If you've been following the capital murder trial of Casey Anthony down in Orange County, FL you know by now this is NOT an open-and-shut case. With only circumstantial evidence to work with (albeit and abundance of it), the State's burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt may be a tough row to hoe. Here's why I think Ms. Anthony will be exonerated of capital murder.
Anthony, 25, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her then two-year old daughter, Caylee, and has pleaded not guilty.The State of Florida says Caylee was suffocated by her mother with duct tape. The defense contends Caylee drowned in her grandparents' swimming pool. Caylee's skeletal remains were found in December 2008. Anthony could face the death penalty if convicted.
Despite a multitude of witnesses, including crime scene investigators, detectives and FBI folks, nary a witness has definitively placed Anthony at the scene of the crime. Sure, she has told more lies to law enforcement than a hundred Pinocchios, and cops had more than enough reason to suspect her. Psychiatrists could tell you the lies could be explained by sexual abuse, also a component of the defense case. And, we have not heard anything from the State exonerating Anthony's then boyfriend, Tony Lazzaro, or anyone else who would have the stomach to move a rotting body from the trunk of her car to a makeshift grave in the nearby woods. I don't think Casey could do it herself.
Police say she planned the murder. Yet no one can definitively put her at the computer, researching chloroform and other nefarious means of offing someone.
Admittedly the defense team, led by the charismatic Jose Baez, has concocted this wild theory which, as of yet, holds no water (pun intended).I don't see how her father, George, an ex-cop, could be involved, as they hypothesize, and I don't think Caylee drowned. I also don't think the meter reader, Ray Kronk, hid the body to get the reward money. It just doesn't make sense. You can punch enough holes in the defense theory to sink the Titanic.
I just think the State doesn't have that one piece of evidence to tie Casey to the crime, as I stated before. It seems they pin their hopes on an 'image' of a dime-sized heart found on the duct tape, but it was never photographed by the FBI, according to testimony.
The State has presented the best possible case they can under the circumstances. They have crossed all their T's dotted all the I's. Judge Belvin Perry has done a masterful job keeping the trial on course, but he may have allowed too much evidence involving processes yet to be litigated in any courtroom. But they said the same thing about DNA back in 1984, and former OJ Simpson attorney Barry Scheck has been setting prisoners wrongly convicted free with DNA evidence ever since.
Still, we are just in the first day of the defense case. Ironically, today was the third anniversary of Caylee's disappearance. I'm anxious to see what the defense brings to the table in the next few weeks. But with shaky science and no proof of premeditation, Casey might actually be set free.
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