She was found guilty of lying to LE, which is where a large part of the investigative costs went.
That's not correct.
The charges she was convicted of are:
1.)
Count Four: The defendant told law enforcement that she was employed at Universal Studios during 2008, pursuant to the investigation of a missing persons report.
That took LE all of a few hours to debunk.
2.)
Count Five: The defendant told law enforcement that she had left Caylee at an apartment complex with a babysitter.
Out of all the charges upon which the Defendant was convicted this probably is the one that cost the most to "investigate". In any event, by the time of Casey's bond hearing, Yuri Melich, was stating that he believed this to be a homicide case based upon the cadaver dogs triggering on Casey's car. This would indicate by this point that Law Enforcement believed that Caylee was dead and that her mother was involved or somehow had been in possession of Caylee's body. It is certainly clear that Law Enforcement didn't place much Credence in Casey's "Zanny" story by this point.
Indeed, it is clear from the interviews with Casey, including the one at Universal, that Law Enforcement did not believe the Zanny story. At Casey's original Arraignment it was clear that the Zanny story had been all but disproven (listen to the Judge's tone when he recounts the lies told by Casey).
Therefore, as much as you would want it to be, this lie did not cost Law Enforcement much to "investigate", rather the State it would appear - I say this tentatively given that they have not yet issued their claim for Special Costs - are trying to punish Casey by the backdoor for a crime which she was not convicted of by having her pay what were effectively the costs of investigating the homicide case.
3.)
Count Six: The defendant told law enforcement that she informed two "employees" of Universal Studios, Jeff Hopkins and Juliet Lewis, at Universal, of the disappearance of Caylee.
Again, Law Enforcement knew right from the beginning this was not true. In one of the early day interviews, Law Enforcement clearly state that they have checked with Universal and no employees with the names given by Casey have worked at Universal Studios.
4.)
Count Seven: The defendant told law enforcement that she had received a call and spoke to Caylee on July 15, 2008.
Probably, the second most expensive charge to "investigate" but this was easy to do by simply checking phone records and the story was quickly disproven.
In short, the homicide and interrelated child-abuse charges, which Casey Anthony was acquitted of, was where the "large part of the investigative costs went" not lying to Law Enforcement
I am going to jump to the conclusion that, had she tearfully told LE that Caylee accidentally drowned in the pool, the investigative costs to confirm that would have been much lower and no one would be seeking restitution. If the state had chosen to try her for a crime at that time, then it would have been on them.
We cannot reward people for lying and creating a circus that is a huge drain on the taxpayers. Brian Nichols is an even better example since there is absolutely no dispute that he killed those people and it is a LOT more money. WHY????
The only good thing is that no one is offering his attorneys or him a bucket of cash to come on TV and "share." I guess b/c they are PDs??? Not sure.
The rest of what you state has nothing to with why Casey Anthony should be required to pay an exorbitant sum due to her conviction of four misdemeanour offences.
And, whilst I am not going to go through your thread point by point, Casey Anthony has never been "rewarded", as you put it, for her lies. To the contrary, she was sentenced to four years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law for the charges she was convicted of.
