Please read and answer the question:
FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF THE CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL
Facts
On July 15, 2008, Cynthia Anthony, mother of Casey Anthony and
grandmother of Caylee Anthony, called 911 to report Casey Anthony
for stealing a vehicle and money. In another 911 call, Cynthia
Anthony shared with the 911 operator that she learned from Casey of
Caylee Anthony’s kidnapping. In addition, Cindy reports of that her
daughter’s car “smells like there’s been dead body in the damn
car.”
Casey Anthony reports that she last saw Caylee Anthony when
dropping her off with the nanny on June 9, 2008. The name provided
for the nanny was Zanaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. Casey led the
investigators to the alleged apartment in which Zanaida was staying
but discovered the apartment to be vacant since late February.
Casey also reported that she was employed by Universal Studios.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that Casey had last been
employed by Universal Studios approximately two years before.
Due to the inconsistencies in Casey Anthony’s official statements
to the police along with the delayed reporting of the missing
child, an arrest was made against Casey Anthony for neglect of a
child, false official statements, and obstruction of a criminal
investigation.
Human Hair found in trunk of Casey Anthony’s vehicle: The theory
that Casey Anthony stored her daughter in the trunk after subduing
Caylee with chloroform was bolstered by the hair found in the
trunk. The discovered hair was identified as human hair but because
of the absence of hair root or tissue DNA could not be extracted
for precise identification. Microscopically, the unknown hair
sample found in the trunk exhibited similarities to a known hair
sample of Caylee Anthony but could not be confirmed with certainty.
Instead, mitochondrial DNA was used to narrow down the identity.
Mitochondrial DNA is forensically useful to confirm a female
lineage but does not individualize to one person. Therefore,
confirming the human hair found in the trunk as one that comes from
the Anthony female lineage is the only information deduced from the
mitochondrial DNA analysis. The FBI laboratory analysis on the
human hair found in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s vehicle exhibited
characteristics of decomposition near the end where the root would
be found.
After 33 days of testimony, the jury found the defendant, Casey
Anthony, not guilty for the charges of first-degree murder of
Caylee Anthony, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter
of a child. She was found guilty for four counts of false
information in a criminal investigation, check forgery. A civil
suit for defamation against Casey Anthony was filed by Zenaida
Fernandez-Gonzalez. The state also filed that Casey Anthony must
pay for the costs of lying to law enforcement as well as the search
for Caylee Anthony. This amount summed up to $217,000
a. How many days had Cayley Anthony been missing before it was reported?
b. What physical evidence was found?
c. What type of testing was performed on the evidence and what were the results?
d. What was it about the evidence that made it impossible to identify who it came from?
e. Do you think the evidence was more significant and should have been stressed in the case? Why or why not?
Ans a) The missing of Caylee Anthony was reported after 36 days of her missing. As stated by Casey Anthony she last saw her daughter on 9th June in 2008 with the nanny but there was no missing complaint raised or filed until Cynthia Anthony reported the same. The missing of Caylee was reported only on 15th July, 2008.
Ans b) The only physical evidence that was found in the car of Casey Anthony is the strand of hair which was confirmed to be human hair. The human hair was found inside the trunk of the vehicle but the root was not present or later found but decomposed and hence it was not much help in finding out if it belonged to Caylee.
Ans c) There were two testing performed on the hair. The first testing was done to confirm if it is a human hair and the result came out to be positive and the strand of hair belonged to a human. The second test that was done was mitochondrial DNA test which helps in narrowing the identity by finding lineage. This test did confirm that it belong to female lineage but could not actually find out if it did belong to Caylee.
Ans d) The lack of roots or the decomposition near the root end led to difficulty in finding genetic evidence. Without the root or the tissue it is not possible to find out whom does the hair actually belong to. The absence of the hair root or DNA tissue attached to the hair made it difficult and hence precise or exact identification could not be made.
Ans e) The evidence was significant in the case and hence it must have been stretched a little more to find out the culprit. But without the root or DNA tissue, the sample of hair is as useless as anything else and hence Casey could not held guilty since it was not proven. But the other circumstantial evidence like not filing a missing report and the smell from the car are good evidence which could have helped in strengthening the case
Please read and answer the question: FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF THE CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL Facts On July...
Please read and answer the question: FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF THE CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL Facts On July 15, 2008, Cynthia Anthony, mother of Casey Anthony and grandmother of Caylee Anthony, called 911 to report Casey Anthony for stealing a vehicle and money. In another 911 call, Cynthia Anthony shared with the 911 operator that she learned from Casey of Caylee Anthony’s kidnapping. In addition, Cindy reports of that her daughter’s car “smells like there’s been dead body in the damn car.”...