12 Years later- The Caylee Anthony Case
- Aug 17, 2020
- 7 min read
This past August 9th, Caylee Anthony would have turned 15 years old. Caylee Anthony vanished in the summer of 2008 at just two-years old. After 31 days, Casey’s mother, Cindy, reported Caylee missing. The girl’s remains were eventually found in a wooded area near the family home.
This case had become near and dear to my heart. It was local enough and being an Intuitive, I automatically had the alarms sounding off. It comes natural for me. It also comes with a price. The emotional factors come in whenever you are doing a cold case or investigation. Most empaths are sensitive to begin with. The good part of being empathic is it allows you to “feel, hear and see”. Being human, well, it’s rough especially when it is a child. I am a Mother of two myself.
I feverishly conatacted the authorities like I ofren do and have. Its difficult because most Police departments will never tell you they work with an Intuitive and most departments will ignore any psychic that tries to step in. Sadly, this was the case and I was correct on where Caylee was. Non the less, it got me no where.
Casey Anthony went on to be acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges on July 5, 2011 but was convicted of four counts of lying to police. However, these two counts were later dropped. She served about three years in prison while awaiting trial.
Prosecutors proved Casey Anthony was a liar, but convinced the jury of little else.
The government failed to establish how 2-year-old Caylee Anthony died and they couldn’t find her mother’s DNA on the duct tape they said was used to suffocate her. There was conflicting testimony on whether the putrid smell inside the family’s car was a decomposing body or simply trash, and it was never quite clear why chloroform was so important.
The lack of evidence and the doubt raised by the defense – that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family’s pool – was enough to win an acquittal.
The jury took less than 11 hours to find Casey Anthony, 25, at the time, now 34, not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse in perhaps the most disputed and dissected verdict since O.J. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his wife.
Casey had been seen dancing at bars, winning hot bod contests. She was partying like it was 1999. She blamed the babysitter at firstt hen again when she recounted to investigators that she had told two imaginary people that Caylee was missing. She also lied about receiving a phone call from Caylee the day before she was reported missing. How does a two year old dial the phone?
Anthony’s eyes welled with tears and her lips trembled as the verdict was read once, twice and then a third time: “Not guilty.”
Outside the courthouse, many in the crowd of 500 reacted with anger, chanting, “Justice for Caylee!” One man yelled, “Baby killer!”
As soon as the jury left the courtroom, Anthony tightly hugged defense attorney Jose Baez, and then the rest of her defense team. All of them appeared to be crying.
Anthony – a single mother living with her parents – was convicted only of four misdemeanor counts of lying to investigators who were looking into the June 2008 disappearance of Caylee. She lied about being employed at Universal Studios. She lied about leaving Caylee with a baby sitter, then again when she recounted to investigators that she had told two imaginary people that Caylee was missing. She also lied about receiving a phone call from Caylee the day before she was reported missing.
Lawyer Baez was criticized by many legal pundits for his strategy and loosely throwing around allegations of molestation and incest. Baez suggested early on that Casey’s father, George Anthony, helped cover up the drowning and sexually abused his daughter, accusations the father vehemently denied. Baez also claimed Casey’s brother might be Caylee’s father and that a meter reader who discovered the girl’s remains may have moved them, more allegations that weren’t substantiated.
Ultimately, though, the burden of proof wasn’t on Baez.
“I don’t think it was Baez’s great lawyering that won the case,” said Richard Rosenbaum, a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney who closely followed the trial but wasn’t involved in the case. “I think it goes back to the prosecution and the weaknesses in their case.”
How did Caylee die?
A medical examiner was never able to establish how Caylee died, and prosecutors had only circumstantial evidence that she had been killed.
Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney for Miami and now a defense attorney, said Baez had to offer an alternative to the prosecution’s theory of how Caylee was killed, though he was less impressed with the molestation accusations.
“The biggest questions were the ‘how’ and the ‘why,’” Coffey said. “Even the state acknowledged they weren’t exactly sure of how Caylee was killed. That was a candid acknowledgement, but Baez seized on that.”
Orlando’s chief prosecutor said his attorneys were disappointed with the verdict but they presented every piece of evidence that existed.
Prosecutors contended that Anthony suffocated Caylee with duct tape because she wanted to be free to hit the nightclubs and spend time with her boyfriend.
