Why did the jury reach this verdict?

[cyberborg]

Put simply ... the Jury wanted to 'believe' an accident (pretty young woman who loves her daughter, at least in photo opps). They were a lot more comfortable in that than the Mother monster theory ... being nice normal healthy folks.

GA was setup perfectly as the fall guy and was entrapped with his messed up story on the gas cans and affair. He was seen as the more believable and plausible 'bad guy' than the little girl in the small chair.

However, belief and comfort should not get in the way of the 'facts', i.e., evidence and testimony.

The Jury voted with their hearts and not their minds ... obviously!

 

[KR2tonenow]

I would have had to vote Not Guilty too, based on the evidence. Juries are instructed to study the evidence. All the prosecution really proved is that the Anthony family is screwed up. Not having a specific cause of death was a big factor, I think.

Thanks for your honesty---I have been so divided on this being so heavily involved in the case 3 yrs ago and stepping away for awhile only to just come into it again this weekend. My problem with this trial is that I was expecting to see fingerprints on the duct tape. I remember that 3 years ago the State wouldn't say whether or not there was finger prints on the duct tape, now I know why. There wasn't a smoking gun here....at all. Other than a highly dysfunctional family that are all pathological liars. Its really sad actually - because I think we all just want the truth and we will never get it!!

 

[cluciano63]

I have a question-what happened to 2nd degree murder? Was it not included after all?

 

[Nova24]

If they had gotten her for Agg Man or Agg Child Abuse versus 1st it would be understandable, but this is just insanity. I think they are going to have it bad with family, friends, neighbors, etc. for some time. ICA played them like a fiddle and they won't see it until it's too late.

 

[kantoo]

Put simply ... the Jury wanted to 'believe' an accident (pretty young woman who loves her daughter, at least in photo opps). They were a lot more comfortable in that than the Mother monster theory ... being nice normal healthy folks.

GA was setup perfectly as the fall guy and was entrapped with his messed up story on the gas cans and affair. He was seen as the more believable and plausible 'bad guy' than the little girl in the small chair.

However, belief and comfort should not get in the way of the 'facts', i.e., evidence and testimony.

The Jury voted with their hearts and not their minds ... obviously!

i think they wanted a CSI: Miami case, neatly wrapped up in one hour.

no one understood the part of good old fashioned "common sense." jmo

 

[cyberborg]

I have a question-what happened to 2nd degree murder? Was it not included after all?

IIRC they even added 3rd degree as a lesser .... the Jury voted with their hearts.

 

[stilettos]

I would have had to vote Not Guilty too, based on the evidence. Juries are instructed to study the evidence. All the prosecution really proved is that the Anthony family is screwed up. Not having a specific cause of death was a big factor, I think.

Using that logic Scott Peterson would be free too...they had no cause of death in that case either...no DNA tie to the body...I just do not understand. Do people in America not understand logic and reason?

 

[azscr4mbl3r]

Using that logic Scott Peterson would be free too...they had no cause of death in that case either...no DNA tie to the body...I just do not understand. Do people in America not understand logic and reason?

While only a small part of it maybe I don't think we trust any of the intuitions we use to have blind faith in financial, government, science on and on. I don't think the smell in the trunk was dealt with properly. Specifically it got to bogged down with what a machine said the smell was and the jury wasn't allow the evidence. You step in dog poop you don't need a mass spectrum to tell you.

 

[Denvermark]

They were not convinced by the evidence. They had reasonable doubt.

 

[Denvermark]

Here's a few:

Reasonable doubt re: chloroform.
Reasonable doubt re: motive.
Reasonable doubt re: computer forensics.

These are all issues that have been pointed out in this forum, but the prevailing opinion here was/is that a strong personal conviction of her guilt should be shared by sequestered jurors who would decide the case on the evidence and testimony.

I do think the State was overconfident, most of the media had tilted their hand, and social media had long ago decided the outcome. All three elements feed into and strengthened each other in intensity so that the outcome: aquittal became a huge shock - when it should not be given the actual testimony and evidence.

Great comment!!

 

[Amity]

My cousin (my age) just left my house. Came by to drop off a rocking chair for my Mom.
Of course the verdict was discussed. Cuz, me, my Mom, my Dad, my 37 yr.old son.

My Cousin's thoughts on the jury decision.....I can't type it word for word but I will type it as I remember it.
Remember, don't shoot the messenger!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are all human. Even if we are told we have to disregard all emotional, biased opinions of the defendant, judge or attorneys, it can't be done....we are human. Those feelings are going to be there no matter how hard we try to stifle them.

