Casey Anthony - did she do it?

[DemonGeminiX]

The charge of murder requires three elements to be proven:

1) Cause the death of another: You have to specifically show beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did indeed caused the death of the victim in question. The prosecution had no evidence that conclusively proved that Casey Anthony killed her daughter. There are too many questions that remain unanswered. Keep in mind that the specific cause of death is not required. We don't have to know how someone died to know that someone else caused their death, although it does make it easier to prove.

2) With prior planning (premeditation): You have to show that the accused specifically planned the death of the victim. The prosecution could not show this either.

3) Mens Rea/With intent (malice): You have to show that the accused intended to cause sufficient injury to result in the death of the victim in question.

Note that the actual cause of death is not required. Nor is motive required. The two can make proving the above three a helluva lot easier, but they are not necessary to prove the above three.

For both 2 and 3, 1 has to be shown first or there's no case. If you can't show 2 nd 3, but you can show 1, then you can maintain that it was manslaughter (which she was also charged with), but because they could not show 1 beyond a reasonable doubt, there was no way that manslaughter was going to stick. Because neither of them were going to stick, the child abuse wasn't going to stick either. I'm thinking the manslaughter was a backup plan in light of the thin evidence of murder, and the child abuse charge was going to be icing on the cake in the event that one of the other two stuck. It didn't work out for them.

The fact that she didn't report the child missing is not sufficient evidence to prove murder. You have to prove Actus Reus, the guilty act, the actual murder. Not mitigating circumstances that leads you to suspect someone of murder, you have to prove the actual murder, the actual act of the accused taking someone else's life with intent and prior planning. Prosecution could not do that, and that's why she was acquitted.

Do I believe she killed that child? Yes, I do. Does it matter what I think? No, it doesn't. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks, it doesn't matter what any analyst thinks, it doesn't matter what any news anchor thinks. A jury of her peers has spoken and acquitted her on the three charges.

If the prosecution had better evidence, a better all around case, then Casey Anthony would be facing the possibility of death row.

It sucks, but that's the way it goes. Maybe someday they'll figure out what really happened to that poor child. Unfortunately, if she did kill her own child and they learn precisely how to prove it beyond the shadow of a reasonable doubt, tehy won't be able to try her again.

[Hal-9000]

And to add to DGX's post you have to prove murder through physical evidence or eyewitness testimony at the time of the homicide.

You'd think one savvy CSI guy could place Anthony at the scene when her daughter died...

[DemonGeminiX]

And to add to DGX's post you have to prove murder through physical evidence or eyewitness testimony at the time of the homicide.

You'd think one savvy CSI guy could place Anthony at the scene when her daughter died...

Not if you get a confession. Eyewitness testimony isn't necessary, although it would help. Physical evidence is part of 1: connecting the accused to the actual death.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The fact that she didn't report the child missing is not sufficient evidence to prove murder

It is for me

[Hal-9000]

Not if you get a confession. Eyewitness testimony isn't necessary, although it would help. Physical evidence is part of 1: connecting the accused to the actual death.

Well yes of course the burden of proof is lifted in the case of a confession..

Eyewitness testimony and physical evidence are the two things that will convict, necessary isn't really the question here, what I was listing are the two things that can convict.

[Godfather]

How do you think they did it before all that CSI style forensics?

And that is exactly what is ruining the legal system...juries all expect it to be just like an episode of CSI with all the fancy forensics and whatnot. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way in real life.

Forensics isn't made-for-TV witchcraft.. it saves the innocent and proves guilt all the time. Looking back at cases from decades ago, it has overturned many terrible convictions made based soley upon circumsantial evidence - 'wrong place, wrong time' convictions that weren't correct. DNA is a great progression. To start convicting people based almost soley on circumstances instead of hard facts again is a step backwards. Even if in this particular case it takes no imagination at all... but the law works on precedent, they have to.

The prosectuion failed to prove guilt, not the jury.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Forensics isn't made-for-TV witchcraft.. it saves the innocent and proves guilt all the time. Looking back at cases from decades ago, it has overturned many terrible convictions made based soley upon circumsantial evidence - 'wrong place, wrong time' convictions that weren't correct. DNA is a great progression. To start convicting people based almost soley on circumstances instead of hard facts again is a step backwards. Even if in this particular case it takes no imagination at all... but the law works on precedent, they have to.

The prosectuion failed to prove guilt, not the jury.

