# Casey Anthony . Guilty or not ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745 "2011-07-03T20:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/41 "2011-07-04T15:54:25Z")
I think she will be found guilty on all three counts, but from what I’ve seen I think the prosecution has only proved the “misleading the police” charge. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/42 "2011-07-04T16:02:56Z")
What’s everyone’s opinion - is the pouty/scowly expression on Casey’s face her bone structure, or is it just an expression? I hate to say it, but just that look makes me despise her. StG ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/43 "2011-07-04T16:37:35Z")
It’s an expression. She doesn’t look pouty at all at the hot bod contest. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/44 "2011-07-04T16:42:51Z")
> [@PetW](#): > > It really does boil down to common sense. It sure does. Did the prosecution focus on that? I missed the closing this morning. Whenever I think “no mother would kill a child because it cramped their lifestyle”, I think of Diane Downs and Susan Smith. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/45 "2011-07-04T17:01:49Z")
You forgot the Who Gives A Shit option. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/46 "2011-07-04T17:29:42Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Right. It was not Casey’s idea to hide the body, it probably never occurred to Casey. It was George’s idea to make it look like a kidnapping in order that there were no negligent death charges against him for allowing a child to drown in his pool. > > Caylee’s body was hidden just 19 feet from the road in the closest place to the Anthony home where it would surely be found by anyone walking, jogging, walking the dog, or just driving by and smelling the decomposing body. If I had been walking within 19 feet of a decomposing body I would not need my dog to tell me that it was there. I am sure whoever put the body there expected it to be found within days. Your comments are bizarre, make absolutely no sense, and are contradictory. You think Caylee drowned in the pool, George feared criminal charges related to that, dumped the body where it would be found quickly, and wanted it to look like a kidnapping. Well, if Caylee drowned and the body was found quickly, it would have been a simple matter to determine the cause of death was drowning in a pool. If George wanted it to look like a kidnapping, why would he want the body found quickly, and why would he dump the body so near to his house? Neither of those would make Caylee’s death look like a kidnapping, nor would an autopsy showing the child had drowned in a pool, which George would know, being an ex-detective. > [@Susanann](#): > > 1. George could be charged with misdemeanor child neglect, esp since Caylee was staying at George’s home which meant that George was the ultimate defacto baby sitter responsible for watching Caylee and letting her drown. > > 2. George could also be charged with owning an unsafe pool allowing a child access to the pool and drowning. A homeowner is responsible for his pool, must have a fence and must take precautions to prevent children from getting into pool. Anytime a child dies in a swimming pool, the pools owner could be criminally charged. > > If Caylee drowned in **George** ’s pool, it would be\*\* George\*\* that would be arrested and criminally charged for Caylee’s death… not Casey. And the ridiculousness continues. Do you have any idea how common child drownings are in Florida. Florida has more pools than any other state. Drowning is the leading cause of death in Florida for children 4 years old and younger. Do you have any idea how rare it is for parents or guardians to face criminal charges when a child drowns? Also, your view that George would be more (or at all) criminally responsible than Casey, is baseless. > [@Susanann](#): > > Actually, in Florida, it would be a **felony** that George would have been charged with. > [@Susanann](#): > > Who? An ex-cop, that is who. > An **ex-cop** who knows the law and knows that he could be charged with a criminal felony (s) because of that child’s death in his swimming pool. > > **George certainly had the motive to not report a negligent death caused by His** swimming pool and because \*\*HE \*\*was not watching Caylee. Cite? Now you are escalating the level of silliness. Can you give me just one example of a parent, grandparent, or any other guardian of a child being charged with a felony in Florida due to the accidental drowning of a child? Since this is such an unfortunately common occurrence in Florida, this should be easy for you. (if it were true) > [@Susanann](#): > > 1. I doubt Casey was the one to take it there. Casey is not smart enough to leave no fingerprints, leave no dna, leave no soil, leave no fibers and no hair, leave nothing that the FBI could identify. Only a cop could ensure that the site of the body had no evidence at all. Casey is not capable of disposing of a body with no detectable trace. Casey is not smart enough to think to leave a body so it will be immediately found. That no implicating DNA, soil, fibers, or hair were found is not an indication that whoever left the body there is a criminal mastermind, it’s simply a result of the amount of time the body was left to the elements. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/47 "2011-07-04T17:57:05Z")
