A Miami lawyer hired by Casey Anthony’s defense team gave prosecutors Wednesday a report that outlined why the single mother accused of killing her child should not get the death penalty.
The 30-page packet highlights problems with some of the evidence, defines how details in Anthony’s case does not fit the state criteria needed for the death penalty — a penalty reserved for the worst of the worst homicides.
It touches on Anthony’s erratic behavior after her daughter’s birth that suggests signs of emotional or mental distress. The report ended with pictures of Anthony during happier times as a child surrounded by her parents and her brother.
“Casey Anthony is a unique individual. A close inspection of her case clearly supports not filing a notice seeking death,” attorney Terence Lenamon wrote in a report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
The State Attorney’s Office would not confirm whether it received the report, which is not public record. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie, who was reported missing on July 15. The body of Caylee — who would have turned 3 in August — has not been found.
Anthony told investigators that she left Caylee with a baby sitter in mid-June. When she returned later that day, both the baby sitter and Caylee were gone. Detectives have not been able to locate the baby sitter and question whether she exists.
Prosecutors have not decided yet whether the state will pursue the death penalty. If they do seek death, the trial will be divided into two sections: the guilt/innocent phase and the sentence phase.
Lenamon’s report addresses the sentence phase when the jury hears both why she should and should not get the death penalty.
Some of the reasons outlined against death include: Lenamon pointed out the analysis techniques used on hair and air samples from her trunk to prove decomposition are “novel, experimental, in the early stages of development, inconclusive and high susceptible to mishandling,” he wrote. Even if the evidence is enough for a guilty verdict, it would not be enough to support the death penalty, Lenamon wrote.
Details of the Anthony case to do not rise to the level required for the death penalty, he wrote. She doesn’t have a criminal record. There is no history of abuse. The crime was not cold, calculated and premeditated. In the months leading up to Caylee’s disappearance, Anthony’s behavior was described by friends and family as “erratic and not entirely rational.”
He wrote that filicide — the act of a parent killing a child — is different than other homicides. The underlying reasons why mothers kill are complex and can be divided into various categories. For example, one type is a parent who kills under influence of mental illness. Another type suggests a parent’s motive may be to save the child from real or imagined harm.
Juries are more likely to show mothers mercy. He mentioned Andrea Yates a Texas mother who drowned all five children was sentenced to life in prison. Susan Smith, the Arkansas mother who pushed her car with her two children inside in a lake, got life in prison.
Lenamon wrote that experts will likely agree that Anthony as “suffering from episodes of extreme emotional distress and disturbance since her daughter’s birth.” Even the lack of emotion after her child’s disappearance and arrest “is not normal,” he wrote.
Lenamon also refers to other Orange County cases involving the death of a child. For example, Anita Simmons, who beat her 8-year-old daughter to death, got 42 years in prison.
“A careful consideration of the totality of the circumstances in this case leads to a clear conclusion that a filing a notice of the death penalty is no the right thing to do,” he wrote
Sarah Lundy | Orlando Sentinel Staff Writer 4:33 PM EST, November 5, 2008
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