The remains of 2-year old Caylee Anthony were found in woods near her home. Her grandmother reported her missing after 31 days and her daughter Casey's strange behavior. Casey partied in the days after reporting Caylee missing and her car smelled of human decomposition. She was arrested for murder, child abuse, and lying to police. A grand jury indicted her on these charges. At trial, prosecutors presented circumstantial evidence but Casey was acquitted of murder due to reasonable doubt. She was convicted of lying to police.

2. A small Florida town was rocked when the
remains of a 2-year old girl identified as Caylee
Anthony were found in the woods near the home
where her mother and grandparents lived. The
girl’s grandmother called 9-1-1 after claiming
she hadn’t seen her granddaughter in 31 days
and her daughter’s behavior seemed strange.
She also reported her daughter’s car smelled
bad.

3. A series of troubling behaviors including being seen
night clubbing in the days following her daughter’s
“kidnapping”/disappearance & the clear scent of
what smelt like a dead human body in her vehicle
made Casey a likely suspect and created probable
cause for police to begin surveying her behavior and
searching her belongings.
Upon lying to police about the “nanny,” her place of
work, and the smell of her car amongst other
evidence led to an arrest warrant for Casey on
charges of first degree murder, child abuse, and
obstruction of a police investigation. (lying to police)

4. Casey had previously cleared $500,000 bail when she was under suspicion
for child neglect and lying to police. She was released back to her parents
home until the body of the girl was found. Once the body had been found
and medical examiners declared the child’s death a homicide – Casey was
again arrested and charged with first degree murder.
Just 2 weeks later she
appeared in court
where a judge denied
her bail and ruled she
must await her next
hearing from a Florida
jail.

5. OCTOBER 14, 2008 –
A Florida grand jury of 16 previously selected
citizens listened to preliminary evidence against
Ms. Anthony and decided that there was enough
evidence to put her on trial. They formally
issued her an indictment.
The indictment formally charged her with first
degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and 4
counts of lying to police.

6. The 22-year old Anthony hired little known
defense attorney Jose Baez to represent her in
court.
Her lawyer immediately went to work and spent
countless hours trying to negotiate a plea
bargain with the attorneys for the prosecution
(state of Florida).
The state felt they had a solid case against Ms.
Anthony and refused to reach a plea deal. Over 90% of
criminal cases end in a plea bargain in which the
defendant admits guilt to lesser charges so that the
highest charges (in this case first degree murder)
would be dropped. No such deal would be struck
here.

7. OCTOBER 28, 2008:
At her arraignment hearing, Casey pled not guilty to
all of the charges on her indictment.
Casey returned to jail await a trial date while
attorneys for both sides began collecting evidence.
The prosecution (state lawyers) announced in April of
2009 they would seek the death penalty.

8. EVIDENCE COLLECTION:
Throughout 2009 and 2010, several search warrants were issued to
search the family’s home, Casey’s car, and the surrounding
property. These warrants were signed by the judge and used by
police at each scene.
Hair matching that of Caylee Anthony, determined to be the hair of
a dead human being was found in the trunk, duct tape recovered at
the crime scene was said to have matched a roll of duct tape in the
family shed, and a blanket found by the child’s body was proven to
be a blanket from the family home shown in earlier photographs of
the child.
Forensic scientists also discovered the presence of a chemical
known as chloroform (used for putting patients to sleep in
hospitals) in Caylee’s system. They also found what appeared to be
the left-over residue of a butterfly sticker under the duct tape of
the child’s mouth that matched a sticker book in the family home.

9. Police next issued a subpoena to confiscate the
Anthony family computer and to order several
witnesses including Casey’s parents, former
boyfriend, and close friends to come forward
and testify in the trial once it began about any
information they had.
Investigators were quite stunned when
they noticed the terms “neck breaking”
and “chloroform” typed into a Google
search engine over 80 times in the
months preceding Caylee’s death.

10. In the spring of 2011, more than 3 years after
Casey’s murder, the jury selection process
began.
Attorneys for the state of Florida (prosecutors)
and Jose Baez, the attorney representing the
defendant (Casey Anthony) began questioning
all of the potential jurors. Both sides wanted to
get a profile on these people and be certain they
would get a group of impartial jurors who would
not enter the case with biases and prejudices.

