6/04/2011

Casey Anthony Trial - Here is What the State Has To Do To Prove Its Case Under Florida Law

In the Casey Anthony trial, the prosecution must provide the jury with evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the crimes for which she was charged were indeed committed by defendant Casey Anthony.  I'm providing two helpful links here for those wanting to follow along with the trial as the state puts on its case.

What Casey Anthony Has Been Charged With - First Degree Murder, Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child

From a CNN article, I found a listing of the grand jury indictment's seven counts:  Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four (4) counts of providing false information to police.  First degree murder in Florida carries the possibility of the death penalty (see below).

(By the way, when I found this article I re-read something that I had forgot:  Casey was arrested after she switched cars under an overpass shortly after the indictment came down - wow.  Forgot all about that one.)

Florida Prosecutors Burden: What They Must Prove With Admitted Evidence To Win Their Case

The Florida Supreme Court's website includes the current jury instructions that are to be used in Florida criminal trials. From these instructions you can find each prong of the case, or element of the crime, that must be shown by the reasonable doubt standard.  Just surf through. 
  • You can read the section under Homicide and get an idea of the prosecution's duty here, it's in somewhat of an outline format but easy enough for following along with the current proceedings. 
  • Search the Florida Supreme Court's instructions to find First Degree Murder as well as Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child: Florida Supreme Court - Jury Instructions. 
For First Degree Murder, for example, you will find:

"There are two ways in which a person may be convicted of first degree murder. One is known as premeditated murder and the other is known as felony murder.

"To prove the crime of First Degree Premeditated Murder, the State must prove the following three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

"1. (Victim) is dead.  (State will have to put in evidence that Caylee Marie Anthony is dead.)

"2. The death was caused by the criminal act of (defendant). (State will have to put in evidence that Casey caused Caylee's death and this was by a criminal act.)

"3. There was a premeditated killing of (victim). (State will have to put in evidence that this was premeditated.)

"Definitions.

"An “act” includes a series of related actions arising from and performed pursuant to a single design or purpose.

“Killing with premeditation” is killing after consciously deciding to do so. The decision must be present in the mind at the time of the killing. The law does not fix the exact period of time that must pass between the formation of the premeditated intent to kill and the killing. The period of time must be long enough to allow reflection by the defendant. The premeditated intent to kill must be formed before the killing. The question of premeditation is a question of fact to be determined by you from the evidence. It will be sufficient proof of premeditation if the circumstances of the killing and the conduct of the accused convince you beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of premeditation at the time of the killing. "

    What are jury instructions? 

    Jury instructions take the actual statutes and place them into a format for the jury to use in their deliberations, as they assess the evidence presented to them.  There is a charge conference between the lawyers and the judge (at least that's what we do here in Texas), where the jury instructions are debated by the lawyers and after arguments, finalized by the judge.  The charge will include the instuctions as well as question like you hear on Law n Order all the time:  "how do you find" type of thing.

    For example, here is the Florida statute for murder which can result in a life sentence or the death penalty which you can see dovetailed into the Jury Instructions for Homicide (above):

    Florida Statutes 782.04


    Murder.—
    (1)(a) The unlawful killing of a human being:
    1. When perpetrated from a premeditated design to effect the death of the person killed or any human being;
    2. When committed by a person engaged in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any:
    a. Trafficking offense prohibited by s. 893.135(1),
    b. Arson,
    c. Sexual battery,
    d. Robbery,
    e. Burglary,
    f. Kidnapping,
    g. Escape,
    h. Aggravated child abuse,
    i. Aggravated abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult,
    j. Aircraft piracy,
    k. Unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb,
    l. Carjacking,
    m. Home-invasion robbery,
    n. Aggravated stalking,
    o. Murder of another human being,
    p. Resisting an officer with violence to his or her person,
    q. Felony that is an act of terrorism or is in furtherance of an act of terrorism; or
    3. Which resulted from the unlawful distribution of any substance controlled under s. 893.03(1), cocaine as described in s. 893.03(2)(a)4., opium or any synthetic or natural salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium, or methadone by a person 18 years of age or older, when such drug is proven to be the proximate cause of the death of the user,

    is murder in the first degree and constitutes a capital felony, punishable as provided in s. 775.082.
    (b) In all cases under this section, the procedure set forth in s. 921.141 shall be followed in order to determine sentence of death or life imprisonment. (emphasis added)
    (2) The unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual, is murder in the second degree and constitutes a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life or as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
    (3) When a person is killed in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any:
    (a) Trafficking offense prohibited by s. 893.135(1),
    (b) Arson,
    (c) Sexual battery,
    (d) Robbery,
    (e) Burglary,
    (f) Kidnapping,
    (g) Escape,
    (h) Aggravated child abuse,
    (i) Aggravated abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult,
    (j) Aircraft piracy,
    (k) Unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb,
    (l) Carjacking,
    (m) Home-invasion robbery,
    (n) Aggravated stalking,
    (o) Murder of another human being,
    (p) Resisting an officer with violence to his or her person, or
    (q) Felony that is an act of terrorism or is in furtherance of an act of terrorism,

    by a person other than the person engaged in the perpetration of or in the attempt to perpetrate such felony, the person perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate such felony is guilty of murder in the second degree, which constitutes a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life or as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
    (4) The unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated without any design to effect death, by a person engaged in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate, any felony other than any:
    (a) Trafficking offense prohibited by s. 893.135(1),
    (b) Arson,
    (c) Sexual battery,
    (d) Robbery,
    (e) Burglary,
    (f) Kidnapping,
    (g) Escape,
    (h) Aggravated child abuse,
    (i) Aggravated abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult,
    (j) Aircraft piracy,
    (k) Unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb,
    (l) Unlawful distribution of any substance controlled under s. 893.03(1), cocaine as described in s. 893.03(2)(a)4., or opium or any synthetic or natural salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium by a person 18 years of age or older, when such drug is proven to be the proximate cause of the death of the user,
    (m) Carjacking,
    (n) Home-invasion robbery,
    (o) Aggravated stalking,
    (p) Murder of another human being,
    (q) Resisting an officer with violence to his or her person, or
    (r) Felony that is an act of terrorism or is in furtherance of an act of terrorism,

    is murder in the third degree and constitutes a felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
    (5) As used in this section, the term “terrorism” means an activity that:
    (a)1. Involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life which is a violation of the criminal laws of this state or of the United States; or
    2. Involves a violation of s. 815.06; and
    (b) Is intended to:
    1. Intimidate, injure, or coerce a civilian population;
    2. Influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
    3. Affect the conduct of government through destruction of property, assassination, murder, kidnapping, or aircraft piracy.
    History.—s. 2, ch. 1637, 1868; RS 2380; GS 3205; RGS 5035; s. 1, ch. 8470, 1921; CGL 7137; s. 1, ch. 28023, 1953; s. 712, ch. 71-136; s. 3, ch. 72-724; s. 14, ch. 74-383; s. 6, ch. 75-298; s. 1, ch. 76-141; s. 290, ch. 79-400; s. 1, ch. 82-4; s. 1, ch. 82-69; s. 1, ch. 84-16; s. 6, ch. 87-243; ss. 2, 4, ch. 89-281; s. 4, ch. 90-112; s. 3, ch. 93-212; s. 11, ch. 95-195; s. 18, ch. 96-322; s. 1, ch. 98-417; s. 10, ch. 99-188; s. 16, ch. 2000-320; s. 2, ch. 2001-236; s. 2, ch. 2001-357; s. 1, ch. 2002-212; s. 12, ch. 2005-128; s. 1, ch. 2010-121.