How did Casey Anthony Jurors Fly by the Radar?

How did Casey Anthony Jurors Fly by the Radar?

By Sally Montana
May 30, 2012

In a death penalty case, the prosecutor’s main goal is to seat jurors who strongly believe in the death penalty and are tough on crime.

Juror No. 11 and Foreman David Angelo, Juror No. 2 Raymond Screen and Alternate Juror No. 2 Richard Heukler all said during jury selection they couldn’t vote for the death penalty. Heukler said he wanted to repeal the death penalty because he believed in the Innocence Project.

Juror No. 12 Mary Fuhr was the only one out of the 12 jurors and five alternates who was strong in her stance for the death penalty. All the others either said they had reservations, were a 6 out of a 10 or didn’t have any opinion at all about the death penalty.

So why did the Casey Anthony prosecutors end up with jurors who said during jury selection they didn’t believe in the death penalty or were luke warm about it?

Jurors who are arrested and prosecuted or have family members who were arrested and prosecuted claim they are innocent and the cops and prosecutors framed them and sympathize with defendants, trust defense attorneys and don’t trust law enforcement or prosecutors.

Jurors with police records or relatives with police records are also going to distrust George Anthony because he was a law enforcement officer for 10 years and they may see him as a “snitch” since he told law enforcement the car smelled like a dead body and Casey knew more than she was saying and testified against her in front of the grand jury.

Juror No. 3 Jennifer Ford said during jury selection that she had problems with the law for check bouncing and it was discussed at a sidebar.

Juror No. 5 Harriet White was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and both her son and grandson had been arrested and in prison on drug charges.

Juror No. 6 Brian Berling served probation for drug possession and paraphernalia.

Juror No. 10 Ronald Robertson’s sister had served time in prison along with her boyfriend for a violent assault on their father.

Alternate Juror No 2 Russell Heuckler was arrested on a DUI that was reduced to reckless driving.

Alternate Juror No 3 Heather Feuerhake’s husband of 14 years died in prison where he was serving a six year sentence for drug charges.

Alternate Juror No 4 Dean Eckstadt was arrested for drug possession and paranphanalia.

So why did prosecutors seat jurors and alternates with arrests for Driving Under the Influence, drugs and check fraud or had relatives who served time in prison?

Although the alternates weren’t in on the deliberations, they were with the jurors during frequent breaks during sidebars, recesses, breakfast, lunch and dinner and in the evenings for almost two months.

Even if the 17 jurors and alternates didn’t discuss the case, surely they discussed their personal problems and prejudices against law enforcement and prosecutors. None of them knew who was on the jury and who were alternates. And if any of the jurors had not been able to finish their duties, the alternates would have been on the jury.

Alternate Juror Russell Heuckler told the media he could speak for all 12 jurors and 5 alternates in saying they all felt it was a “horrific accident.” None of the jurors or alternates spoke up to say that wasn’t true.

When Defense Attorney Jose Baez said “good morning” to the jurors and alternates every morning, they smiled and said, “Good Morning Mr. Baez” in unison. They never smiled at or acknowledged the prosecutors. They also took few notes and left their notebooks on their seats during deliberations, which indicated to me they had their mind made up from the beginning to acquit Casey Anthony on first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child.

“This was not the jury we wanted,” Prosecutor Jeff Ashton told the media while promoting his book, “Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony.”

“We wanted intelligent jurors, who were decisive, knowledgeable about the world and passionate about this case,” Ashton said.

But what they got, Ashton said, was a jury that was “bland,” couldn’t make a decision, didn’t care about Caylee, were followers and not leaders and more concerned about what they were going to eat and what movies they were going to watch than the evidence.

Ashton said the jury was “too coddled.” He said in his 30 years as a prosecutor, this is the first jury, even in minor cases, who didn’t ask to review evidence during deliberations. He also said the jurors asked to watch children’s movies, which I believe might explain why they went down “the rabbit hole” with Baez.

