3 Things the Prosecution Got Wrong in the Casey Anthony Case

COMMENTARY | Prior to the not guilty verdict Tuesday, it seemed that the entire news media had already convicted Casey Anthony. Lucky for Anthony, our jury system puts the decision in the hands of peers, not paid television legal experts. There are three areas where I feel the prosecution team let this case slip through its fingers.

No History of Being A Bad Mother -- Weak Theory On Motive

It doesn't take a behavioral expert to classify Anthony's behavior as odd in the 31 days that Caylee went unreported as missing. The prosecution was trying to establish the motive was that Casey wanted freedom from the responsibilities of being a parent. In order to establish this, they showed picture after picture of Casey out partying at a time when she knew her daughter to be missing, or, as the public would later find out, Casey knew Caylee was dead and was still out living the party lifestyle.

While this behavior is extremely weird, the prosecution never presented witnesses that showed she was a bad mother prior to Caylee's disappearance. Establishing this would have shown a history and given credence to the theory that she wanted to be free of Caylee. Most of the old boyfriends and friends who were present stated that Casey seemed like a loving mother. The prosecution only focused on her behavior after Caylee was gone, not before. This created a shaky foundation for the prosecution's motive theory.

Rebuttal Focused on Things That Hurt Prosecution's Case

During the rebuttal statement portion of closing arguments, the prosecution continued to point out damaging facts to their case. In order to establish a first degree murder charge, the prosecutors needed to show premeditation. This theory of planning the murder seemed to be based on the searches for chloroform on the family computer to show that Casey used chloroform to kill Caylee.

Before the verdict was read, Joseph D. Benadetto stated on MSNBC that the prosecution rebuttal was "an absolute flop." When it was discovered that it was Cindy Anthony might have searched for chloroform and then lied about it on the stand, the prosecution didn't help its case by continuing to bring up this flaw.

Instead, if the state focused on its strongest points, Casey's partying, the infamous tattoo, not reporting Caylee missing for 31 days, and pounding them home to the jury, it might have been able to secure the guilty verdict.

All-in On The First Degree Murder Charge

From the beginning, with a lack of cause of death from the coroner and a weak motive, the prosecution faced an uphill battle in proving a first degree murder case. This was confirmed by Russell Huekler, one of five alternate jurors who stated to ABC News that "The prosecution failed to prove their case and there was reasonable doubt. Again, they didn't show us how Caylee died." Once the defense presented that this was an accident, the prosecution seemed to just ignore this and continued with its theories.

An honest look at the lack of evidence to support the first degree murder charge could have lent focus to pursuing an involuntary manslaughter charge or similar lesser charge that would have still resulted in Casey going to jail. The prosecution's obsession with pursuing the first degree murder charge disabled the chances of the jury to find her guilty of a lesser charge. Focusing on the accidental drowning and pointing out that nobody tries intentionally to make an accident look like a murder might have been the nudge the jury needed to find Casey Anthony guilty.