You're missing my point

[Godfather]

It is for me

You would certainly be a handful of a juror

But that's the problem. We can sleep at night having judged her as guilty based on the circumstantial evidence. The court system is a higher authority. Tieing two ends together based on what is supposed to have happened in that 31 days just isn't what you can convict people on. In the context of other trials, it would be a disaster to rely on it, especiall when it was Circumstantial vs DNA.

Anyways... I dono why I'm involved in arguing here I wish they'd convicted her and been done with it. All I'm really saying is that I understand how easily the defense would have shown that the precedent isn't there to convict someone this way.

[Southern Belle]

Guilty

[Hal-9000]

the baby was found with duct tape wrapped around it's head and died from suffocation?


someone put that tape on...hopefully a vision that haunts them until their last day

[JoeyB]

What mother doesn't report her kid missing for 31 days, all the while out drinking and partying and not once acting like anything is wrong? In fact, it was the grandmother that finally called 911 because Casey wasn't gonna do it. Then she made up a story saying she was kidnapped by a babysitter....that never existed.

Don't forget she also got a tattoo. Guilty of murder or not, she is obviously a monster and a person who never should have had kids. Let's hope she never has any more.

I still think one or both Ramsey's were guilty

I do too, third person or not does not indicate the Ramsey's innocence, it just means they had an accomplice.

[Hal-9000]

I still think one or both Ramsey's were guilty

That case fascinated me.The dna was picked up from the girl's undergarments which leads us to believe it was a sick crime...
If the parents were involved, it was more than an accidental beating as they tried to accuse the Mom of.

[AntZ]

This reminds me of the Jonbenet Ramsey case.In 1996 she was murdered and the parents were prime suspects off and on until 2008.Finally DNA evidence on Jonbenet's clothing exonerated both parents and proved there was a third person in contact with the child.In that case I believe the parents were/are innocent.They reopened the case again in 2010, to continue the investigation.

In this case though, based on what I've read....Anthony is getting away with murder.

I don't recall the parents ever being labeled as exonerated, except for their sleazy attorneys! I remember the overwhelming criticism of the keystone cops that arrived on scene. A female officer didn't like the sight of the dead and exposed girl in plain view of investigators and other officers, so she grabbed a contaminated blanket from the house and covered the body, before any samples could be collected! At one point, the blanket was thought to be involved in the crime scene until it was discovered the idiot cop had contaminated the evidence.

I still think one or both Ramsey's were guilty

ABSOLUTELY!!

Now add this sweet baby to the list of appalling injustices in history!




I almost well-up looking at her face.


If only she was born to a mother that would have loved and protected her!

[Hal-9000]

I don't recall the parents ever being labeled as exonerated, except for their sleazy attorneys! I remember the overwhelming criticism of the keystone cops that arrived on scene. A female officer didn't like the sight of the dead and exposed girl in plain view of investigators and other officers, so she grabbed a contaminated blanket from the house and covered the body, before any samples could be collected! At one point, the blanket was thought to be involved in the crime scene until it was discovered the idiot cop had contaminated the evidence.




ABSOLUTELY!!

Now add this sweet baby to the list of appalling injustices in history!




I almost well-up looking at her face.


If only she was born to a mother that would have loved and protected her!

According to a few hundred news stories the Ramsey's were given a written apology by the police...they reopened the case (again) just last year and we both know that the parents won't be ruled out...surface appearances are everything and the police are just conceding this round..

[AntZ]

Horrifying New Details Emerge in Caylee Anthony Case

By Oliver Jones

Wednesday January 21, 2009 03:05 PM EST


With details that are both graphic and heartbreaking, new court documents released Wednesday reveal that the body of toddler Caylee Anthony was bound by duct tape that had a heart-shaped sticker placed on it.

Evidence further shows that a Winnie the Pooh blanket, several iron-on letters and a toy horse were in the laundry bag that contained the slain 2-year-old, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

The remains were recovered by the Orange County Sheriff's department near Caylee's Orlando-area home on Dec. 11. FBI investigators also found residue that "appeared to be consistent with the adhesive side of a heart-shaped sticker," sheriff's Detective Yuri Melich is quoted as saying in the documents.

Documents also state that investigators seized sticker books and scrapbook material from Caylee's home, along with other toys that matched the one found with her body.

"It appears that the sticker was put on the duct tape intentionally," Melich is quoted as saying.

Caylee's mother Casey Anthony, 22, is being held in jail since being arrested Oct. 14 and charged with her daughter's murder, even though her daughter's remains had not yet been discovered.

http://www.people.com/people/article...253947,00.html


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It's still amazing to read the old details! Yeah, some random killer took the time to give her a send off with keepsakes!

This is what people do for dead family pets when they bury them.