BTW, you need to change “hung” to Lethal Injection. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/48 "2011-07-04T18:05:34Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I agree. George has no more responsibility in this matter than you or I have. Casey killed her daughter, carried the body in the trunk of her car for a few days, then wrapped her in trash bags and tossed her like so much trash in the wooded area. And it’s as simple as that. Occam’s Razor. Guilty as charged. . ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/49 "2011-07-04T18:21:17Z")
I have to quote Sampiro’s masterful summation from [the other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13967264&postcount=292) > [@Sampiro](#): > > Caylee drowned in her grandparents’ pool. Because he didn’t want his wife to get upset, Grandfather told Casey “Let’s just dispose of the body and tell your mom she disappeared if and when she asked”. A former cop who lives in a state rife with swamps and coastlines and easy access to gator ridden swamps and feral former-pet pythons and hundreds of miles of coastline in easy access to gulf and ocean currents, the best plan of disposing of the body he could think of was “how about in a wooded area a couple of miles down the road?”, perhaps on the logic that if the cunning scheme should fall through then perhaps Granny wouldn’t be as upset knowing at least Caylee wasn’t gator chow. > > Casey goes along with all of this because she’d once had her dad’s penis in her mouth before school. Then she goes out and parties because that’s what one does when one is accustomed to being molested by one’s father who has just tossed one’s child’s body away. Oh, that and lie to law enforcement about employment status and steal credit cards and cash. > > When Grandma noticed a few weeks later that nobody had seen Caylee she got suspicious and called the cops. At that point, rather than say “Caylee… Caylee… OH, you mean Caylee, our granddaughter. Yeah, she drowned in the pool and we tossed her in the woods. We’d have told you earlier but we didn’t want you to get upset.” Instead, to save her feelings and keep her calm, they just let her think the kid is kidnapped by a name that Casey pulled out of her ass. > > When the cops come closing in all around them George keeps up the charade and in fact doubles down by getting Casey to tell some more lies and never once letting on he knows anything. At some point he goes to a hotel, either to commit suicide or to catch the last episode of Entourage since they don’t have HBO at home, and he leaves a note, but still doesn’t think it’s worth telling the cops he knows what happened to his granddaughter. > > Meanwhile the meter reader sees a body, picks it up and puts it in his car, and calls the cops. (May seem a bit backwards but he’s apparently a dyslexic meter reader- somebody might want to check to see if some people on the block are getting $0.11 bills while others are getting them for $209,792.32.) Later he rethinks it and takes the body back when a reward or a deal with PUNK’D or whatever falls through. > > Casey goes to jail for a couple of years but sits on the cover up of what really happened the entire time. So does Grandfather because…well, it’s become sort of a family tradition by this point. Oh and brother molested her too… not really, well, he tried, but he struck out. And something about coyotes and about a pizza stinking up the car. The defense didn’t provide any evidence to back up their wild assertions about George and molestation and their overall story is just inane. If they’d stuck to saying, “the prosecution doesn’t know, and can’t prove, how the child died, or when, or where, which means they don’t know and can’t prove that Casey did it” - I think they’d have a good shot at reasonable doubt. But floating this whole elaborate story, with no evidence for their theory of the event, just makes them look shifty and desperate. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/50 "2011-07-04T18:37:23Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > I have to quote Sampiro’s masterful summation from [the other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13967264&postcount=292) > > The defense didn’t provide any evidence to back up their wild assertions about George and molestation and their overall story is just inane. If they’d stuck to saying, “the prosecution doesn’t know, and can’t prove, how the child died, or when, or where, which means they don’t know and can’t prove that Casey did it” - I think they’d have a good shot at reasonable doubt. But floating this whole elaborate story, with no evidence for their theory of the event, just makes them look shifty and desperate. This. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/51 "2011-07-04T18:41:02Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > The defense didn’t provide any evidence to back up their wild assertions about George and molestation and their overall story is just inane. If they’d stuck to saying, “the prosecution doesn’t know, and can’t prove, how the child died, or when, or where, which means they don’t know and can’t prove that Casey did it” - I think they’d have a good shot at reasonable doubt. But floating this whole elaborate story, with no evidence for their theory of the event, just makes them look shifty and desperate. Completely agree. I have zero legal expertise, but I am certain I could have concocted a superior defense strategy. Even if you go with the accidental pool drowning, why even bring George into it? It would be infinitely more believable to say that Caylee accidentally drowned, Casey panicked and didn’t want her parents to blame her, so she covered it up and avoided reality for as long as she could until she was confronted and forced into concocting all manner of lies. Bringing George into a conspiracy to coverup an accidental drowning adds many layers of complexity, making the story that much more unbelievable, for absolutely no gain. With the lack of hard evidence, and the prosecution’s burden of proof, taking the much more simple approach to the defense would have only left Casey exposed to being convicted of relatively minor charges and probably getting time-served. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/52 "2011-07-04T18:55:42Z")