Defense attorneys argued that the little girl accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool, and that Anthony panicked and hid the body because of the traumatic effects of sexual abuse by her father.
Anthony failed to report Caylee’s disappearance for a month. A whole month passed while this child’s body was decomposing in a watery woodsy grave. The child’s body was eventually found in the woods near her grandparents’ home six months after she was last seen.
Prosecutors hammered away at the lies Anthony told when the child was missing: She told her parents that she couldn’t produce Caylee because the girl was with a nanny named Zanny – a woman who doesn’t exist; that she and her daughter were spending time with a rich boyfriend who doesn’t exist; and that Zanny had been hospitalized after an out-of-town traffic crash and that they were spending time with her.
Baez said during closing arguments that the prosecutors’ case was so weak they tried to portray Anthony as “a lying, no-good slut” and that their forensic evidence was based on a “fantasy.” He said Caylee’s death was “an accident that snowballed out of control.”
The Challenge to convict
The six-month gap between when Casey was reported missing and when her remains were found in December 2008 affected the amount of scientific evidence investigators could glean from the pieces of bones, some as small as a pebble. And prosecutors didn’t have any evidence that put Casey at the scene where the remains were found. Six months is a long time. it gives nature her course to leave nothing behind that could be used to convict.
There was also confusion on why chloroform was so important. Chloroform is a chemical compound that can be used to knock someone unconscious and also is found in human decomposition, but prosecutors never made clear exactly what role it played in Caylee’s death.
Prosecutors said Casey searched for the term “chloroform” on the family’s computer, though when her mother, Cindy, took the stand late in the trial, she said she searched for it. Later, job records indicated that Cindy might have been at work when the searches were made.
Then there was the smell test.
After prosecutors presented an expert witness who said that a carpet stain taken from the family’s car trunk had a smell consistent with a decomposing body, the defense called the expert’s former colleague who testified to the opposite.
Baez addressed his naysayers during a news conference.
“This case has brought on new challenges. Challenges in the criminal justice system, challenges in the media, and I think we should all take this as an opportunity to learn and to realize that you cannot convict someone until they have had their day in court,” he said.
Yale Galanter, who has represented O.J. Simpson in a number of cases since 2000, said he was not surprised by the verdict. You need solid evidence.
“The issue is there was absolutely no evidence linking her to the death. None,” said the Miami lawyer. “So what the defense did was brilliant, they brought up the drowning, they brought up the sexual molestation, and it really got the jury to focus away from the bad behavior of the mom.”
Back then when the case was all over the news I started blogging out of complete frustration and I shared my views and what I saw and felt about this case. It never left me. You can re read that blog new-update-on-the-caylee-anthony-case. Yes, that’s when it all started. I was beside myself as were many others.
Here we are 12 years later and Casey Anthony has been quoted as saying; ” I don’t care what people think of me, I sleep fine at night”. Do you really? Am I judging Casey? No, believe it or not. I was and still read her. Back then I saw and felt a complete lack of responsibility and empathy. She was cold, empty and only concerned for herself. She was shallow inside, her energy was missing something. It’s as if her brain shut off.
Though no one will ever know the truth but Casey, I do intuitively feel she panicked and let her daughter “go to sleep”. Then she decided to convince herself nothing happened. By law, you cannot try someone after they have been acquitted of murder. The Jurors felt stuck in the case. They didn’t have solid evidence. They couldn’t convict. It doesn’t mean they didn’t feel she was guilty, there needs to be proof.
Since then, I have successfully worked on 6 more cold cases throughout the States. I was happy to see convictions. Yet, it doesn’t undo the pain this case has caused and the immense loss of an innocent child. We must protect our children. Though I do not judge Casey, I also know what she did, how and why she did it.
Since then, Governor Scott, now Senator Scott has made it a law to lie to the Police. Nothing more has been done. If I were Casey and screamed to the world that I was innocent, I would still be out there insisting they find who killed my daughter! Instead there is silence. Her silence speaks volumes.
Rest with the Angels Caylee.
Michelle
http://www.michellecaporale.com
Michelle Caporale is a Seasoned Intuitive who has worked on several Cold Cases, investigation including NYPD, SC, NC and other private cases. She holds two degrees in Metaphysics as well as a Life Coach Certification. She is an evidential medium able to connect with those that have crossed over.
She is an asset to her community and can be contacted for private sessions at michellecaporale@aol.com
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