Casey Anthony Awaits Verdict
Jurors in the Casey Anthony murder trial found her not guilty in the first-degree murder of her daughter Caylee earlier this afternoon, after deliberating for just under 11 hours. The jury also declared her innocent of aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse. They did find her guilty on four counts of giving false information to law enforement officers. She could receive up to one year of additonal prison time for each count, but pundits doubt that will happen.
For almost six weeks, jurors, who had been selected from a pool of Clearwater, Florida residents, were sequestered in Orlando while they heard evidence in the case. The prosecution portrayed Anthony as a mother who no longer wanted the responsibility of a child and preferred, instead, to lead the life of a party girl. They believed that she murdererd her child by using chloroform to render Caylee unconscious and then suffocated her with duct tape. The defense focused on the lack of physical evidence and presented an alternative theory of accidental drowning as Caylee Anthony's cause of death. Both sides agreed on one thing: Casey Anthony was a consummate liar.
She told her parents that Caylee was with a nanny named Zanny, a non-existent woman, as an explanation for her absence; that she and her daughter were with a rich boyfriend who doesn't exist; and that Zanny had been hospitalized after an out-of-town traffic crash, and that they visiting her. None of it was true. Why did Casey Anthony wait for a month to report Caylee missing? That question will probably remain a mystery. She also claimed that her father had sexually abused her starting at the age of eight, although no proof was offered to substantiate it.
One of the oddest parts of the prosecution's case came when Jeff Ashton showed a video of Casey playing with her daughter on the floor and holding her in the air. Both had broad smiles and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying one another. He then showed Casey Anthony living it up at a bar. That tactic might have had the opposite of the intended effect. It occurred late in the trial and could have left a lasting impression with some jurors that Casey obviously loved her daughter, despite the number of lies she told.
In the aftermath of the media circus, it will be interesting to see how the Anthony family handles life going forward. George Anthony already tried to commit suicide in 2009, Cindy lied on the stand about the internet searches involving chloroform, saying that she had done the searches, not Casey. Casey's brother Lee was distraught during his testimony and visibly emotional when observing other testimony. His relationship with his parents and Casey seems unclear. I can already envision their hounding by the media and paparazzi continuing, despite the fact that the trial has ended. I also predict we'll be seeing investigations on various true crime shows presenting their versions of what really happened. Casey knows the true story, but I doubt that we ever will.
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