# Is Casey Anthony Guilty? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124 "2011-06-11T16:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/21 "2011-06-14T03:31:09Z")
> [@keturah](#): > > I think she routinely gave her kid Xanax and joked to her friends that she used “zanny the nanny” as her child care and put her in the trunk of her car while she partied. When she got concerned that someone could hear Caylee if she woke up she also used duct tape to muffle her. Maybe Caylee even woke up once and she needed to find a solution to quiet her. I don’t think she wanted her to die, rather she didn’t want her to cramp her style and had probably used this technique successfully multiple times. . Your scenario would seem to fit the most, and explain everything. I think you may have solved this case. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/22 "2011-06-14T05:40:08Z")
I agree it was a tragic, stupid accident. Certainly Casey deserves life in prison. I’m surprised they are pushing for the death penalty. I’m a little suspicious there might have been an accomplice. I can’t see Casey carrying that kid out into the woods. Especially since she had been in the trunk a few days. Takes a pretty strong stomach to reach in and grab that bag. Maybe one of the boyfriends was involved? I guess we’ll never know for sure since the prosecutors are focusing only on Casey. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/23 "2011-06-14T05:44:56Z")
Any accomplice would have to be as sociopathic as she is. I don’t see it. Retrieving the body from the trunk would not have been pleasant, but she was strongly motivated. A boyfriend would not ahve been. How anyone can drive around for days with their own dead toddler in the trunk of the car and feel absolutely nothing about it is beyond my understanding. Inhuman to the point of non-human. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/24 "2011-06-14T08:21:41Z")
She did it, but the exact circumstances will not be known unless she admits it. Only reason why I wouldn’t execute her is because she’s clearly sick in the head, but not too sick to know what she had done. So put her behind bars forever. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/25 "2011-06-14T12:49:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Inhuman to the point of non-human. I agree. I’m not a strong proponent of the death penalty, but some people are irretrievably broken. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/26 "2011-06-14T12:55:00Z")
Here’s another point I just don’t get: Her car runs out of gas, so she just abandons it. She didn’t seem to lack for men’s attention, so it doesn’t seem like one of her itinerant bfs would give her a few bucks to keep it from getting towed and impounded. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/27 "2011-06-14T13:48:03Z")
**Earl** - She also showed no compunction against stealing from her friends and family, so surely she could’ve snitched $10 for gas. StG ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/28 "2011-06-14T16:59:00Z")
I’m surprised she didn’t strip out the carpet in the trunk. I imagine that’s what held a lot of the odor. Didn’t seem like she made any effort to clean out the trunk. Made the cops job a lot easier. That car is the best evidence they have against her. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/29 "2011-06-14T17:18:48Z")
I feel very certain she killed her daughter. Like others have mentioned, I think it could just as easily been from abuse/neglect (drugging the child and storing her in the trunk of her car while she partied) as it could have been a deliberate murder. I suspect we’ll never know. It seems to me that Casey is a compulsive liar, a chronic thief and sponger, and a sociopath with stunted emotional response, and a total inability to empathize with others or take responsibility for her actions. It’s a special kind of evil; she was probably born this way. I don’t think someone like her could ever be a productive member of society. I really hope she gets convicted of murder but I’d prefer her to get life without parole than the death penalty. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/30 "2011-06-14T18:45:47Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > She did it, but the exact circumstances will not be known unless she admits it. But how can you tell when a pathological liar is finally telling the truth? > [@nivlac](#): > > Only reason why I wouldn’t execute her is because she’s clearly sick in the head, but not too sick to know what she had done. So put her behind bars forever. That’s how I see it too. . ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/31 "2011-06-14T21:00:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Any accomplice would have to be as sociopathic as she is. I don’t see it. Retrieving the body from the trunk would not have been pleasant, but she was strongly motivated. A boyfriend would not ahve been. Ah, the pursuit of the almighty pussy. What it makes men do. There’s a hell of a lot of cases out there where half of the couple doesn’t do the killing but helps dispose of the body. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/32 "2011-06-15T03:56:58Z")
Don’t know. Haven’t heard the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/33 "2011-06-15T07:25:32Z")
I was surprised today when the prosecution showed a satellite map of where the body was dumped in relation to the family home. Literally just a few blocks away. That had to be a direct F.U. to her family. She practically put the child’s body in their laps. Today they tied in the canvas bag, blanket and other items found with the child directly to the family home. All that stuff came from there. It all went missing around the same time that Caylee went missing. At this point it’s pretty overwhelming. I don’t think even Johnny Cochran could save Casey at this point. They got everything except a direct witness to the killing. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/34 "2011-06-15T14:47:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Today they tied in the canvas bag, blanket and other items found with the child directly to the family home. All that stuff came from there. It all went missing around the same time that Caylee went missing. Yep. How do those items fit in with the defense of accidental drowning and a cover-up? They don’t. Casey’s lawyer is a dumbass. I wonder if Casey cooked up that story by herself and the lawyer just had to run with it. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/35 "2011-06-15T16:33:01Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Casey’s lawyer is a dumbass. Given that her guilt is pretty obvious, I consider this to be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/36 "2011-06-15T16:35:08Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > she’s clearly sick in the head Maybe. Or maybe not. A person can be perfectly sane, and also be very bad / very evil. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/37 "2011-06-15T17:11:33Z")
All I know about this case is what I’ve read on page 1 of this thread… god, if what y’all are saying is true, what a horrible person. The world would be a better place if she were not in it. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/38 "2011-06-15T17:13:33Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Given that her guilt is pretty obvious, I consider this to be a good thing. Except that she could appeal on the grounds that he didn’t represent her very well. She’d be right, although I don’t know what other defense she should have used … maybe admit to an accidental death? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/39 "2011-06-15T17:20:39Z")
I’m generally opposed to the death penalty, only because there have been so many false convictions. I’d rather have a thousand guilty people serve life sentences than for one innocent person to be put to death. That being said . . . this is a case of such obvious and unmistakable guilt of a truly horrendous crime, that I’m leaning heavily toward the death penalty. That woman has forfeited her right to life, even a lifetime of imprisonment. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124/40 "2011-06-15T18:15:57Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Except that she could appeal on the grounds that he didn’t represent her very well. She’d be right, although I don’t know what other defense she should have used … maybe admit to an accidental death? A couple of people have mentioned this. Could **Bricker** or one of our other Dopers who’s up on criminal procedure be willing to weigh in on the ineffective assistance of counsel argument? I don’t think Mr. Mason has been ineffective, nor do I think it’s likely that an attorney would ever **intentionally** be ineffective as an appeal strategy (I’ve heard this, though not on this board) due to the repercussions involved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-casey-anthony-guilty/585124.md?page=3)