Analysis of Criminal Case

Running head: ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL CASE
ANANLYSIS OF CRIMINAL CASE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL CASE
ANSWER 1:
SUMMARY OF THE CASE:
The case:
Casey Lee Anthony, the Florida mother who was criticized by the entire nation after
being accused of murdering her 2 year old daughter, was however acquitted by the court due to
lack of evidence. The little girl went missing in July 2008. After a thorough search for six
months, the decomposed, partially rotten dead body of the toddler was found with a duct tape on
her skull, wrapped in a blanket inside a trash bag, in the woods near the Anthony house. The
prosecution alleged Anthony on several grounds including first- degree murder (Ensiminger,
Ferguson and Papet 2016).
The trial:
The trial lasted for six weeks where the prosecution sought death penalty as a punishment
to her and alleged that the mother wanted to free herself from the parental duties and so
murdered her daughter to free herself from responsibilities. The prosecution contested that Casey
first made her daughter unconscious by using chloroform on him, then used duct tape to make
her shut mouth and finally tossed her breathless body in the woods. The defense counsel argued
that Caylee accidentally got drowned in the backyard pool of the family George, Casey’s father
disposed of the body. Casey did not disclose the truth as she was scared of her father George.
The defense did not produce any evidence to show how Caylee died. However, it challenged
every evidence produced by the prosecution, stating it to be ‘fantasy forensics’. Casey did not

2ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL CASE
testify. The medical examiner mentioned that the duct tape as a reason to term the death as
homicide. However, she listed it as ‘death by undetermined means’.
The sentence:
The jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated
manslaughter of a child or aggravated child abuse. She was held guilty of four counts for giving
false information to the law enforcement as she had falsely told the investigators that she was
working at Universal Studios and that she was leaving Caley in the care of a nanny. Though she
was sentenced to one year imprisonment along with a fine of 1000$ for each count, but she was
released by the judge after calculating her credit for the time already served and good behavior.
Answer 2:
In the present case, Casey Anthony was released as the prosecutors could not show direct
and physical evidence to prove Casey as a murderer in spite of massive investigation and
impressive forensics. If all the evidences could be arranged and linked properly, Casey could be
held for murder and not with manslaughter as the intention of killing of Calley was very clear to
Casey. There was no question of manslaughter at all. The prosecution tried to make up for their
lack of direct evidence by presenting bulk of tangential forensic evidence. In this trial, Casey can
be convicted for committing the offence of murder if the prosecution emphasized on the
following points (Socia and Brown 2016).
To convict Casey on the charge of murder, prosecutors must prove the following:
 Actus Reus: the prosecutor has to show the presence of actus reus by showing that Casey
did an act which was prohibited by law (Robinson 2017). The prosecution argued that