'The jury failed - just like the OJ case': State prosecutor attacks Casey Anthony verdict comparing it to Simpson trial

By JOHN STEVENS

Cleared: Verdict: Casey Anthony stands with her lawyer Jose Baez as she is sensationally found not guilty of all but four lesser charges


Orlando mother found not guilty after sensational six-week trial

Jury deliberated for only ten hours

Casey defence team celebrate with champagne party minutes from court

Parents say it is too early to say whether they will take back their cleared daughter

Anthony set to be freed almost immediately after sentencing on Thursday

State prosecutor quits after case



A former state prosecutor has claimed the jury in the Casey Anthony murder trial 'failed' to reach the right decision - just like in the infamous OJ Simpson case.

Former Michigan Prosecutor Carl Marlinga said tonight the verdict was: 'Like the O.J. Simpson case - a clear failure of the jury system.'

'Just because we say the jury system we have is the best, that doesn’t make it perfect.'

Casey Anthony smiled with delight as she was today sensationally cleared of the murder of her two-year-old daughter Caylee in one of the most controversial verdicts in recent history.


Delighted: Casey Anthony shows her excitement as she is found not guilty


Crowds gasped outside the courtroom as the 25-year-old mother was found not guilty of drugging her young daughter, suffocating her and dumping her body in overgrown woodland after a compelling six-week trial, which has seen a family torn apart by accusations of rape and incest.

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, Mr Marlinga said he was 'shocked.....stunned and a little bit sickened,' by the jury's decision.

'I’ve probably never seen a better circumstantial case.


Relief: Casey Anthony celebrates with her defence lawyer after their victory, which has stunned America


'Juries have to find guilt beyond a reason doubt.That doesn’t mean beyond all doubt.
He added the prosecution overplayed Casey Anthony as a party girl.

He said: 'A guilty person would have kept a low-profile, would have immediately reported the supposed kidnapping and immediately disposed of the body.

'They tried to pretend that the weakness was a strength. Sometimes the prosecution tries to whistle past the graveyard.



Chuffed: Defence attorney Jose Baez and Casey Anthony react after the jury acquitted her of murdering her daughter


'They could have painted a more coherent case that the girl died as the result of child abuse.'

Stunned Anthony hugged defence attorney Jose Baez when the jury's verdict was read after only ten hours of deliberation. As the jury left, a relieved Anthony, who had been facing the death penalty burst into tears of delight.

In a verdict that shocked America, the jury accepted Casey's account of events that Caylee drowned in the Anthony's family pool on June 16.

She had initially claimed her daughter had been kidnapped, but on the opening day of the trial, the defence team made the surprise claim that the toddler had died in an accident.


Confident: Defence attorney Cheney Mason gestures toward reporters peering through a restaurant window across the street from the Orange County Courthouse


Tears of joy: Casey Anthony is sensationally cleared of murder


Innocent: Anthony's legal team hug after the verdict was read out


Delight: Anthony will be sentenced for the four lesser counts of giving false information to the police on Thursday



Party time: Casey Anthony defence attorneys Jose Baez, left, and Cheney Mason, right, enjoy drinks with other members of the defence team


Shock: Disbelief can be seen on the faces of people in the crowd outside the Orange County Courthouse. One spectator held up a sign calling Casey a 'Baby Killer'


Protection: A mounted police unit patrols the suburban neighbourhood street in front of the Anthony home


Stonefaced: Cindy and George Anthony were the first to leave the courtroom, with their attorney Mark Lippman, after their daughter was found not guilty of murder


Fascination: Crowds of hundreds gathered at the Orange County Courthouse to hear the verdict



Disbelief: Spectators react to the news that Casey Anthony is innocent


Tributes: A shrine has started to be built at the place where Caylee's body was found


The verdict that shocked America: People stop to see the news announced in Times Square, New York


Dead: Two-year-old daughter Caylee went missing in June 2008



Triumph: Defence lawyer Jose Baez claimed that Caylee had drowned at the Anthony's family home in an innocent accident



Grieving grandparents: George and Cindy Anthony broke down while giving evidence in the case


source: dailymail