Casey Anthony: Plus Money But Minus a Daughter

One of the biggest and possibly most shocking stories to hit the news this year was the Not Guilty verdict of Florida mother Casey Anthony.  The tragedy in this case is that a little girl lost her life and no one knows why, but the real travesty is that an irresponsible mother will now become rich with instant fame.

Casey Anthony’s 2 year old daughter Caylee was found dead in a forest near by her Florida home.  Casey Anthony was found not guilty of her daughter’s death, but it was not proven how her daughter died. If Casey Anthony did not kill her young daughter then how did Caylee die?

Say Hello To Reasonable Doubt!

The Defences explanation for Caylee’s death was that she drowned in the family pool. Upon finding her Casey Anthony panicked and moved the body to the nearby forest with the help of her Dad. When Casey Anthony’s Dad took the stand he fully denied this story and testified under oath that it was not true. And there lies our reasonable doubt.

The defence strategy was actually quite brilliant.  They presented different stories that involved different members of Casey Anthony’s family such as sexual abuse by her Brother, a cover up by her Mother, as well as a conspiracy with her Dad.  Each time a family member took the stand they testified under oath that the defence accusation was not true.  This strategy invokes reasonable doubt in jury members.  The jury doesn’t know what happened, and they don’t know what didn’t happen; therefore they cannot convict because nothing is clear.

The defence stated that little Caylee climbed into the family pool and drowned because Casey Anthony’s Mother left the ladder down which allowed the young girl to access the pool. The Mother later denied the accusation.  Casey Anthony never reported her daughter Caylee missing, it was actually Casey Anthony’s Mother who reported little Caylee missing after 31 days.  If Casey Anthony is innocent then why did she not report her daughter missing? Why did she lie about little Caylee’s whereabouts? And most of all, why did she not take the stand during trial in her own defence?

In my opinion if you want to set the record straight about false allegations, you should testify to the truth under oath.  If you choose not to take the stand during your own trial it is because you have something to hide.  If Casey Anthony took the stand she would have to swear to tell the truth and answer all questions honestly.  This would have completely destroyed the brilliant defence strategy put into place by Casey Anthony’s team.  No one wants the truth to come out when the whole defence is based upon lie after lie.

How Would You Vote?

I am a firm believer in capital punishment, which is allowed in Florida where the Casey Anthony trial took place. If you are a criminal and you took someone’s life then your life also deserves to be taken…but only if your guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Casey Anthony defence didn’t have to prove anything; all they had to do was create reasonable doubt so that the jury would be forced to render a not guilty verdict.  I don’t feel that the jury thinks Casey Anthony is innocent, I just think there was reasonable doubt. Would you risk someone’s life if you were not 100% certain?

Getting Rich by Being Infamous!

Casey Anthony will soon be a free woman and as a young twenty something (now childless) woman she now has her whole life ahead of her.

The media circus surrounding the Casey Anthony trial made me question how much of Casey Anthony’s life and defence are real, and how much is just for show to set a foundation for what comes next.  I am sure that Casey Anthony is currently in negotiations for a book deal about her life as well as the loss of her daughter and the trial.  Who knows, maybe Jennifer Love Hewitt will play her in an upcoming Television Movie.  Regardless of how it is published I am sure that the Casey Anthony story is being sold.

The problem with getting rich by being infamous is that people tend to remember the bad over the good.  Infamous people get rich for being bad people, therefore they will always be remembered and the money will keep coming in for years to come.  Casey Anthony doesn’t deserve to get rich, she deserves to be punished.

Casey Anthony’s daughter is dead and now she will be rich at the expense of her daughter’s life. How was justice served in this case?

What is Next?

If little Caylee did drown in the family pool I have to question why Casey Anthony was also not charged with child endangerment and/or child neglect.  It is obvious that no one was paying attention to little Caylee if she had time to go out into the backyard, climb into the pool, and drown.  It is really sad that Casey Anthony will now be infamous and get rich at the cost of her daughter’s life.

There is currently a petition circulating around the internet that will hopefully pass a law that will require parents to report their child missing or dead to the police within 24 hours.  There was definitely a lack of evidence in the Casey Anthony trial and this is due to the fact that the child was reported missing 30 days after the day she was last seen.  Several days passed between the day little Caylee was last seen and the day that her body was found in the nearby forest, that is a lot of time for evidence to be lost, washed away, and disappear.

Photo by Ryan Wick

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.