11. Finally, with a jury now selected the case of the
State of Florida v. Casey Anthony was ready to
begin in a Florida District Court of original
jurisdiction.
Both sides gave compelling opening
arguments and then began the
process of calling up witnesses who
had received subpoenas in the mail
to attend court and testify to what
they knew.
The prosecution went first
by calling up members of
the Florida police
department who found the
body, forensic experts, and
even questioned Casey’s
mother and father.

12. After hearing testimony from the police and
forensic experts, defense attorney Jose Baez
was then able to present the defense’s case.
In the case they poked holes into the
prosecution’s evidence by pointing out that it
was all circumstantial: meaning they could not
physically place Casey at the crime scene or as
the murderer.
They cited sexual abuse by Casey’s
father (never proven) and even
made a vague claim that little
Caylee’s death was an accident in a
pool drowning, caused by no one.

13. In probably the wisest decision as her attorney, Jose Baez elected to
not put Casey Anthony on the witness stand to defend herself.
The Constitution grants every accused American a
series of rights under the 5th Amendment known as
the due process of law which includes the right to an
attorney, jury trial, protection from double jeopardy,
and the right to not have testify against themselves.

14. Both sides had very emotional and powerful
closing arguments to the jury. The
prosecution’s tactic was to show photos of
little Caylee and ask the jurors to add up all
of the pieces of circumstantial evidence.
They asked the jury “Does a
concerned mother wait 31 days to
tell anyone her baby is missing?
“Does a concerned mother go
partying and clubbing while her baby
is supposedly missing?”
They asked the jury
to use their logic and
convict the
defendant of 1st
degree murder so she
could be punished for
the murder of her
daughter.

15. In Jose Baez’s closing argument to the jury he points out
that the American justice system is not designed to look
out just for people who we like…but to look out for all
Americans.
The lack of solid evidence linking his client Casey to the
actual crime scene (no DNA or eye witnesses) and a series
of circumstantial evidence making it impossible to directly
blame Casey for little Caylee’s death.
Baez reminded the jurors that in
America all defendants have the
advantage of “presumption of
innocence.” And that his client must
be considered innocent unless the
state proved her guilt beyond any
reasonable doubt. This of course
means that if even ONE juror could at
all doubt Casey’s guilt, they must
acquit her of all charges.

16. With all arguments having been heard, the judge
gave the final instructions to the petit jury (12
citizens assigned with deciding the guilt or
innocence of the defendant) on what they were
to do after leaving the court room….
The judge reminded them the burden of proof
in this case rested with the state (prosecution)
and they had to prove their case beyond a
reasonable doubt that Ms. Anthony caused the
death of her daughter. Any decision the jurors
reached had to be unanimous amongst all 12.

17. On July 4, 2011, the petit jury headed back to
their private chambers escorted by a security
guard.
In this closed off room, the jurors selected a
head juror to lead the discussion as they
deliberated and debated the evidence
presented by both sides and tried to reach a
final decision.
The fact that a guilty verdict could
result in Ms. Anthony being
sentenced to the death penalty did
influence the decision of many jurors.

18. After a criminal trial that had caused jurors to
be away from their families, without access to
outside media (TV, Internet, Radio, etc.) for
months and an investigation that had been
ongoing for nearly 3 years….
The petit jury reached and delivered its verdict
the following day on July 5, 2011.

19. The chief juror read the verdict in which Casey
Anthony was acquitted of the charges of first
degree murder and aggravated child abuse…
The defendant was convicted (found guilty) of
the lesser four charges of lying to police but
because of time already served in prison, she
would not be sentenced to any further jail time
The Judge reminded Casey and her attorneys that they always
had the option to appeal the court’s decision to a court of
higher jurisdiction if they were not satisfied with the fairness of
the case.

20. Most Americans were baffled by the jury’s
decision to let Casey Anthony walk with the
mounds of evidence that presented against
her….
However, the American legal system under the doctrine
of “presumption of innocence” which requires the
government to prove a defendant’s guilty beyond any
reasonable doubt to ALL 12 jurors makes it very difficult
to get a guilty verdict.
This is a critical component of criminal law –
the legal system that deals with citizens who
violate established laws of their government.