CNN news 2011-07-11
Casey Anthony is officially not guilty of her daughter's death but public opinion, of course, is another thing. And a lot of people are outraged at the thought of her going free to continue her bella vita.
David Mattingly joining us now live from Orlando, Florida.
Let's discuss what's next for Casey Anthony now,David.
Well, Kyra, on Thursday, Casey Anthony goes back into court. She is going to be in front of the judge again to be sentenced for those four misdemeanor charges of lying to investigators in this case.
Each of those counts carries a maximum of one year in jail. Now she's already served three while she was awaiting trial. It's possible the judge could give her a sentence that would rely on time served and she could go free. So that's one of the possibilities we're looking at tomorrow.
Looking outside the courthouse today, all of those crowds that we got so used to looking at here, they're gone today. People going back home, going back on with their lives after getting so close and so many people getting so emotionally invested in this trial. Now that the verdict is out, there are no crowds here at the courthouse. Last night, we saw sheriff's deputies in the neighborhood where Casey Anthony's parents live. People there were concerned that there would be too many onlookers and too many people coming by for sightseeing in the neighborhood so the sheriff said that they would have deputies there to make sure that the residents there were protected and they could get back on with their lives.
But, at the moment, everyone wondering what's going to happen next with Casey Anthony. She will be before that judge on Thursday,Kyra.
At issue here is Cindy Anthony's testimony that she was the one who did those Internet searches for chloroform. The prosecution later showed work records that seemed to preclude that.
Here with me now criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Holly Hughes.
So what do you think? Could Cindy Anthony be prosecuted for perjury?
Technically speaking, under the law, yes. Because I think they've got enough proof to show it's a specific intent crime.
For our viewers, what that means is you're going to have to prove to your jury or your judge she willfully did this. She meant to lie and I think they've got enough evidence to prove it. But from a personal human standpoint, I don't think we're going to see it happen.
Remember, no matter what we think of Cindy Anthony, she is a victim here. She is a grieving grandmother, and, Kyra, I mean you watch that testimony, just like I did, sobbing, heaving, racked with grief. So we know that she truly, truly loved that little girl and misses her. And at this point, all she was trying to do was save her daughter's life and it worked. So at this point I think any prosecution is going to look like sour grapes quite frankly, so I don't think we're going to see it happen.
What about further prosecution in this case? Other family members or other players?
No. It's a done deal. Because again if you want to get anybody for perjury it's specific intent. How are you honestly going to prove that George lied about anything? The only thing that was iffy, in my mind, I think he lied about the affair but how do you prove that?
Unless there's videotape which if there was, we'd have been is, believe me, Jose Baez would have handed it out when Krystal Holloway was on the stand. So I don't think so.
And as far as Casey is concerned, this is a done deal. Double jeopardy clause of our U.S. Constitution says hey, state gets one bite at the apple. If it's not successful, you cannot go after her again.
Got it. Holly Hughes, thanks.