “not guilty.” Afterward, the judge came to thank us for our service and shared that the Doc was up on the same charges with 3 other patients. I almost puked right there. I’ll never be on a jury again. I hated it. I hated the way the system worked. Even the CA jurors are now saying they were sick signing their verdict sheets. But they had no choice, given the evidence.
All in all? I strongly believe she did it. No one else. And it sucks ass she didn’t get convicted.
All of the evidence, in my opinion, pointed to one person. I’m FURIOUS, still, about her trying to pin all that shit on her dad (and brother) because what a cop out. The taped conversations didn’t line up with her allegations.
Like I tell everyone: I cannot wait until Casey Anthony turns up dead. I can’t wait. Eye for an eye, friend.
Personally I think this is why she had such a steep sentence for the 6 counts of fraud (stole checks for the purpose of stealing them, no mitigating circumstances : survival, fear, etc) That is quite steep for just a simple fraud case, which I think is unfair, but I think they used it to their advantage to hold her until the trial (luckily they had something).
But I have to 100% agree with another commenter, “I also want to say, I am glad that the Constitution still works, because if it didn’t, anyone can get convicted by circumstancial eviedence, guilty or not!!! I for one am more than happy to applaud the jury of her peers to objectively view this case and do the job they were chosen to do.”
That is vital for the justice system to work, you have to, regardless of your own personal opinion look at everything objectively.