Introduction
Seeking justice has and always should be the fundamental function of the judiciary. A sound criminal justice system is one that allows for both sides of the story to be presented for an analysis by the court. The same is in the Casey Anthony Trial which took a turn that no one expected. Because there was reasonable doubt in the case against Casey Anthony, the prosecution had to bear the burden of proof. All evidence is pointing towards her as the killer, so that even where the body was found. Even so, there was still a chance for reasonable doubt. The victim was the child of the accused which raised curiosity even more. Prima facie refers to evidence that unless rebutted is sufficient to prove that the prosecuted individual committed the crime for which he or she is convicted. The evidence that the prosecution provided actually fitted this description. The trunk of Casey’s car showed signs of carrying a decomposed body and the body itself found in a nearby forest.
These were all signs that showed it was the work of Casey. During the trial when the remains belonging to Caylee Anthony were to be presented before the court, Casey was ill throughout the trial. A killer would have had a different kind of reaction. Plus, her willingness to cooperate with the authorities did perhaps spark a cinder of reasonable doubt in the court to allow the jury to deliberate further into the case. Pending on the initial evidence that came into court, Casey Anthony was liable for first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and falsification of information provided to law enforcement. Casey’s case took the same turn as the Simpson Case which was changed the perspectives of the world about prosecution. Scholars look at it as a watershed case that placed the issue of justice and race in the eyes of the American public. In the same sense, Casey’s case reminded us also that we have the responsibility to fight the ugly underbelly of the criminal justice system of the US.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Opening Statements
In the trial, the defense and the prosecution attorneys presented their cases convincingly before the court. However, the attorney that took the day by convincing the court to rethink the evidence even when it seemed so obvious was the defense attorney, Jose Baez. He was the more persuasive of the two attorneys. Baez claimed that George Anthony, Casey’s father, started molesting her when she was at the age of eight. He also posited that the victim drowned in the family pool and not by her mother’s hand. Baez was able to convince the court to have second thoughts about the evidence. The forensic expert even provided evidence saying that the odor in the trunk of her car was evidence that it had carried a decomposing body. But still, there was still room for reasonable doubt. With reasonable doubt, the prosecutor bears the burden of proof and on June fifteenth, prosecution rested its case to give the floor to the defense.
Despite the defense attorney being the most persuasive, the prosecution attorney provided more facts about the case. He had the evidence from the forensic department that said that Casey’s car carried a dead already-decomposing body. Moreover, the body remains of the corpse believe to be the baby were in an area close to where Casey lived which showed a desperate attempt of Casey to try and avoid sentencing. All these pieces of evidence were enough to put Casey behind bars for a long time. The fact that there was reasonable doubt meant that the prosecution had a responsibility of fulfilling the burden of proof. That became the only challenge as the prosecution failed to convince the jury that the convicted individual was guilty. As the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence, the defense was able to exploit the reasonable doubt until the jurors’ minds were changed.
