Death of Caylee Anthony

Caylee Marie Anthony (August 9, 2005 – June 2008) was an American toddler who lived in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony (born March 19, 1986), and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 15, 2008, Caylee was reported missing in a 9-1-1 call made by Cindy, who said she had not seen the child for thirty-one days. According to what Cindy told police dispatchers, Casey had given varied explanations as to Caylee's whereabouts before eventually saying she had not seen her daughter for weeks. Casey later called police and falsely told a dispatcher that Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny on June 9. Casey was charged with first-degree murder in October 2008 and pleaded not guilty.

On December 11, 2008, Caylee's skeletal remains were found with a blanket inside a laundry bag in a wooded area near the Anthony family residence. Investigative reports and trial testimony varied between duct tape being found near the front of the skull or on the mouth of the skull. The medical examiner listed Caylee's cause of death as "homicide by undetermined means".

The State of Florida sought the death penalty in its case against Casey. Relying largely on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution alleged Casey wished to free herself from parental responsibilities and murdered her daughter by administering chloroform and applying duct tape to her nose and mouth. Casey's defense team, led by Jose Baez, chiefly focused on challenging the prosecution's evidence, calling much of it "fantasy forensics". The defense stated that Caylee had drowned accidentally in the family's swimming pool and that George had disposed of the body. On July 5, 2011, a jury found Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. With credit for time served, Casey was released on July 17, 2011. A Florida appellate court overturned two of the misdemeanor convictions on January 25, 2013.

The case attracted substantial attention from the public—Time magazine described it as "the social media trial of the century". Television personality Nancy Grace was notable for the attention and corresponding publicity she gave the case. Casey's acquittal on the murder charges was met with public outrage, with hundreds of thousands posting to social media accounts in response.

Disappearance

On June 16, 2008, Casey Anthony departed from her parents' home in Orlando, Florida, where she and Caylee resided. Her father, George Anthony, later testified that he saw his granddaughter Caylee leaving with Casey. Casey told her mother, Cindy, that she was taking Caylee to her nanny, whom Casey identified as Zenaida "Zanny" Fernandez-Gonzalez, and, the next day, she further informed Cindy that the three were headed to Tampa on a work trip.

Thirty days after Casey's departure, her car was found abandoned in Orlando and towed away. George and Cindy were notified that the car had been impounded. When George went to recover the car, he and the tow-yard manager noted a strong smell coming from the trunk, which both later stated they believed to be that of human decomposition. When the trunk was opened, it contained only a bag of trash. That day, Cindy reported Caylee missing, telling 9-1-1 dispatchers that Casey's car smelled of dead bodies and that she had not seen Caylee for thirty-one days. Cindy later retracted her statement regarding the car's odor.

Investigation

Casey told investigators that she had left Caylee at the apartment of her nanny, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and that Fernandez-Gonzalez had kidnapped the toddler. But when police investigated the apartment, they found it had been abandoned for more than 140 days. Casey also told police that she was working at Universal Studios. However, when investigators took her to Universal Studios on July 16 and asked her to show them her office, Casey led detectives into the building before admitting that she no longer worked there; as it turned out, she had not worked there since she had taken maternity leave almost three years earlier. Casey was subsequently arrested. On July 29, Casey was offered a limited-immunity deal—in exchange for help finding Caylee, prosecutors said they would not use Casey's statements to police against her. The offer expired September 2, 2008.

Casey's parents appeared on NBC's Today on October 22, 2008, maintaining their belief that Caylee was alive and would be found. Larry Garrison, president of SilverCreek Entertainment, acted as the Anthony family's spokesman until November 2008, when he resigned citing the family's "erratic behavior".

On August 11, 12 and 13, 2008, meter reader Roy Kronk called police about a suspicious object found in a forested area near the Anthony residence. In the first instance, he was directed by the sheriff's office to call a tip line, which he did, receiving no return call. In the second instance, he again called the sheriff's office, and eventually was met by two police officers. He reported to them that he had seen what appeared to be a skull near a gray bag. On that occasion, the officer conducted a brief search and stated he did not see anything. On December 11, 2008, Kronk again called the police. They searched and found the remains of a child in a trash bag. Investigative teams recovered duct tape which was hanging from hair attached to the skull and some tissue left on the skull. Over the next four days, more bones were found in the wooded area near the spot where the remains initially had been discovered. On December 19, 2008, medical examiner Jan Garavaglia confirmed that the remains found were Caylee's. The death was ruled a homicide and the cause of death listed as undetermined.

Arrest and trial

Arrest

Following her arrest at Universal Studios, Casey was charged with giving false statements to law enforcement, child neglect and obstruction of a criminal investigation. The judge denied bail, saying Casey had shown "woeful disregard for the welfare of her child". On July 22, 2008, after a bond hearing, the judge set bail at $500,000. A month later, Casey was released from the Orange County jail after her $500,000 bond was posted by Tony Padilla, the nephew of California bail bondsman Leonard Padilla. Leonard said he hoped he and his nephew could help Anthony find her missing daughter. However, when an angry crowd began to gather around the Anthony residence, where Casey stayed while on bond, Tony decided to revoke her bond and returned her to jail. Leonard further added that Casey had not wanted to communicate with him.

On September 5, 2008, Casey was released again on bail for all pending charges after being fitted with an electronic tracking device. Her $500,000 bond was posted by her parents who signed a promissory note for the bond.

Indictment

On October 14, 2008, Casey was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and four counts of providing false information to police. She was later arrested, and Judge John Jordan ordered that she be held without bond. A week later, the state dropped the child-neglect charges because "the neglect charges were premised on the theory that [Anthony] . . . was still alive". On October 28, Casey was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all charges. On April 13, 2009, prosecutors announced that they planned to seek the death penalty in the case.

Trial

Attorneys and jury

The lead prosecutor in the case was Assistant State Attorney Linda Burdick. Assistant State Attorneys Frank George and Jeff Ashton completed the prosecution team. Lead counsel for the defense was Jose Baez, a Florida criminal defense attorney. Attorneys J. Cheney Mason, Dorothy Clay Sims and Ann Finnell served as co-counsel. During the trial, attorney Mark Lippman represented George and Cindy.

Jury selection began on May 9, 2011, at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater, because the case had been so widely reported in the Orlando area. Jurors were brought from Pinellas County to Orlando. Jury selection took longer than expected and ended on May 20, with twelve jurors and five alternates being sworn in. The panel comprised nine women and eight men. The trial took six weeks, during which time the jury was sequestered to avoid influence from information available outside the courtroom.