Casey Anthony: How social media tweaked defense strategy - OS

Casey Anthony: How social media tweaked defense strategy

By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel

5:30 p.m. EDT, July 13, 2011

Excerpt:

A consultant for Casey Anthony's attorneys analyzed more than 40,000 highly-charged opinions — negative and positive — on social media sites and blogs, and used them to help the defense craft their trial strategy.

Whether it worked or not is difficult to gauge, but a jury last week found Casey Anthony not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie.

"When bloggers and others in social media sites started to attack George Anthony about his alleged mistress, the defense team beefed up their questions against him," said Fort Lauderdale-based consultant Amy Singer. "None of the bloggers ever changed their minds about him."

The innovative pro-bono tactic by Singer shows how social media sites like Facebook and Twitter could revolutionize the way lawyers defend their clients, especially in highly-publicized cases like the Casey Anthony murder trial.

"This is the first time I have heard of this kind of consulting for a trial and it's incredible," said Florida A&M University professor Shiv Persaud. "It definitely might become a part of my curriculum in trial practice. We could benefit from a new type of tool we didn't have before."

More: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-social-media-strateg20110713,0,3999742.story