Ashton said he wasn’t concerned about the jurors’ attitude towards the death penalty because he never believed Casey would get the death penalty.

However, Juror Jennifer Ford indicated the death penalty was the major reason the jurors didn’t convict Casey on first degree murder. Ford told the media, “If the death penalty had not been on the table, the verdict would have been different.”

Ford said she couldn’t find Casey Anthony guilty of murder when she was facing the death penalty without a cause of death or witness because “what if I am wrong? Then I am a murderer too.”

Ford said she was one of the six who originally voted guilty for aggravated manslaughter of a child. She said she thought Caylee accidentally drowned and “they were all there” but at one point Caylee needed medical attention, which is “culpable negligence.” She didn’t explain why she didn’t hang the jury.

She said Casey was acquitted because the prosecution didn’t tell the jury how, when and where Caylee died. Yet, she claimed during jury selection she watched murder trials on I-D TV so she should know defendants have been convicted without a body and cause of death.

After the verdict, Heukler and Angelo said Casey was innocent and George guilty. Angelo said George murdered Caylee and Heukler said he believed George made an accidental drowning look like a murder. Screen said he was the last holdout for manslaughter but folded because “there was not enough evidence to convict.”

Prosecutors and many trial watchers including myself were surprised when Judge Perry refused twice to allow the state to strike Juror No. 4 Linda Bills after she said she didn’t want to serve on the jury because she was religious and couldn’t judge anyone. Bills should never have been seated for that reason and because just like Casey Anthony, she is also single and spends all her time on the computer and didn’t seem to understand the judge’s questions during jury selection.

Bills was obviously anti prosecution and pro defense from the get go because she didn’t take one note during the prosecution’s case but took many notes during the defense case. Bills also nodded her head when she saw the picture of Caylee marching up the pool ladder in front of Cindy, showing she believed the drowning theory.

Juror Harriet White also should never been selected because she had a DUI in 1998 and both her son and grandson were in prison for drug charges, which made her anti prosecution and pro defense. White folded her arms and refused to look at Ashton when he was giving his closing argument.

From their situations and what Juror Jennifer Ford and Alternate Dean Eckstadt told the media, it was clear to me they identified with Casey and didn’t trust law enforcement and prosecutors.

Eckstadt should never have been seated as an alternate because like Casey he was 25, lived at home and described himself as a “party guy.” He also had no children. He told the media following the verdict that he agreed with the acquittal. He said Casey was innocent. He said she was a Good Mother “and would not have killed her child” because he could tell from her photographs with Caylee and because her friends said so. Eckstadt was convicted of a drug and paraphernalia possession as a juvenile and served probation.

Eckstadt believed every word Baez said and called Baez a “great attorney who put on a great case.” He said Baez “had a job to do and he did it.” Eckstadt even told a reporter the prosecutors were “headhunters, just looking for someone to blame for Caylee’s death.”

Ford should have been stricken because like Casey, she was single and lived with her mother and also had a problem with the law for check fraud. She said she didn’t know if Casey was innocent and “hoped” Casey did not murder “that beautiful child.” Ford said if she was arrested she would want a jury to make the prosecution prove the case against her.

Robert Robertson should never have been seated because his sister had served a prison sentence for a violent assault against their father. Like George and Cindy defended Casey and blamed Caylee’s disappearance on her friends, Robertson might have felt his sister shouldn’t have gone to prison, that her boyfriend talked her into it.

Juror No. 7 Kimberly Kimball, who is divorced without children, should never have been seated because her mother is a defense attorney and she once dated a state’s attorney. Because of these experiences, she may have been biased for the defense and prejudiced against the state.

I believe it was also a mistake to choose jurors who were single like Casey and had no children. They would have no idea how a parent or grandparent would react if a child accidentally drowned. Linda Bills, Jennifer Ford, James Kearns, David Angelo, Kimberly Kimball and Robert Robertson were over 30, single and didn’t have any children.

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