The jury took a dislike to the PT from day one and PT never did anything to endear themselves back with the jury.

The Jurors, from the beginning, saw the UnderDog (Jose) being beat up on. People will gravitate to the Underdog.
The Jurors saw Mr. Ashton daily, with what they perceived was a cocky 'I'm better than you' attitude.
The biggest no-no: LDB sat daily, when she was not at the podium, with her arms crossed, leaning back in her chair, very snooty position.
Whereas Jose smiled at the jurors all the time (no matter how fake anyone feels it was), LDB never smiled at them. Never made them feel as if they were important enough.
When she gave her Closing (although excellent in word), she almost talked down to them. Body language toward the jury was horrible. Pointing her finger toward them, never ever making them feel they were important.
LDB reading from notes during closing made the jurors feel like it was scripted, like the facts weren't important enough to know by heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I was just at YouTube and scanned a few vids.
I noticed LDB was leaning back in her chair, arms crossed. Never noticed that during the trial.
I'm going to go look for some more vids regarding the other things cousin brought up.

 

[qtc]

i think they wanted a CSI: Miami case, neatly wrapped up in one hour.

no one understood the part of good old fashioned "common sense." jmo

Makes you wonder how shows like that have messed with our justice system.

 

[KR2tonenow]

Watching Greta and she said "You can't convict on emotion"....

 

[greycoupon]

Yeah, I've been here a few weeks and I know I have very differing opinions on this case. :innocent:

The fact is in a trial by jury, the jury decides. That's in the Constitution. i think most remember CM's long winded history lesson on Sunday night when everyone was hoping for the dinner break.

I don't feel this is justice for Cayley but I do not believe this means the jury was bought off, morons or just wanted to go home. It is always possible there was juror misconduct but we don't know why any jurors voted this. One alternate is making statements indicating he bought the defense theory. Well, he wasn't in the jury room when they voted. If the jury did violate court orders and discussed the case then that is a big issue. I'm not sure if he has explicitly said that and so far I just see one person who seems media happy.

Attacking the jury isn't fair. We don't know what they voted this. Given the upset and just some comments online and in the media, they honestly may be afraid to speak at this point. I know everyone is upset and so am I but it doesn't mean the jury are idiots or the DT are horrible people.

The defense presented an inept case. Going after George made me feel ill. Maybe some of them bought it. Maybe they didnt believe the SA. We don't know. The defense team was doing there JOB. yES, it's unseemly and the defense case was all over the place. I'm not fond of JB for a bunch of reasons but I don't hate him or CM. Honestly makes me sad to see them and their families attacked.

Bottom line for is I never thought this was pre-meditated. The SA never proved that to me. The state didn't know how or where Caylee died. I think the SA did a very good job. There were a bunch of things that were issues the biggest being the Anthony's are a family of liars. Cindy got impeached for several things. Lee likely lied and came across as odd. I'm not sure if George was actually impeached. Never believes he had anything to do with it but I think he did have an affair with RC. The state proved they are a family of liars which bolstered the defense. There was that and strangeness with how the remains were found.

I was disappointed Casey didnt get the manslaughter charge, I expected that at least. Casey is a liar and certainly looks very self-centered and I'm not quite sure what I can say per TOS. The vote wasn't if she was innocent . They felt, for whatever reason, the state didnt prove she was guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. Baez and co had good moments but as a whole that was a strange 11the hour defense.

I don't think Jose is a great lawyer, I don't hate him as a person. That's not fair nor toward any one else on the DT.

State made a BIG error in not going down the dysfunctional family road. JB was all over that and the jury saw proof. I have heard vaguely of a fight in the house on June 15th where Cindy choked Casey? I understand the family denied this happened/wouldnt talk about. My gut is this goes right to what actually happened. It was a mistake to not go down that road. If the A's had cooperated this would be a very different case.

Casey's behavior was horrid. I believe she has issues. The 31 days were disgusting. Being self centered, having something wrong with you and telling years of lies doesnt mean you are a murderer. I would never want to defend Casey here. I do believe it was manslaughter. She should have gotten jail time. But she didnt. Caylee didnt get justice today but going after the jurors or the defense lawyers doesn't get her any of that, Or anyone's family.

Jose spoke well and was respectful after the verdict. I'm sure he will be back to his usual persona soon. Mason's comments were rather silly to say the least .

