Casey Anthony - guilty, or not?

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

My partner, who has her J.D, said that the standard of proof is extremely high in cases such as this...meaning, if the defense could convince the jury that there is plausible reason (any reason) that she could be innocent, they must vote not guilty. I totally agree with whomever stated that she should at the very least be sterilized.

Yes, the burden of proof by the prosecution in capital cases is very narrow in terms of reasonable doubt. And the judge must make this very clear to the jury. Also, as someone brought up, the antics by both the prosecuting and defense lawyers was not played out in front of the jury.

Also, these days with the hyper-focusing of juries on forensic evidence based upon scientific investigation techniques has put a much higher bar on the prosecution in such cases. connecting the dots circumstantially isn't good enough in today's courtrooms.

If the cause of death had been determined as suffocation, the duct tape theory would have most likely changed the verdict- IF there was also forensic evidence on the duct tape like hairs, blood, fibers that connected Casey to it. From the start, no cause of death actually being found and supported by technological investigative tools has been a problem This allowed the defense to build on other possible scenerios of how this little girl died.

At first I was shocked with the verdict but in thinking more about it, I can see how reasonable doubt played into the verdict strongly.

My heart still hurts for this child and I personally believe Casey killed her, but, when I look at the burden of proof elements for the prosecution- I can see why she was not found guilty of 1st degree murder. I am wondering about why lesser offenses were not part of what the jury could make a verdict on, like second degree murder or manslaughter. I don't know how Florida courts works in terms of the degrees of guilt a jury is given to choose from in cases like this.