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The Case of Casey Anthony

Casey Anthony was indicted in October 2008 on a charge of the first-degree murder of her daughter Caylee Marie Anthony. In December 2008, a meter reader found the skeletal remains of Caylee near Casey's home. Caylee was reported missing on July 15, 2008, a month after she disappeared, according to her mother Casey. In April 2009, the state attorney's office said that the prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty for Casey. On July 5, 2011, Casey was found not guilty of first-degree murder after a thirty-three-day trial in Orlando, Florida. Casey was convicted of charges of misleading law enforcement and was released from jail on July 17, 2011. The verdict had been termed as travesty of justice and many people feel Casey got away with murder.

The Casey Anthony case was extensively covered by local media in Florida. When a case receives this amount of local coverage, it usually goes national but only during the trial. In this case, before the defendant had gone to trial, the case of Caylee's murder had been on the national television talk show circuit, making the ratings for ABC's 20/20, NBC's Dateline, Fox's America's Most Wanted, Nancy Grace, Greta Van Susteren, and Geraldo Rivera.

In this case study of Casey Anthony, look at the way the information was presented to the public, the facts of the case, the public's reactions, and the truth, lies, and rumors that have resulted from the media depiction of the case.

As part of this assignment, click here to watch the video of Casey Anthony’ arrest. You can search the site and/or search YouTube for more video coverage of the Casey Anthony trial. Then, create a case study analysis in a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document and include answers to the following questions:
•Casey Anthony is neither rich nor famous. Analyze and explain why her case got extensive media attention.
•Given the amount of pretrial publicity, including Casey's phone conversations in jail, did Casey receive a fair trial? After seeing all mediated evidence devoted to this case, if you had been called to be a juror on this case, would you have been impartial?
•Examine whether a young woman facing the death penalty automatically generates media attention.
•Does the fact that the jury was sequestered, play any part in the verdict? Analyze and explain whether a juror can be completely removed from being exposed to the media and the Internet while they are being sequestered.
•Examine whether a defendant who is presumed innocent receive a fair trial if court evidence and documents are displayed on the Internet.
•Compare the Casey Anthony case with the O. J. Simpson case.