And if she copped to being solely responsible for covering up an accident, she could have also claimed that the duct tape was her misguided and irrational attempt to avoid blame from her parents by trying to make it look like a kidnapping. With the defense she used, she had no way to explain away the duct tape, which left it open for the prosecution to use as the murder weapon. (which BTW, is an extremely weak assertion by the prosecution, IMO) ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/53 "2011-07-04T19:36:13Z")
Did the defense put on any evidence whatsoever of this drowning? If not, why was Baez allowed to argue it to the jury? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/54 "2011-07-04T19:41:45Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Did the defense put on any evidence whatsoever of this drowning? If not, why was Baez allowed to argue it to the jury? They had evidence that it was a **possibility** – that Caylee loved to swim, and that she could open the door to the yard and climb the pool ladder by herself. There was even a photo of Caylee opening the door. **voltaire’s** suggested defense is a good one, but the jury would still have to deal with Casey’s behavior afterward – the partying, the tattoo, etc. The defense had to make it complicated. Confusing the jury was their only hope. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/55 "2011-07-04T19:42:17Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Did the defense put on any evidence whatsoever of this drowning? If not, why was Baez allowed to argue it to the jury? A minimal amount. Mostly evidence about the pool ladder being up, and Caylee being able to leave the house and climb the ladder unaided. No evidence at all as it relates to George being involved. The defense did argue that there was evidence that the drowning was a real possibility, however, they were not allowed to tie George to that claim in any way. The judge had issued about 16 rules to both sides regarding what was not to be allowed in closing arguments. IIRC, unproven facts were not allowed to be discussed due to those 16 rules. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/56 "2011-07-04T19:44:07Z")
Her drowning is definitely unproven. The only thing proven at all, is that she’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/57 "2011-07-04T20:12:52Z")
The chloroform stuff is all completely bogus. There is an IT guy on the jury who will be able to explain it to those who didn’t follow what Baez said. What the computer searches boils down to is that over the course of several weeks or months (I don’t remember how far back they searched) Facebook was visited 84 times (not all at once … over the course of time). On the day that Casey’s boyfriend put something up on his Facebook page about chloroform the very next thing after the Facebook visit was the search was for chloroform. There was one and only search for it. Even if the prosecution didn’t know they were wrong when they kept hammering “84 times!”, well, even if they didn’t know it, they were wrong. Arpad Vass is the guy who claimed the level of chloroform was very high. The rest of the investigators (FBI and the like) said the level was very low, nothing at all out of the ordinary. Vass is the guy who teaches classes on finding dead bodies and dead animals with a dowsing rod; he even claims to be able to find dinosaur bones with it. He was once contacted by the James Randi organization and offered a million dollars to demonstrate his claim – he stopped communicating with them. Chloroform is very easy to make, even by accident. Yes, there are refinements and techniques that should be followed for safety and purity but (don’t try this at home … it gets hot) if you spill some nail polish remover into some clorox, you have chloroform, spill some paint thinner on your pool chlorine, etc. There are hundreds of other household and pool chemicals that _could_ explain high levels of chloroform, however, only Vass said the level was high. The FBI said it was nothing out of the ordinary. This is just one of the things in the case like this, where the prosecution put on paid witnesses who said something while the police and FBI investigators they didn’t put on the stand said it ain’t so when the defense called them. I figure the Nancy Grace fan types on the jury will mostly stick with “Fry the bitch” but those who are capable of rational thought will conclude that the actual evidence doesn’t even prove there was a murder, much less who done it. Hung jury. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/58 "2011-07-04T20:35:52Z")
Nancy Grace is big on frying people, what? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/59 "2011-07-04T20:54:16Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#): > > Nancy Grace is big on frying people, what? c’mon, you’ve never seen the bitch in action? ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745/60 "2011-07-04T20:57:21Z")
No. \*though I take note that she’s a bitch who likes to fry people… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casey-anthony-guilty-or-not/587745.md?page=4)