I am very sad Caylee will never get justice,

(mods delte if this isnt appropriate thanks)

 

[shadowraiths]

Imo, two elements in the state's case. One, that they had a murder in the first charge on the table. Importantly, however was two statements wrt RK. One, that LE "blew him off four times" and the other, that if he wanted to make money, he could have "walked down the street to the media and told them what he thought he had found." So, why didn't he? Moreover, why did he disturb the crime scene? All things considered, I cannot say I'm surprised wrt the outcome.

 

[Spangle]

They talked after opening arguments and that colored how they listened to the SA's evidence.

Plus, a few things were not stated clearly and often enough. Just in a quick running. Like, it wasn't made extremely clear to the jury that the state did not have to prove exactly how she died. The DT kept hammering home that the SA didn't prove it, the SA just mentioend in passing that they did not.

 

[SaltyTexan]

I got that sinking feeling when George denied his affair. He seemed credible till then, I still believe he was not invlolved in the death of Caylee, but he just lost his crediblity.

What a stupid thing to do, getting involved with that woman at that time.

 

[Tugela]

The problem was that the state failed to prove their case because the evidence simply wasn't there. Something happened, that much is clear, but who did it, what they did and when they did is not. All the state had was speculation and a theory (a pretty far fetched one at that) but very little in the way of facts to actually back that up. One could equally well argue that some other member of the family was responsible and that Casey was simply involved in the cover up to protect her family. From what I have seen of the public dynamics of the family it is clear that something very wierd is going on with that lot, so who knows what really happened. And that is the point. In that situation if you can't tell a jury who what and when, and actually have proof of those things, then if they are doing their job correctly they should aquit. It isn't an emotional thing, a jury should decide on the facts, not emotions, and that is what these folk appear to have done. Irrespective of what you might feel about the outcome personally, I think at least this jury has done what the jury system is supposed to do.

I think the prosecution would have done much better if they had filed lesser charges that would be more consistent with what they actually had evidence for, but instead they went for the jackpot in response to public sentiment and ended up with nothing.

 

[nosytrish]

I think the first mistake on the SA's side is to go for murder 1 when there was no definitive cause of death. It's just a logical question that needs to be answered for jurors to give a guilty verdict and possibly sentence someone to death for the crime. And I know from being obsessed with this case for the last 3 yrs that the only reason there was no definitive cause of death was because of the amount of time her poor body layed in a swamp waiting to be discovered. No cause of death meant that hey, it could have been an accident like the DT said.

I believe JB's opening statement changed the game for jurors, it went from "the state must prove she did it" to "the state better disprove that it was an accident" and the SA couldn't do such a thing. They did go through what she did to dispose of the body/cover it up and how she acted afterwards and I'm still confused on how there's not a crime in there somewhere. Even though the jurors were given the instructions that counsel's words are not evidence I think the accident story and GA helping cover it up.....got into their heads, so to speak. It most likely made them think/say "what if?"

I still do not understand how she cannot be charged with atleast manslaughter when through her counsel she admitted to being present when Caylee drowned in the pool. Disposing of a body and covering it up is not illegal? who wouldn't make the natural connection that Casey wrapped the body up in trash bags, put her in the trunk then disposed of her in a swamp....there is no punishment for THAT? She then lied and lied and lied....because all innocent people lie to law enforcement, right? Again: why would someone cover up an accident and make it look like a murder?

I've always went on the theory that she died of an accident that was directly related to Casey being negligent....meaning she wasn't watching her and she drowned or maybe Casey fell asleep and Caylee got into chemicals or choked on something, etc. I believe Casey freaked and put her in the bags and put her in the trunk, she dumped her on suburban a day or two later with duct tape on her mouth to go along with the kidnapping story she had concocted in her head. She couldn't tell people she was a bad mom whose daughter got hurt and died on her "watch" could she? Her whole world of lies would blow up in her face and she'd have to act like a grieving mother, admit things she'd lied about, miss out on those hot body contests at fusian..... My question is...what kind of sick person can take the lifeless body of their 2 year old, their flesh and blood and put her in trash bags? I can't wrap my head around someone doing this to their own child, it makes me nauseous. I think she deserved punishment for THAT. Sick.

 

[Salem]

Hey Everybody - I understand that many of us are upset, all the other mods understand too! You are not alone in your feelings of outrage BUT wishing violence or harm upon another human being is NOT acceptable at WS.

We are above that. Please - if you need to, stand up and stomp your feet (or stomp them where you sit), go out side and do some screaming, voice your opinion loudly at the clips they keep playing over and over again on HLN, take a break, get some air. Whatever you need, but remember that we do not wish harm upon others in our posts. If you want to do it in your mind or say it to your computer - go right ahead. Please just don't post it!

Thanks,

Salem